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©2001 SpeedCenter Publishing DETROIT (January 17, 2001) - Marlboro Team Penske driver Gil de Ferran, the reigning FedEx Series champion, earned the Mario Andretti Trophy as the leading vote-getter for the 2000 CART All-Star Team announced during the FedEx Championship Series Sneak Preview week. De Ferran was joined on the 2000 CART All-Star Team by Paul Tracy of Team KOOL Green, Adrian Fernandez of Fernandez Racing, Michael Andretti of Team Motorola and 1999 series champion Juan Montoya. De Ferran, who gave Marlboro Team Penske its first championship since 1994, earned 546 voting points to outdistance Montoya, the 1999 Mario Andretti Trophy winner who finished with 328 points. The voting was conducted by CART drivers; a select group of media, fans and a pair of celebrity judges -- Grammy Award-winning musician Lenny Kravitz and renowned actor/director Sylvester Stallone. This year was the first time fans participated and their consensus top five received 10 percent of the overall vote. De Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) registered two victories, including the historic 100th for Penske Racing at Nazareth, and five poles en route to his first career FedEx Series championship. Among the poles was the one at California that established a new world closed-course speed record of 241.428 miles per hour. He also ranked fourth in the series in laps led and third in laps completed. Montoya (Target Toyota Lola), who spent the past two seasons with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, tied for the series lead in wins (3) and was the series leader in pole positions (7) and laps led (820). Among his highlights was Milwaukee, which marked the first-ever win for Toyota in five years in the series, and Michigan, where he edged Michael Andretti in the third-closest race in Champ Car history. Also, his 820 laps led were the fourth highest single-season total in CART history. Montoya, who will compete in Formula One this season, finished ninth in the championship. It is Montoya's second appearance on the all-star team. Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) finished third in the balloting with 207 points. He tied for the series lead with three wins, his final one coming at Vancouver, where he became the first Canadian winner in the history of the event, and earned a record-setting pole at Michigan. Tracy led the series championship from Rounds 2 through 7 and eventually finished fifth in the title race. It marks the second appearance by Tracy on the all-star squad. Fernandez, who raced for Patrick Racing last season and will have his own team this season, finished fourth in the balloting with 206 points. Fernandez, driver of the Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard, recorded a pair of victories and also scored points in 17 of 20 events to finish runnerup in the championship. He also led the series in laps and miles completed. The final member of the 2000 CART All-Star Team is Andretti with 120 points. He earned two victories, pushing his career total to 40 and moving him into sole possession of third place on the all-time Champ Car victory list, in his final season in the Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola for Newman/Haas Racing. Andretti, who will drive for Team Motorola this season, led the championship from Rounds 11-15 and eventually finished eighth in the championship. It also is Andretti's second appearance on the all-star team.
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