Since winning the U.S. 500, Jimmy Vasser has only scored 8points. 8 points in six races. Jimmy has to be shiveringin his driving shoes as he only leads the 1996 PPG Points battleby 1 point over second place challenger, Al Unser Jr., who has111 championship points.
Al has a history of coming on strong at the end of theseason, and so far in 1996, Unser Jr. has no wins to hiscredit.
Also mounting a serious challenge for the coveted PPG Cup andone-million dollars is Gil de Ferran. De Ferran leads alldrivers in points on road courses and Mid-Ohio would be theperfect place for him to shine after winning his first race upnorth in Cleveland.
De Ferran is third in points with 92. Just 20 points behindVasser.
With an "almost-win" at Detroit, Christian Fittipaldi sitsfourth with 87 points. Don't count out Fittipaldi. This man isseriously hungry for his first IndyCar win.
The chances for a championship dwindle rapidly after that,with Andretti fifth with 73 points; Zanardi and Moore have 72points sitting sixth and seventh, respectively, with Ribeirotrailing them at 71 points in eighth.
Two drivers both in a serious need of a win are Pruett (9thwith 62 points) and Tracy (10th with 59 points. Not much of achance here.
The PPG Cup Champion will come from the current top-threedrivers. Sure there are 80-plus points hanging out there andsure, anything can happen in racing, but unless somethingabsolutely bizzarre happens.......
God I love this sport!
