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Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
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Vasser Blitzes To Fastest 500 Mile Win
By Steve Keating
Jimmy Vasser denied Michael Andretti a farewell victory on Sunday, holding on to win the CART Toyota 500 in the fastest 500 mile race ever run. In a wild finish to what had been a mostly uneventful afternoon, Vasser first saw off a challenge from Brazil's Cristiano Da Matta, when the Series champion's engine exploded with 15 laps to run.
Pole-sitter Tony Kanaan of Brazil, whose only career win came at a super speedway at Michigan in 1999, was fourth. The CART season ends on November 17 in Mexico.
"It's a great win for me today and a great win for the team," said Vasser, the 1996 CART drivers champion. "It's great to be in victory circle again, it's been two years...it's great to win again."
When Da Matta, who is expected to move to Formula One next year with Toyota, left the pits with the lead ahead of Vasser after the final pit stops and 25 laps to run it looked as if the diminutive Brazilian was on his way to a single season record-equalling eighth victory.
But Da Matta's hopes would disappeared in a puff of smoke, bringing out the yellow caution flag and leaving the fight to Andretti and Vasser. Making his 308th career start, Andretti put his experience to use powering his Honda/Lola past Vasser's Ford-Cosworth/Lola as the two cars dove into turn one.
Andretti, CART's all-time win leader, then looked poised to register his first super speedway victory in 13 years until Dario Franchitti's car burst into flames five laps from the finish causing the race to red flagged. Under new CART rules, a race cannot end under a yellow caution.
"I thought I had the race won when the race was restarted after the Da Matta caution," Andretti said. "I didn't think Jimmy could catch me. Then Dario had a problem, we had the restart and I was a sitting duck. I just couldn't get close enough. If it's in the rule book that a race can't end under a yellow, then rules are rules, that's just the way it worked out."
With just two cautions appearing in the first 235 laps the race was the fastest ever for a 500-mile event, Vasser's 197.995 mph average speed demolishing the previous mark of 187.727 set by Al Unser Jr in 1990 at the Michigan Speedway.
Although the race featured 43 official lead changes, Vasser, ran from the front almost from the time the green flag was dropped, leading a record 148 laps. It was a remarkable comeback for Team Rahal and Vasser, who escaped serious injury but saw his car demolished in a nine-car first-lap pile up at the last race in Surfers Paradise.
Result of FedEx CART Championship Series, Round 18 of 19, California Speedway, United States:
Standings: Cristiano da Matta 221, Bruno Junqueira 148, Patrick Carpentier 145, Dario Franchitti 138, Christian Fittipaldi 122, Jimmy Vasser 112, Michael Andretti 110, Alex Tagliani 108, Michel Jourdain Jr 105, Paul Tracy 101 etc.
Embattled CART Gets New Presenting Sponsor
By Steve Keating
After months of being battered by defections and public relations setbacks, CART received a piece of good news on Saturday when Bridgestone announced it was signing on as presenting sponsor of the embattled racing series. Bridgestone, which supplies tyres for all cars in the open wheel series, fills some of the void left by the departure of title sponsor FedEx, which decided not to renew its commitment.
"I think we have a very good sense of where CART is headed," said Bridgestone motor sport executive director Al Speyer following qualifying for Sunday's Toyota 500 at the California Speedway. "In the end we see great strength in CART, we know there is going to be a changing of the guard, we're excited about some of the new young blood that is coming in.
"We very much see strength in street circuit racing."
No details of the sponsorship deal were announced, although CART president and chief executive Christopher Pook confirmed Bridgestone's financial investment was less than what would have been required to take over the title sponsorship. Pook said he would continue his search for a title sponsor, just one of the many challenges that lie ahead of him if he is to restore the series to its former luster.
CART has been confronted by a number of setbacks this season, including the loss of the series' top two engine manufacturers, Honda and Toyota to the rival Indy Racing League series in 2003. The series will also say goodbye to Michael Andretti. The most successful driver in CART history and the biggest name in American motorsport, Andretti will also move over to the IRL, joining the legendary team owner Roger Penske who defected last season.
Adding to the exodus, are series' champion Cristiano da Matta, who is poised to seek his fame and fortune next season in Formula One with Toyota, while Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi is off to NASCAR and popular Scot Dario Franchitti, will partner Andretti in the IRL.
"This is a significant development for us, I've talked about the importance of stability all year long," Pook said. "I think it's a very significant building block that's been put in place. That's very important when you're restructuring a company and setting on a new course."
Reports provided by Reuters
The Australian Finn
Anyone would think Marcus Gronholm developed a liking for Australia. The World Champion elect won his third consecutive Rally Australia on the unique ball bearing surfaces of Western Australia. Gronholm took the lead from Petter Solberg on the third stage of the Rally and gradually built up his lead. By the end of Leg 1 it was out to 29 seconds, then 48 seconds by the end of Leg 2. By rally's end the lead was almost a minute, and over a teammate.
But perhaps what characterised Rally Australia this year was the accidents. On a rally that rivals Rally Finland for speed, a series of spectacular crashing retirements littered the event, with the most serious being sufferred by Francois Delecour. For the second successive year the Frenchman crashed out of the event, and again co-driver Daniel Grataloup was airlifted to hospital, suffering a broken ankle and pelvis and some lung damage as well. After a couple of days in intensive care Grataloup is now in a regular ward and recovering well, but for the second year running Grataloup will miss the RAC. With Alister McRae also on the injured list Mitsubishi will struggle to field a team in Britain.
Peugeot and its drivers have taken the championship by storm this year. Harri Rovanpera had a rally long battle with the event's early leader Petter Solberg. Rovanpera cut himself loose on the final day to surge past Solberg on the higher speed stages of Leg 3 to take second place. It was Peugeot's eighth 1-2 finish for the year. Of Richard Burns, he retired in Stage 7 with a defective clutch while in fourth place behind Gronholm Sainz and Solberg. Gilles Panizzi was even less lucky when Richard Burns destroyed Panizzi's car in pre-event testing.
There will still be a place for him though as the shortage of good drivers has seen Didier Auriol's return to rallying for next season. Subaru could not even claim any glory from Group N where their four strong factory supported cars saw retirements to Possum Bourne and Dean Herridge with Cody Crocker well down the order, leaving Toshihiro Arai fourth behind three Mitsubishis.
Carlos Sainz drove the wheels off his Ford Focus, literally, as he gently rolled in Stage 22, but an inherited fourth place was the best he could manage. On the slower stages early in the event Sainz, along with Colin McRae, Markko Martin and Francois Duval had been competitive but with the faster stages the Fords began to suffer. Sainz damaged a turbo pipe in his roll, further exacerbating the power problems on the final two stages. Colin McRae landed heavily after a yump in Stage 14 which broke his car and ended his rally. Martin continued on to finish three minutes behind Sainz, but still in fifth place. With two stages to go Martin wasn't even in the points but the disqualification of Makinen and the crashing retirement of Duval on Stage 23 saw Martin take two points. For Duval it was another impressive rally up until the shunt. He remains a driver to watch.
Jani Paasonen made it to the finish in ninth, thirteen and a half minutes from Gronholm's pace. Paasonen had rolled on Stage 9 and picked up several penalties along the way. After the pace of New Zealand it was a disappointing result. Delecour's retirement making it even more so. Still Hyundai had made no further inroads on the manufacturers battle for fourth. Makinen's disqualification did promote Skoda in to the points though. Now Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Skoda go into the final rally of the season all on nine points. The good news though was Lancers finished 1-2-3 in Group N with Manfred Stohl taking tenth place ahead of Mitsubishi Australia's two cars of Ed Ordynski and Spencer Lowndes. Considering Ordynski has won Group N at Rally Australia eight times from fifteen events it made Stohl's drive a noteworthy achievement.
It was a miserable, even cruel rally for Hyundai. Freddy Loix was the first major retirement of the even in Stage 6 and Armin Schwarz only lasted one more Stage before the engine claimed his Accent. Juha Kankkunen was in ninth place when on the final Stage of the rally the car cried enough, having lost oil pressure.
The battle for the minor placings in the championship will be a nail biter. Two Ford drivers and three Peugeot drivers each sit on a number between 34 and 30 and Subarus Petter Solberg sits on 27. Any combination of the six drivers can be achieved with the right results. The only man enterring the Rally content with his place in the world is Marcus Gronholm.
Result of World Rally Championship Series, Round 13 of 14, Rally Australia:
Standings: Marcus Gronholm 77, Richard Burns 34, Colin McRae 33, Carlos Sainz 32, Gilles Panizzi 31, Harri Rovanpera 30, Petter Solberg 27, Tommi Makinen 19, Sebastien Loeb 18, Markko Martin 14 etc.
Group N: Karamajit Singh 32, Kristian Sohlberg 26, Ramon Ferreyros 23, Alex Fiorio and Toshihiro Arai 22, Martin Rowe 13, Gustavo Trelles 12 etc.
Manufacturers: Peugeot 163, Ford 94, Subaru 54, Mitsubishi, Skoda and Hyundai 9 etc.
Barros Brilliant Again
It went down to the last corner of the last lap, but he could not be denied. Despite riding a lesser spec RC211V than Valentino Rossi and Tohru Ukawa, Alex Barros took his second win in four races on the bike, the other two results being a second and third place. One can only imagine what the World Championship battle might have been like if Barros had been on the bike all year. Meanwhile, Andrew Pitt scored the first points in the fourth race for Kawasaki in the MotoGP class, finishing 12th, as they prepared for a full assault on the 2003 championship.
Max Biaggi took pole on his last ride for Yamaha, ahead of Alex Barros and Daijiro Kato on Honda four-strokes, and Garry McCoy making another appearance on the front row in fourth on his two-stroke Yamaha where he won two years ago, with Rossi down in sixth. At the start McCoy creeped as Carlos Checa stalled, Checa trying to bump start his bike as Jose-Luis Cardoso ploughed into the back of his bike, putting both of them out of the race, Cardoso badly shaken. A red flag seemed inevitable but it never came, as up front Barros led from Kato, Biaggi and Rossi, Biaggi and Rossi soon past Kato before the end of lap one, before Rossi took second place into turn two on lap two, the top four, all-four strokes, making a break. Early on lap two Nobuatsu Aoki came down as well.
Lap three and the inevitable happened, McCoy receiving his penalty for jumping the start, while Barros set a new lap record, Rossi doing the same on lap two and lap four as the leading duo edged away from Biaggi and Kato. Lap four saw McCoy make his stop-go and rejoin at the back. Lap five saw Barros set another lap record. Meanwhile McCoy's bad day ended when he crashed into the gravel on lap seven. Over the next five laps Rossi steadily closed in on Barros as the duo continued to move clear of Biaggi and Kato, with Tohru Ukawa riding a lonely race in fifth.
As they began lap fifteen Rossi was right on Barros's tail, though not looking too hard for a way through. Lap sixteen and it was different, looking left and right for a way through. Halfway through lap seventeen Barros put his hand out and waved Rossi through. As they completed the lap Barros passed Rossi down the main straight, Rossi returning to riding right behind Barros, before Barros stretched out a small lead again. Meanwhile, further back in the field, Barros's teammate Capirossi crashed out of seventh place in probably the last race for the NSR500. As the laps wound down Biaggi moved well clear of Kato, with Ukawa even further behind in fifth.
After Barros edged out a small lead, Rossi lap-by-lap slowly edged closer to Barros, before Barros returned the favour, then Rossi did the same and more, right back on his tail at the end of lap 26. Having said that, Rossi wasn't close enough to make a pass, and wasn't looking too hard for a way through. Two laps to go and Barros edged out again, one to go and Rossi was right with him. Barros ran wide through turn one, allowing Rossi to get alongside down the straight into turn two, but Barros somehow held on. Rossi literally was riding right on Barros's exhaust pipes. He looked left and right, but Barros managed to hold on to just beat Rossi, Biaggi finishing third.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 16 of 16, Comunitat Valenciana, Spain:
Final Standings: Valentino Rossi 355, Max Biaggi 215, Tohru Ukawa 209, Alex Barros 204, Carlos Checa 141, Norick Abe 129, Daijiro Kato 117, Loris Capirossi 109, Kenny Roberts 99, Olivier Jacque 81, Shinya Nakano 68, Nobuatsu Aoki 63, Jurgen vd Goorbergh 60, Jeremy McWilliams 59, John Hopkins 58, Sete Gibernau 51, Tetsuya Harada 47, Akira Ryo 41, Regis Laconi and Garry McCoy 33, Shinichi Itoh 13, Alex Hofmann 11, Jose Luis Cardoso 9, Jean Michel Bayle 5, Wataru Yoshikawa, Andrew Pitt and Pere Riba 4
Melandri And Barros Join Yamaha
Newly-crowned 250cc motorcycling world champion Marco Melandri and Brazilian Alex Barros will both ride for Yamaha in MotoGP next season, the Japanese manufacturer said on Monday.
Barros, 32 and race winner in Valencia at the weekend on a four-stroke Honda, is moving to the Gauloises Yamaha team alongside French rider Olivier Jacque on a full factory four-stroke YZR-M1 machine. The move is a break for the Brazilian after eight years with Honda.
Melandri won the 250cc title on an Aprilia in Australia last month and took his ninth victory of the year in the season-ending round in Spain last weekend.
"Our new rider line-up is strong with a good blend of youth and experience," said Yamaha motor racing director Lin Jarvis in a statement. "We are counting on Carlos to fulfil his potential and take the M1 to the next stage in terms of development and results. Melandri is an exciting new signing for the future and he's proved he has the talent and determination to do well."
Yamaha motorsports general manager Hiroshi Oosumi said the company was also considering the possibility of an additional entry in the 2003 MotoGP championship with a satellite team, although this was still to be confirmed. The manufacturer announced a new two-year sponsorship agreement with multinational tobacco company Altadis, owner of the Spanish Fortuna and French Gauloises brands.
Report provided by Reuters
Benson Finally Breaks Through
It finally happened. After nearly winning just under two months ago at New Hampshire, and then again two weeks ago at Martinsville, Johnny Benson finally scored his debut Winston Cup win after seven years of trying at Rockingham. A mixture of speed and strategy proved crucial in Benson just edging out Mark Martin for the win. In the battle for the title Tony Stewart didn't have a great day, finishing 14th, but neither did most of his rivals. Ryan Newman finished 23rd after qualifying on pole and leading early, Rusty Wallace 27th, Jimmie Johnson finished 37th after mechanical problems, while Mark Martin had a good result by finishing a close second but this was soured post-race when an unapproved left front spring cost Martin and owner Jack Roush 25 points and crew chief Ben Leslie US $5 000. Despite this Jack Roush had a great day, his four cars all finishing in the top ten: Martin second, Kurt Busch third, Jeff Burton fourth and Matt Kenseth in eighth. Dale Earnhardt Jr had a dreadful day, finishing 34th.
Everyone hit the pits, Newman leading Green, Mark Martin and Skinner off pit road. At the restart on lap 28 Jeff Green was all over Newman, but a few laps later he had fallen back and was passed by Martin. Before lap 50 there was a shuffle at the front, Martin leading a lap or two before Jeff Green made a surge and moved from third to first. Unfortunately for Stewart, he was dropping further back, down to 31st after 55 laps. Martin didn't let Green get too far away, and retook the lead from Green on lap 68, as almost simultaneously Busch took third from Newman.
By lap 75 Jimmie Johnson was up to eleventh, having started in the middle of the pack. The man Johnson was chasing for the title, Tony Stewart, was still having a bad day, leader Mark Martin putting him a lap down on lap 92. Some cars decided around this point to 'short pit', hoping that despite stopping early, they could make use of fresh tyres to get them back up through the field, providing a caution didn't come out before the leaders pitted, as cars short pitting could easily get trapped a lap or more down. Jeff Green retook the lead from Martin on lap 107, Martin making his pit stop one lap later, the remainder of the field completing their stops in the next handful of laps.
Lap 168 and Jeff Green was surging again, passing Martin for second place. Those drivers short pitting had already begun their second round of green flag stops, including Stewart, while those running to their fuel window weren't even close to make their stops. Ryan Newman's day, which had started well but had become not so great, got worse when he lost time at his second pit stop to remove a rear spring rubber. Up front Green was right with Busch before passing soon after, the leading duo running as far as they could before making their stops.
After the second round of green flag stops were completed, just after lap 200, Jeff Green was again the leader, Jeff Gordon up to second but passed soon after by Kurt Busch. Jimmie Johnson was forced to make another stop for some loose lug buts, dropping him right to near the back of the field, behind even Stewart. Lap 230 saw the second caution of the day come out, for debris on the race track. About half the field was still on the lead lap, Stewart not being one of them however. Given the opportunity, everyone came into the pits for tyres and fuel, Green keeping the lead ahead of Busch, Gordon, Martin and Todd Bodine, having a great day.
Everyone dived for the pits again, Busch winning the race off pit road ahead of Martin, and Gordon, while Jeff Green lost positions after some lug nut problems and Johnson's car went behind the wall to fix his problems for good, dropping over ten laps behind. Lap 265 and it was back to racing, Busch and Martin edging away from Gordon, Martin looking for a way past Busch to help his chances for the win and to move closer to the top of the points. Also to be considered was whether Martin could lead some laps to make sure he gained the five bonus points for leading the most laps.
Lap 283 and Martin went past teammate Busch somewhat easily, so it seemed that the team was working to help ensure Martin got those extra bonus points. Lap 292 and the caution came out when Ward Burton hit the turn three wall backwards after contact towards the end of the backstretch. The field pitted for what might be the last stop of the day if there were no more yellows and if they could stretch the fuel out. Martin held onto the lead ahead of Busch, Bobby Labonte, who had been stretching his fuel all day, Gordon and Skinner, while Stewart was 24th.
Lap 297 and it was green once more, as for a change the leaders weren't breaking too far away from the rest of the front runners. 75 laps remaining, and Benson was up to fourth after restarting sixth, while Gordon had dropped back to seventh, Skinner and Jeff Burton ahead of him. Benson was soon on Bobby Labonte's tail, as just behind them Burton took fifth from Skinner on lap 327. Benson looked high, then low, taking the place from Labonte on lap 329. As they completed lap 340 Busch retook the lead, Martin having secured the point while Benson closed in on both of them, Burton now up to fourth. Martin initially ran right with Busch before he fell back a little, while Benson zoomed in on both of them.
Ten to go and Martin almost got alongside Benson, repeating the move two laps later. As they came to six laps to go Martin got half a car alongside, but into turn one Benson forced Martin as far down as he could, Martin not being able to hang on and allowing Benson to hold onto the lead. While the leading duo battled for the lead, they were having to watch out for cars 'passing' them that had made pit stops for fuel and tyres, a somewhat bizarre sight. Coming out of turn two on the second last lap Martin was right on Benson's bumper but that would be as close as he could get, Benson holding on to take his first ever Winston Cup win from Martin and Busch. Tony Stewart's day ended much better than he may have expected, ending up in 14th place.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 34 of 36, North Carolina Speedway, North Carolina, United States:
Standings: Tony Stewart 4549, Mark Martin 4437, Jimmie Johnson 4330, Ryan Newman 4324, Kurt Busch 4301, Rusty Wallace 4283, Jeff Gordon 4282, Matt Kenseth 4209, Dale Jarrett 4154, Ricky Rudd 4093 etc.
CART
Then after a restart, he out-sprinted Andretti to the finish line in a final two-lap duel to collect his first win in two years. Andretti, who will defect to the rival IRL next season and was competing in his last CART race on U.S. soil, settled for second as the only two Americans on the grid topped the podium ahead of Canada's Patrick Carpentier in third.
When the race was restarted with four miles to run, it was Vasser, a winner on the California super speedway in 1998, shooting past Andretti, who was unable to respond.
Pos Driver Car
1. Jimmy Vasser Lola-Ford
2. Michael Andretti Lola-Honda
3. Patrick Carpentier Reynard-Ford
4. Tony Kanaan Lola-Honda
5. Oriol Servia Reynard-Toyota
6. Scott Dixon Lola-Toyota
7. Christian Fittipaldi Lola-Toyota
8. Alex Tagliani Reynard-Ford
9. Bruno Junqueira Lola-Toyota
10. Dario Franchitti Lola-Honda
Rally
"This has been one of the easiest wins for me this year," said Gronholm, "but at the same time, I had to keep concentration for two days when I had a very strong lead. Today was just about watching the speed of the guys behind and making sure they didn't take too much time out of me. I'm very happy, of course, and now I'm sure I can take this motivation and confidence into the last round in Britain."
Subaru looked strong in Australia but couldn't match the Peugeots for sheer speed on the event. Petter Solberg won the first stage of the Rally and was second going into the final day, but Rovanpera was the irresistable force. Four time world champion Tommi Makinen finished the event in fourth place, unable to match the pace of his younger teammate, only to be disqualified when the car was found to be underweight after the event. It was not Makinen's most memeorable event, also jumping the start in a Stage during Leg 2. Speculation has been rife for a while over how many more seasons Makinen may compete, though he will continue on for at least another year.
The battle for fourth place in the manufacturers championship hinges on every scrap of a point. Such has been the form of Mitsubishi, Skoda and Hyundai that they have been scrapping for the leavings of the big three all year. The sixth place for Toni Gardemeister and Skoda has the three travel to Britain on nine points, some 45 points behind Subaru. At Australia the Skodas gradually climbed through the order as attrition took its course. A couple of small problems slowed Kenneth Eriksson, a bent wishbone on Leg 2, overshooting a corner on Leg 3, plus an errant kangaroo, and so it was Gardemeister the team pinned their hopes on. Classified sixth after finishing seventh, Gardemeister got Skoda the point they needed. Eriksson would be eighth finishing behind the consistent Sebastien Loeb, who was testing settings and components in a privately run Xsara.
Down in 18th position was the happiest man in the field. Eighth in Group N, but only third of the registered championship runners behind Arai and Alex Fiorio, Karamijit Singh won the first ever motor sport world championship for Malaysia and for Proton. On the final Group N event of the season, third place was enough for the Proton Pert driver to be confirmed champion by finishing ahead of Ramon Ferreyros after Kristian Sohlberg crashed out.
Pos Driver Car
1. Marcus Gronholm Peugeot 206
2. Harri Rovanpera Peugeot 206
3. Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza
4. Carlos Sainz Ford Focus
5. Markko Martin Ford Focus
6. Toni Gardemeister Skoda Octavia
7. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Xsara
8. Kenneth Eriksson Skoda Octavia
9. Jani Paasonen Mitsubishi Lancer
10. Manfred Stohl Mitsubishi Lancer (Group N)
MotoGP
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Alex Barros Honda RC211V
2. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
3. Max Biaggi Yamaha YZR M1
4. Daijiro Kato Honda RC211V
5. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
6. Shinya Nakano Yamaha YZR M1
7. Jurgen vd Goorbergh Honda NSR500
8. Jeremy McWilliams Proton KR3
9. Olivier Jacque Yamaha YZR M1
10. Norick Abe Yamaha YZR M1
Italian Melandri, still only 20, replaces compatriot Max Biaggi, who is moving to the Pramac Honda team, His teammate in the renamed works Fortuna Yamaha team will be experienced Spaniard Carlos Checa, 30.
NASCAR
In a nice change, qualifying was successfully held, Ryan Newman taking the pole. At the start Ryan Newman moved clear as the rest of the field were caught behind Jamie McMurray in second place. Meanwhile, points leader Tony Stewart, who had started in the middle of the field, had lost a couple of positions as Mike Skinner and Kurt Busch made their way past McMurray at the front, Jeff Green taking fourth on lap 12 as McMurray slowly dropped back. Skinner also began to slide back through the top ten just before the first caution came out on lap 23 when Bobby Hamilton spun in turn three, Mike Wallace suffering damage as he was unable to avoid the sliding Hamilton.
After all the stops were completed Martin was the leader once again from Busch and Green. Stewart's short pit strategy moved him back up onto the end of the lead lap and just outside the top 20 at lap 125. Five laps later and Stewart was a lap down again. Meanwhile fellow Pontiac runner Johnny Benson was running well, up in sixth place, and fifth on lap 152 when he moved past Skinner. Not long after there was a change in the lead as Kurt Busch passed Mark Martin. As they approached the next round of stops, Benson faded slightly to seventh while Stewart was about a lap and a half down in 31st place.
The race resumed on lap 235, Busch taking the lead from Green just two laps later, Gordon following through into second a few laps later. Green, Martin and Bodine were soon all fighting for third before Martin made it past on lap 243, and began chasing down Gordon, taking second from him on lap 255. Johnson was in the pits again, but was sent back out, dropping further behind as the caution came out on lap 258 when Todd Bodine's great day turned bad when his front right tyre deflated, sending him hard into the turn one wall.
Most of the leaders thought they could make it to the end - whether they could or not we were about to find out. With 45 to go Benson finally made his way past Martin to take second and set off in pursuit of Busch. 35 to go and Benson was right on Busch's tail as they lapped Jimmy Spencer side-by-side down the backstretch! As all this happened, Martin found a second wind and made it a three way battle up front. After running side-by-side a few times, Benson finally made the move stick with 28 laps remaining, Martin following past soon after as he chased Benson for the win, Martin right on his tail with 18 to go. At this point in the race some of those not able to make it to the end on fuel pitted, moving some of those further back up a few spots, one of those drivers moving up being Tony Stewart.
Pos Driver Car
1. Johnny Benson Pontiac Grand Prix
2. Mark Martin Ford Taurus
3. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
4. Jeff Burton Ford Taurus
5. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
6. Mike Skinner Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Bobby Labonte Pontiac Grand Prix
8. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
9. Ricky Craven Ford Taurus
10. Jeff Green Chevrolet Monte Carlo
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Volume 8, Issue 45
Atlas F1 Exclusive
Interview with Murray Walker
Giancarlo Fisichella: Through the Visor
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