paul
Team Owner
http://www.cart.com/News/Article.asp?ID=4636
The FedEx Championship Series' return to Rockingham Motor Speedway could be the turning point in the 19-round battle for the Vanderbilt Cup. Just ask Target/Ganassi Racing's Bruno Junqueira.
"That race will decide if I can catch Cristiano da Matta or not," said Junqueira, who posted his second victory of the season in the Shell Grand Prix of Denver. "If I can beat him in that race and get close to him on the points, then I will have a chance."
Junqueira's task is tall, but not insurmountable. He trails the CART championship leader by 52 points, with five races - in other words, 115 points - remaining. But he can't do it himself. It's going to require a helping hand from da Matta, who has really made only one mistake all season.
"It's going to be really difficult because he's scoring good results, even when he doesn't win," Junqueira remarked. "He was a little bit lucky, especially in Montreal, when I lost second place and then he got the second place and I lost 16 points. That's when he opened big lead on me again.
"If I can finish out the races until the end of the year with strong results, I can catch him," he added. "But I don't want him to have bad luck. I think the fans want to see more head-to-head racing between us, like we had in Portland and Chicago. I want to see me and Cristiano fighting for a win in one or two races until the end of the year. That's going to be exciting."
If Junqueira can get the gap down to around 30 points, he definitely has a fighting chance. Two CART championships in the '90s went down to the wire after a driver opened up a seemingly insurmountable lead in the points.
In 1995, Al Unser Jr.'s season took an unexpected turn when his victory at Portland was taken away due to a technical infraction. When Unser's car was measured after the race, CART found it in violation of the "2-inch" rule that stipulates a minimum two-inch clearance between the bottom of the race car and the bottom edge of the side pod.
Suddenly, instead of leading the standings by an 82-80 margin over Jacques Villeneuve, Unser had only 61 points. After Villeneuve bullied past Bryan Herta to win at Cleveland, he had 137 points while Unser still had 61.
But Unser and the Penske team fought the Portland ruling, and his 21 points were reinstated in early September - the week of the final race, at Laguna Seca. Unser had won at Mid-Ohio and Vancouver, and his 132 points turned back into 153 points, putting him within 16 points of Villeneuve.
But neither man had a good race at Laguna. Villeneuve took the pole, but had two punctured Goodyears on his way to 11th place. That was still good enough for the title, because Unser qualified 14th and finished sixth for a final tally of 172-161 Villeneuve.
As a sidelight, Gil de Ferran overcame a 35-point deficit to Christian Fittipaldi in the last two races by finishing second and first at Vancouver and Laguna, respectively, to win the '95 Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year Award.
In 1999, Dario Franchitti and Juan Montoya staged a back and forth duel for the CART crown. Montoya broke out to a 112-85 lead over Franchitti after his win at Cleveland, then Michael Andretti moved into second in the points when he finished second at Elkhart Lake, held in July that year. At Toronto, a victory brought Franchitti within 7 points of Montoya after Juan's worst weekend of his amazing rookie season.
Second place to Tony Kanaan at the Michigan 500 moved Montoya out in front 129-116, while Andretti was still in the hunt with 107 points. Franchitti then took the championship lead after pacing a Team KOOL Green 1-2 at Detroit, but it shrunk to one point when Montoya won at Mid-Ohio. Andretti was now 28 points adrift and his challenge started to fade.
At Vancouver, Franchitti spun while trying to pass Montoya for the lead; Juan won and Dario was 10th, putting the points at 194 (Montoya) to 171 (Franchitti). It was 199-171 after Laguna Seca, with three races to go.
Houston: Franchitti finishes second to Tracy after Montoya crashes. Juan's lead is now 200-187. Then at Surfers Paradise, Dario won from the pole and Juan again crashed. Now the tables were turned, and Franchitti led 209-200 heading into the 500-mile finale at California Speedway.
Amazingly, fourth place for Montoya coupled with 10th place finish for Franchitti created a 212-212 tie. Montoya won the title on a tie-breaker, having won seven races to Franchitti's three.
Could this year's championship again come down to the final lap of the final race? Don't bet against it.
The FedEx Championship Series' return to Rockingham Motor Speedway could be the turning point in the 19-round battle for the Vanderbilt Cup. Just ask Target/Ganassi Racing's Bruno Junqueira.
"That race will decide if I can catch Cristiano da Matta or not," said Junqueira, who posted his second victory of the season in the Shell Grand Prix of Denver. "If I can beat him in that race and get close to him on the points, then I will have a chance."
Junqueira's task is tall, but not insurmountable. He trails the CART championship leader by 52 points, with five races - in other words, 115 points - remaining. But he can't do it himself. It's going to require a helping hand from da Matta, who has really made only one mistake all season.
"It's going to be really difficult because he's scoring good results, even when he doesn't win," Junqueira remarked. "He was a little bit lucky, especially in Montreal, when I lost second place and then he got the second place and I lost 16 points. That's when he opened big lead on me again.
"If I can finish out the races until the end of the year with strong results, I can catch him," he added. "But I don't want him to have bad luck. I think the fans want to see more head-to-head racing between us, like we had in Portland and Chicago. I want to see me and Cristiano fighting for a win in one or two races until the end of the year. That's going to be exciting."
If Junqueira can get the gap down to around 30 points, he definitely has a fighting chance. Two CART championships in the '90s went down to the wire after a driver opened up a seemingly insurmountable lead in the points.
In 1995, Al Unser Jr.'s season took an unexpected turn when his victory at Portland was taken away due to a technical infraction. When Unser's car was measured after the race, CART found it in violation of the "2-inch" rule that stipulates a minimum two-inch clearance between the bottom of the race car and the bottom edge of the side pod.
Suddenly, instead of leading the standings by an 82-80 margin over Jacques Villeneuve, Unser had only 61 points. After Villeneuve bullied past Bryan Herta to win at Cleveland, he had 137 points while Unser still had 61.
But Unser and the Penske team fought the Portland ruling, and his 21 points were reinstated in early September - the week of the final race, at Laguna Seca. Unser had won at Mid-Ohio and Vancouver, and his 132 points turned back into 153 points, putting him within 16 points of Villeneuve.
But neither man had a good race at Laguna. Villeneuve took the pole, but had two punctured Goodyears on his way to 11th place. That was still good enough for the title, because Unser qualified 14th and finished sixth for a final tally of 172-161 Villeneuve.
As a sidelight, Gil de Ferran overcame a 35-point deficit to Christian Fittipaldi in the last two races by finishing second and first at Vancouver and Laguna, respectively, to win the '95 Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year Award.
In 1999, Dario Franchitti and Juan Montoya staged a back and forth duel for the CART crown. Montoya broke out to a 112-85 lead over Franchitti after his win at Cleveland, then Michael Andretti moved into second in the points when he finished second at Elkhart Lake, held in July that year. At Toronto, a victory brought Franchitti within 7 points of Montoya after Juan's worst weekend of his amazing rookie season.
Second place to Tony Kanaan at the Michigan 500 moved Montoya out in front 129-116, while Andretti was still in the hunt with 107 points. Franchitti then took the championship lead after pacing a Team KOOL Green 1-2 at Detroit, but it shrunk to one point when Montoya won at Mid-Ohio. Andretti was now 28 points adrift and his challenge started to fade.
At Vancouver, Franchitti spun while trying to pass Montoya for the lead; Juan won and Dario was 10th, putting the points at 194 (Montoya) to 171 (Franchitti). It was 199-171 after Laguna Seca, with three races to go.
Houston: Franchitti finishes second to Tracy after Montoya crashes. Juan's lead is now 200-187. Then at Surfers Paradise, Dario won from the pole and Juan again crashed. Now the tables were turned, and Franchitti led 209-200 heading into the 500-mile finale at California Speedway.
Amazingly, fourth place for Montoya coupled with 10th place finish for Franchitti created a 212-212 tie. Montoya won the title on a tie-breaker, having won seven races to Franchitti's three.
Could this year's championship again come down to the final lap of the final race? Don't bet against it.