Monday, August 23, 1999

Montoya regains
standings lead

Star-Bulletin staff

Juan Montoya raced ahead of Dario Franchitti yesterday in the "Points to Paradise" chase for starting spots in the Hawaiian Super Prix.

The rookie from Colombia won yesterday's Target Grand Prix to pass Franchitti for the top spot in the standings.

The top 12 drivers in the FedEx Championship Series standings will receive automatic slots in the Nov. 13 race.

The top 16:

1. Juan Montoya 172
2. Dario Franchitti168
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 91
10. Jimmy Vasser 80
11. Tony Kanaan 64
12. Helio Castro-Neves 43
13. Roberto Moreno 42
14. Patrick Carpentier 41
15. Bryan Herta 40
16. PJ Jones 37

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Hawaiian Super Prix

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Rookie sensation
wins 6th CART race

Colombia's Juan Montoya
grabs back the lead in the
CART FedEx Series

Associated Press

CICERO, Ill. -- Juan Montoya was the first to drive on the Chicago Motor Speedway and now he's the first to win on it. A few more showings like this, and Chip Ganassi might have to give him the place.

With a near-capacity crowd filling the stands, the rookie sensation from Colombia topped off his boss' open house bash yesterday with a victory at the inaugural Target Grand Prix.

It was his second straight win and sixth of the season, breaking the rookie record for wins set in 1993 by Nigel Mansell. It also moved Montoya back into the CART FedEx Series lead by four points over runner-up Dario Franchitti.

"It was a beautiful day," Montoya said. "Just perfect."

And quite appropriate since this was Ganassi's party.

Already co-owner of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, it was his idea to build the Chicago Motor Speedway and bring American auto racing back to the city where it started.

He sold Charles Bidwell III on the plan, and together they built a one-mile oval track at Bidwell's Sportsman's Park in this suburb on Chicago's west side.

"It came off as an event and not just a race," Ganassi said.

Oh, but what a race it was.

Montoya started 10th, but just as he's done all season, he was chasing the leaders as soon as the green flag dropped. Darting and weaving his way through traffic on the smooth track, he was up to fifth after just 10 laps.

He took the lead from pole-sitter Max Papis on the 64th lap and kept it almost the rest of the way. Franchitti wasn't about to give him the race, though. The two have been battling all season -- Franchitti, a third-year driver, came into yesterday's race with a one-point lead over Montoya -- and yesterday was no different.

After Jan Magnussen and Roberto Moreno bumped on the 86th lap, sending Magnussen crashing into the wall between turns one and two, the yellow flag came out and the field bunched up. For 13 laps they ran tight, trying to maneuver so they could get away quick on the restart.

When the green flag finally went down again on the 99th lap, Franchitti flew past Montoya in the third turn. On the 167th lap Montoya took advantage of some traffic to slip by Franchitti.

"We were fast in the morning (warmup) and initially I was really aggressive in the race," said Montoya, whose team stayed late Saturday night to work on his Reynard-Honda, which had been slow and tough to drive.

"I took it easy for a while after that, but then the car was really flying and that was it."

Franchitti continued to press, keeping Montoya's lead under a second over the final 41 laps. But on lap 218, Moreno, a lap down in ninth place, chased down Franchitti and passed him, moving between the two leaders. Seven laps later, Montoya crossed the finish line 0.783 seconds ahead of Franchitti.

Jimmy Vasser, Montoya's teammate, finished third. Papis was fourth, followed by Helio Castro-Neves, Patrick Carpentier and P.J. Jones.

"That certainly spoiled my race," Franchitti said of Moreno's move. "I'm not quite sure why he did that. Maybe Juan paid him some money."

Franchitti wasn't the only one annoyed with a fellow driver. Michael Andretti and Paul Tracy were at it again -- remember Australia last year? -- after a collision on the 99th lap sent them into the wall and knocked them out of the race.