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Not to beoverlooked in Alex Zanardi's (Target ReynardHonda) dramatic repeat victory at Sunday's ToyotaGrand Prix of Long Beach was the performance ofDario Franchitti (KOOL Reynard Honda), whoserunner-up effort was a career high.
Franchitti's finish was the best for a BarryGreen-owned car in CART competition since JacquesVilleneuve's victory at Cleveland in 1995, theyear Villeneuve claimed the PPG Cup.
It was also the best finish ever for a Scotsmanin CART competition, topping Jim Crawford'sconsecutive fourth-place finishes at Long Beachin 1984 and '85.
"I give full credit to my team, Team KOOL Green,"Franchitti said. "Since I started there, I havebeen testing since November. I am a lot morecomfortable in the car. "During the raceweekends, everything is very, very structured,and that is helping me in my position as well,because it just means there is no unknown there.We just go out there and we try to win races.
"Barry has got a very good way of running theteam. He keeps it all very calm; his whole focusis on winning races. It's just a more relaxedatmosphere for me to work in, and that is payingoff at the moment."
Franchitti has either established or tied careerbests with his finishes in each of the firstthree events of the FedEx Championship Seriesseason. His ninth-place effort in the seasonopener at Homestead matched a career bestestablished at Australia last year. He followedwith an eighth-place finish at Japan prior toSunday's runner-up finish at Long Beach.
Source: CART News Service
