©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
The cars are much different, but it's asimilar nameplate that will try to tame The Milwaukee Mile at the PPG CART WorldSeries Miller 200, June 1. Paul Tracy, coming off of three straight victories,and six other Mercedes-Benz drivers are hoping to re-create history at theone-mile Milwaukee oval more than 85 years after another famous Benz blastedinto the speed record books.
In 1910, "World Speed King" Barney Oldfield visited the Wisconsin StateFairgrounds track with his 200-horsepower "Blitzen Benz" as part of a nationwidebarnstorming tour and lowered the lap record at The Mile by an incredible fiveseconds. Eighty-seven years later, Tracy is returning with the PPG Cup pointslead and an 800-plus-horsepower Marlboro Penske/Mercedes-Benz Indy car toreplicate Oldfield's mastery. Though the new pacesetter may not decrease the laprecord by an Oldfield-like margin, a Benz is likely to set the mark at Milwaukeeagain.
The seven Mercedes-powered pilots hope to dominate the Milwaukee racemuch like last year, when Mercedes-motivated cars sat on the pole, led 141 ofthe 200 laps and claimed four of the top five finishing positions.
"The track record's definitely going to fall this year," said Tracy, whoset a world record lap time for a one-mile oval at the Nazareth (Pa.) Speedwaylast month, claiming the pole and winning the race for Marlboro Team Penske andMercedes-Benz. "Last year, we were quicker than the track record in everysession, but qualifying was rained out, so we never got an official record."
Tracy's quick practice lap of 20.448 seconds (176.058 mph) last year atMilwaukee was nearly 1.3 seconds quicker than the existing track record set byRaul Boesel in 1993. Because it was not recorded during qualifying or the race,Tracy's time is not considered a lap record, although it did earn him the poleposition for the race.
New CART regulations designed to slow the cars in 1997 might hinder a runfor the record, but Tracy is not concerned. "Our performance at Nazareth was agood indication that we,ve recovered the performance that was lost with the newrules. Also, Al (Unser Jr.) just tested at Milwaukee and went real quick --mid-20-second laps. Goodyear's tires are much better than they were last year,and although the Mercedes engine has less boost (due to a CART-mandatedreduction in turbocharger air pressure), it has much better response."
Tracy and teammate Unser will not be alone in the effort to duplicateOldfield's record-setting form. Five other Mercedes-powered drivers will takeaim at Boesel's four-year-old mark, including Players/Forsythe driver GregMoore, currently fifth in PPG Cup points; Team Alumax driver Patrick Carpentier;PacWest pilot Mauricio Gugelmin, who drove his Hollywood-sponsoredReynard/Mercedes-Benz to the pole position at the Rio 400 in Brazil; hisPacWest teammate Mark Blundell; and Hogan Racing shoe Dario Franchitti.