Monday, August 16, 1999
Rookie Montoya wins
Associated Press
fifth raceLEXINGTON, Ohio -- Juan Montoya seemed like a blur to the rest of the field as he sped to victory at the CART Miller Lite 200.
The rookie from Colombia charged from eighth place yesterday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to win easily. He trailed by 17 seconds at one point, but posted a victory of nearly 11 seconds over Paul Tracy, who was second.
"They ought to put the Superman logo on his car," Tracy said.
Montoya blew away the rest of the field in the final 19 laps following the race's only yellow flag.
Montoya wasn't expecting to win, considering the way his weekend had gone. He had one of his poorest qualifying sessions of the year Friday, placing eighth, and couldn't improve Saturday because a steady drizzle kept drivers from improving their times.
"At one point, I actually told my crew, 'This car is dangerous to drive,' " he said. "After all the trouble we had on Friday, I can't believe we came so far so fast."
It was the fifth victory this season for Montoya, tying the CART rookie record set by Nigel Mansell in 1993.
gordon is 'king of the road': At Watkins Glen, N.Y., Jeff Gordon made NASCAR history with his fifth career victory on a road course. The win yesterday at Watkins Glen International enabled him to pass Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin for career victories on the serpentine tracks where the circuit races twice each year.
He credited crew chief Ray Evernham and his team for that dominance.
"They always find a way to make it go faster," said Gordon, who also won two months ago in Sonoma, Calif.
It was Gordon's 47th career victory and fifth this year, giving him the lead in the series.
Dario Franchitti's third-place finish in yesterday's CART Miller 200 was enough to keep him in the lead in the "Points to Paradise" chase for starting spots in the Hawaiian Super Prix. Franchitti holds one-point lead
Star-Bulletin staffJuan Montoya won yesterday's race and now trails Franchitti, 152-151.
The top 12 drivers in the FedEx Championship Series standings will receive automatic slots in the Nov. 13 race at Kalaeloa Airport. The top 15:
1. Dario Franchitti -- 152
2. Juan Montoya -- 151
3. Michael Andretti -- 124
4. Paul Tracy -- 122
5. Christian Fittipaldi -- 101
6. Greg Moore -- 97
7. Gil de Ferran -- 96
8. Adrian Fernandez -- 95
9. Max Papis -- 78
10. Jimmy Vasser -- 66
11. Tony Kanaan -- 62
12. Roberto Moreno -- 38
13. Bryan Herta -- 35
14. Helio Castro-Nevea -- 33
15. Patrick Carpentier -- 33
16. PJ Jones -- 31
Hawaiian Super Prix
