| | Associated Press
CICERO, Ill. -- Team Kool Green drivers Paul Tracy and Dario
Franchitti have gotten into a bad habit of running into each other
once a year.
It happened again Sunday in the Target Grand Prix, when Tracy
tried to slip under his teammate as they battled for 11th place on
lap 75 of the 225-lap race on the 1.029-mile Chicago Motor Speedway
oval.
"Dario had just gotten around me and I was trying to get the
position back," Tracy explained. "But he was busy trying to work
on (eventual race winner Cristiano) da Matta and didn't see me
coming.
"I was down on the edge of the apron and we just barely touched
each other. It's so hard to pass with these (rear) wings. You've
got to make a big commitment to get by. If a guy doesn't see you,
there's no way you can stop on the entry and give him enough
room."
Franchitti said, "It was just a racing incident. I didn't see
Paul coming down the inside. I don't know how far down the inside
he was at the time. It's just unfortunate that both cars were put
out of the race that early."
Tracy finished 19th, Franchitti 20th. They earned no points,
with Tracy remaining fifth in the standings but falling 40 points
behind leader Michael Andretti. Franchitti slipped all the way to
11th, 62 points back with eight CART races remaining.
The first time the two got together was in Houston in October
1998, with Tracy winding up out of the race and Franchitti avoiding
major damage and going on to win.
In May 1999 in Madison, Ill., the two collided again, and again
Tracy was knocked out of action and Franchitti managed to continue
and finish third.
"It's not a good day," said team owner Barry Green. "I keep
reminding my guys that there are two green and white cars out there
and they need to take some consideration that they're teammates.
It's tough, though, because I've asked them both to race hard.
"The championship is still fairly wide open, and they both can
do well if they have some success. They're trying, but in this
series today, it's tough."
PIT PROBLEM: Kenny Brack, the 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner and a
CART rookie, led twice during Sunday's race but wound up fourth
after losing track position when he stalled his engine during his
first pit stop.
"The clutch was a little light during the race, so I left the
gearbox in neutral a little longer on the stop," the Swedish
driver said. "Then I floored the engine and let out the clutch. I
knew I had to be careful with the clutch, but I was in the lead and
I wanted to get out quickly.
"We came back from last after the stall, which isn't bad. But I
thought I could have done better."
BURNING UP: The first part of Sunday's race was punctuated by a
series of engine fires.
In fact, the first one came before the field even got to the
green flag as Max Papis pulled onto pit road, flames shooting from
the rear of his Ford-powered car, as the race began.
"I smelled some smoke right after the car started up, but I
thought it was an exhaust smell," Papis said. "But, when I saw
the flame coming into the cockpit, I knew it was a little bigger
than usual. The cockpit filled up with smoke and I just came into
the pits as fast as I could."
The next blowup came on lap 19, when Mark Blundell's Mercedes
engine lit up. The team had replaced the engine on his Reynard
after the morning warmup.
"All of this is pretty frustrating for me," the Englishman
said. "I would hate to experience how my crew are feeling at the
moment. Those boys worked very hard to get me on the grid after our
mechanical problem in the warmup."
Helio Castroneves was running second when his Honda engine began
spewing smoke and flame on lap 35.
"It's a shame because we tried to get him to come in a lap
before and he got stuck in heavy traffic and couldn't get in right
away," said Marlboro Team Penske president Tim Cindric.
SPARK PLUGS: Gil de Ferran's third-place finish leaves him third
in the season standings, trailing leader Michael Andretti by 31 and
second-place Roberto Moreno by nine. ... Juan Montoya, who went out
with an electrical problem while running second, led 110 laps
Sunday and now has led a series-high 690 this season. But the
defending series champion has also failed to finish five of 12
events. ... Cars powered by Toyota engines have now won three
straight CART oval races, the first three Champ car wins for the
manufacturer.
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ALSO SEE
CART Target Grand Prix results
Da Matta earns first CART victory at Chicago Grand Prix
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