Prove Yourself By Lesley Ann Miller©2000 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing/Champcar.com The title doesn't refer to the Radiohead song of the same name, but to the underlying themeof the 2000 CART/FedEx Championship Series season. While 1999 saw more success from somepeople than was expected from them, 2000 brings high expectations from a wide range of people. 1. Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Then there's the issue of losing Mo Nunn. Like Jeff Gordon losing Ray Evernham, will it matter or will it MATTER? Maybe that's why Chip is thinking of changing chassis as well as the engine. If he fails this year, which of course means not winning a fifth championship, maybe he'd rather take the heat for the package change than hear about letting the magic engineer go. And before we leave TCGR, we have to remember Jimmy Vasser. Unfortunately, few people do remember him anymore. Was the 1996 season an aberration? Sure, he won a couple of 500 mile races and a couple of million dollars, but the other TCGR team has done a lot more in the past three seasons. If Jimmy doesn't win this year, as well as factor into the championship, I'm afraid the number 12 car may have a different driver in 2001. 2. Newman/Haas Racing As for the drivers, Michael has got to get on the top step of the podium this year, more than just once like in 1999. While Michael is always a threat during the race, he doesn't often seem to be a threat at the finish line. Like Dan Marino, he's dangerous on any given Sunday, but at the end of the season, he's not taking home the trophy. And Christian's first goal for 2000 must be to be healthy for every race. When you look at his results in 1999, he was ferocious before his testing accident, earning his first win in Elkhart Lake. And he was immediately in contention when he returned in Houston. If he could race in all 20 races this year, he may be able to establish the Fittipaldi name in the 21st century. 3. Team KOOL Green When Dario Franchitti looks back at 1999, he sees a season where he was no where as dominating as champion Juan Montoya, yet he ended up with the same number of points. If only he had done a little bit more, he'd have the title. So what does that mean for 2000? He, and his team, must remember that every single point is important. Every pass on the track and every pit stop could possibly bring one more point. Perhaps Barry should have thought of that at Mid-Ohio last year. This season is also a pivotal season for Paul Tracy - again. Last season, he had to prove that he could start the year immediately a race down because of his suspension at Homestead, while maintaining his patience throughout the remaining 19 races. And he almost did - except in St. Louis with his teammate, and in Chicago with Andretti. Maybe 2000 will be the year in which Paul completely matures. He's got his first child on the way, and after the loss of his friend Greg Moore at Fontana, perhaps Paul will reach further down in himself and think about the ramifications of his actions. It could happen! 4. Team Rahal Max Papis is looking to have quite a year himself. After shedding his Toyota engine, he had his breakthrough season in 1999, almost winning the US 500 until he ran out of fuel on the last lap. With Team Rahal keeping the same package combination again this year (possibly a record for them), Max is ready to get his first win. Will he rightfully be the Number One driver for the team, or will everyone be helping Kenny and lose Max in the shuffle? 5. Marlboro Team Penske It's fair to say that everyone at Marlboro Team Penske has something to prove in 2000. Gil de Ferran has to prove that he's better than the measly three victories he's had in four years. Maybe shedding those Goodyear tires may be the best thing for Gil. If seemed to do wonders for Christian Fittipaldi. Having some career stability may prove to help nurture Helio Castro-Neves. Bettenhausen lost their Alumax sponsorship at the end of 1998, forcing them to cut him loose. Then, at the Fontana race in 1999, Carl Hogan announced that he couldn't get sponsorship for this season and was folding his team. Two dismissals in two years. Now, with a hungry and focused Team Penske, Helio has to prove that his pole in Milwaukee and podium at Gateway last year wasn't the extent of his success. Put in him a car that doesn't blow up every 20 laps and he just may surprise people. 6. Patrick Racing For the first time in his career, Roberto Moreno is a fulltime driver in CART. After responding to all of those emergency phone calls to replace injured drivers for the past few years, Roberto finally gets to call his car his own. Think about it - when he pulls in for a pit stop, the crew's helmets will be painted just like his - what a concept! Also consider this - if he can jump into someone else's car and consistently score points with it, what can he do with his own car for 20 races? I say that Roberto is the dark horse for the 2000 season. 7. Forsythe/Arciero Championship Racing Forsythe/Arciero Championship Racing has given up the Reynard and gone to the Swift. Hmmm. I guess they didn't pay attention when Della Penna Motorsports and Team Gordon did this last year. All I can say is that I feel sorry for the McDonalds crew - nobody likes working on a Swift. They didn't put access holes where holes should be, and let's not even talk about "ease of setup". Good luck. As for Bryan Herta, we all know what he has to prove in 2000. The CART/FedEx Championship Series has 20 races this year, and only one of them will be run at Laguna Seca. You probably can't win the championship if you only win one race a year, and you certainly can't win the championship if you are a back marker at the rest of the tracks. Bryan's 1999 season was summed up when he was introduced at the Miller 225 at Milwaukee - after Dennis Vitolo but before Shigeaki Hattori. When Shig out-qualifies you, it's back to the drawing board. 8. PacWest Racing Group 9. PPI Motorsports This year, Cristiano da Matta will be racing the same package as Juan, assuming TCGR doesn't switch to Lola. If they stay with Reynard, we will be able to compare last year's top two rookies on a more even playing field. Can Juan still beat Cristiano with no previous experience with the Toyota and a team that is also new to the engine, and without Mo Nunn? We'll find out... 10. Mo Nunn Racing It's good to see that Tony Kannan got away from the Swift at his McDonalds team - that would have been a waste of driver talent. But he of course needs to win a race in 2000 without having to depend upon someone else running out of fuel within a mile of the finish line. I do believe that Tony is a talented driver, but he's the same driver that was dominating Long Beach last year until he had a brain fade directly into the wall. The rest of his year wasn't particularly special. 11. Player's Forsythe Racing Team With Greg leaving, Patrick Carpentier was already going to step up to Number One driver for 2000. Patrick has never really had much success in CART, perhaps partly because his team mate was so good and was always challenging for the win, something that Patrick rarely did. But if he is to write the rest of his CART career story, the 2000 season is certainly the time to do so. We're used to seeing a light-blue "players-racing.com" car up front. It's Patrick's job to keep it there. 12. Bettenhausen Motorsports The 2000 season finds Tony Bettenhausen with his best driver since he had to let Helio Castro-Neves go. Michel Jourdain Jr. is bringing his Herdez sponsorship to Tony and they are both serious about racing. During his try-out for the team last year, Michel laid down some blistering laps at Sebring with the team's Lola Mercedes, and that was with Goodyear tires! If the team can shake the "Shig stigma" from the past year and help Michel get to know his new car, there may be another red and green car near the front in 2000. 13. Della Penna Motorsports 14. Dale Coyne Racing and Walker Racing 15. Johansson Team CAN | |