| [ News Index ][ SpeedCenter Homepage ][ Copyright Info ][ SpeedCenter Galleries ] |
©1998 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc. Target/Chip Ganassi Racing has won each of thepast two PPG Cup championships, and in both cases, Spring Training at theMetro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex has served as a precursor of things tocome. It remains to be seen if this year's Spring Training, Feb. 3-5 on thereconfigured 1.517-mile Homestead oval, will be as accurate a predictor of thecoming FedEx Championship Series season as it has been in the past. A full fieldof 30 FedEx Championship Series entries is expected to participate in SpringTraining's first-ever media day on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Two extensive days ofon-track activity will follow on Feb. 4 and 5, from 9-11:45 a.m. and 1:15-4 p.m.each day. Nearly 200 media have been credentialed to attend the event, making the mediacontingent and the entry list the largest in Spring Training's three-yearhistory. A complete schedule of media day events will be available Tuesdaymorning at the track. Jimmy Vasser (Target Reynard Honda) paced his rivals with the fastest lap speedof CART's inaugural Spring Training in 1996 at the Miami-Dade HomesteadMotorsports Complex, then went on to win the title behind four victories in theseason's first six races. Vasser and Target/Ganassi teammate Alex Zanardi (Target Reynard Honda) posted thetwo fastest laps, respectively, during CART's 1997 Spring Training at Homestead,and that time, it was Zanardi who emerged with the Cup, fueled by series-hightotals of five victories and four pole positions. Vasser and Zanardi are back in a bid to capture Target/Ganassi's thirdconsecutive championship, a feat accomplished only once before in CART history,by Penske Racing with Rick Mears (1981, '82) and Al Unser ('83). Team owner ChipGanassi realizes the importance of the preseason as his team begins its quest. "I think Spring Training is a great thing," he said. "You're practicing on yourown all winter long, and you never really know where you are competitively withother teams. But at Spring Training, most teams lay all their cards on the tableso that they can see how they compare to other teams. It's definitely a predictorof the season. Teams that come out strong right away tend to be strong all seasonlong. It's a great event for fans and teams." Several teams revamped their lineups in the off-season in an attempt to derailthe Target/Ganassi express. It began when Marlboro Team Penske released PaulTracy from his contract and hired Andre Ribeiro (Marlboro Penske Mercedes) fromTasman Motorsports to team with Al Unser Jr. (Marlboro Penske Mercedes) thisseason. Tracy, a three-time winner 1997, wasn't idle long. Shortly after his departurefrom Marlboro Team Penske, he reached an agreement to team with promisingsophomore Dario Franchitti, who moved over from Hogan Racing, at Team KOOL Green.Both will be in KOOL Reynard Hondas. A couple of weeks after Tracy and Ribeiro changed teams, 1997 CART Rookie of theYear Patrick Carpentier (Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes) moved fromBettenhausen Motorsports/Team Alumax to Player's Forsythe Racing, where he'llteam with Greg Moore (Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes), winner of two CARTevents last season, to launch a two-pronged attack on the Target/Ganassi tandem. Another lineup change occurred at Patrick Racing, where Adrian Fernandez(Tecate/Quaker State Reynard Ford) joined Scott Pruett (Visteon Reynard Ford)after making the move from the Tasman Motorsports Group. Of course, several strong teams maintained status quo heading into 1998, amongthem the PacWest Racing Group, which vaulted into the upper echelon of CART teamswith four victories last year. Included among them were the first careervictories for both Mauricio Gugelmin (Hollywood PacWest Mercedes) and MarkBlundell (Motorola PacWest Mercedes), who won three of the season's final nineevents. Gil de Ferran (Valvoline/Cummins Special Reynard Honda) finished second in thechampionship last season behind seven podium finishes, which tied Zanardi for theseries lead. De Ferran was remarkably consistent, scoring PPG Cup points in 14 of17 events, but was kept out of victory circle by a run of tough luck. Newman/Haas Racing's lineup also remains the same this year, headed by MichaelAndretti (Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford), CART's all-time victory leader with36. Andretti debuted the new Swift chassis in spectacular fashion with a win inthe season opener at Homestead last year, but didn't reach victory circle for theremainder of the season. Teammate Christian Fittipaldi (Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford), fully recoveredfrom a broken leg which kept him out of seven events last season, appears on theverge of breaking through for the first career CART victory which has thus fareluded his grasp. Team Rahal figures to draw a multitude of media attention this season, courtesyof "Rahal's Last Ride," as owner/driver Bobby Rahal's (Miller Lite Reynard Ford)final competitive season has been dubbed. Rahal, a 17-year veteran and CART'sall-time leader in career starts (245), will be looking to highlight his farewellcampaign with his first victory since 1992. Bryan Herta (Shell Reynard Ford),another driver on the brink of his first CART career triumph, teams with Rahalfor the third season. Team Rahal has made one significant change to its package for 1998. After along-standing relationship with Goodyear, the team switches to Firestone tires,which won 13 of 17 events last season, including the last 11 in succession. Up-and-coming drivers poised for breakout seasons include Michel Jourdain Jr.(Herdez/Viva Mexico! Reynard Ford), Richie Hearn (Ralphs-Food 4 Less/BudweiserSwift Ford) and Max Papis (MCI Reynard Toyota). Jourdain received the STP MostImproved Driver award by vote of his peers last year while Hearn is counting onhis team's switch from a Lola to a Swift chassis and from Goodyear to Firestonetires to help him fulfill the promise he has shown in 20 series starts. Papis earned top-15 finishes in six of his final seven starts last season as theToyota engine became increasingly reliable in the final half of the campaign. Hescored PPG Cup points in both 500-mile events, finishing eighth at Michigan and12th at California, and will be looking to build on that momentum in 1998. The 1998 FedEx Championship Series rookie crop is among the most impressive inrecent memory. It includes Tony Kanaan (LCI International Reynard Honda), the1997 PPG-Firestone Indy Lights champion who was promoted to the TasmanMotorsports Group's Championship Car ride. Helio Castro-Neves (Alumax ReynardMercedes), the 1997 Indy Lights runner-up, moves from Tasman's Lights program toBettenhausen Motorsports. Formula One veteran JJ Lehto (Hogan Motor Leasing Reynard Mercedes) takes overfor Franchitti at Hogan Racing while KOOL/Toyota Atlantic champion Alex Barron(Castrol-Time Inc. Reynard Toyota) steps into the seat vacated by the retirementof Juan Fangio II at All American Racers. Barron's teammate, PJ Jones (Castrol-Time Inc. Reynard Toyota), battled through afrustrating 1997 campaign but finished on a high note with a season-best10th-place finish at California. Other two-car efforts are being mounted atPayton Coyne Racing, where Dennis Vitolo (SmithKline Beecham Consumer ReynardFord) will team with Jourdain; and at Arciero-Wells Racing, where veteran HiroMatsushita (Panasonic Duskin Reynard Toyota) joins Papis. Robby Gordon, a five-year regular (1992-96) in the FedEx Championship Series whowas recently signed by Arciero-Wells to drive in several as yet unnamed 1998events, is scheduled to test with the team at Spring Training. Arnd Meier (BAAN Business Software Reynard Ford) will test for Davis Racing atSpring Training after making 10 starts for Project Indy during his rookiecampaign last season. Christian Danner (P C World/Hawaiian Tropic Reynard Ford)tests for Project Indy after making three starts for Payton Coyne Racing lastyear. Rookie Hideshi Matsuda (BMB Minijuke Swift Ford) will test with Della PennaMotorsports in preparation for CART's first-ever visit to Japan for the March 28Budweiser 500 at the new Twin Ring Motegi motorsports complex. The FedEx Championship Series consists of a record 19 events this year, includingCART's first-ever visits to Japan and Houston. The series returns to Homesteadfor the season opener, the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota,March 13-15 at the Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex. Source: CART News Service | ||
| |||