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©1998 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc. By Dan Proudfoot Jimmy Vasser's new beginning this weekendis on familiar ground — the 2.2-mile roller-coaster road circuit knownas Laguna Seca Raceway where his racing career started. The race marks a fresh start for Vasser as the top driver on theTarget/Chip Ganassi Racing team. He has renewed his contract whileteammate Alex Zanardi remains on the brink of moving to FormulaOne with Williams. Vasser has four races left this season to establish his stature as secondonly to Zanardi among CART drivers. Dario Franchitti is the hot itemof the moment, with two wins in a row, Adrian Fernandez the surpriseof the year, but Vasser is second in the standings with two wins. He was the CART champion in 1996, when Zanardi finished third inpoints as a rookie. Ever since, Ganassi has been fond of saying he hastwo No. 1 drivers, but the racing world has come to view Zanardi asthe clear No. 1. Vasser won at this track last year as Zanardi clinched his firstchampionship by finishing fourth. In 1996, Zanardi won (with hismemorable off-road pass of Bryan Herta) and Vasser clinched his titleby finishing third. "Obviously, for me, this track is very special," said Vasser, a native ofnearby San Francisco. "The past two years for me here have been fantastic." Vasser returns to business in today's provisional qualifying knowingFernandez, Greg Moore, Franchitti and Michael Andretti are withinstriking distance in championship points. He also knows that Ganassi's attention has turned from Zanardi. "While the focus of our team has been on both drivers and winning thechampionship, that focus has shifted to, 'Okay, we have first lockedup, let's go for second now,'" Ganassi said this week. "We want to putall our efforts toward that goal." Vasser's most recent race, the Molson Indy Vancouver, started with apoor qualifying effort, earning the 15th position on the grid, and endedwith a collision with Patrick Carpentier after only 10 laps. Vasser was classified 26th in the results, scoring no points whileAndretti gained 16 with his second-place finish. Source: Canada Online, used by permission | ||
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