Although he had earned his first career victorytwo weeks earlier at Long Beach, it was actually his win at NazarethSpeedway last year that served notice of the kind of force Juan Montoyawould become in the FedEx Championship Series.

Montoya turned in an utterly dominant performance, leading 210 of 225 racelaps from the pole, to claim the second of his eventual seven victoriesduring a spectacular rookie season that culminated in the FedEx ChampionshipSeries championship. His victory at Nazareth moved Montoya into thechampionship points lead and he held it following all but three of theremaining 17 events.

Now, as the series prepares for Round 2, the Bosch Spark Plug Grand PrixPresented by Toyota (1 p.m. ET Sunday, live, ABC-TV), Montoya (Target ToyotaLola) finds himself looking for his first points of the new season. He ledthe first 21 laps of the March 26 season opener at Homestead, Fla. from theoutside pole, but finished 23rd due to engine problems.

In the meantime, the weekend belonged to Team Rahal driver Max Papis (MillerLite Ford Reynard), who earned his first career FedEx Championship Seriesvictory and took the championship lead for the first time in his five-yearcareer. Papis, who has finished fourth or better in his past five FedExChampionship Series starts dating to last year at Laguna Seca, holds a 20-16advantage over Patrick Racing driver Roberto Moreno (Visteon Ford Reynard)in the championship. Moreno matched a career-best result with his runner-upperformance at Homestead, a career-best on an oval.

Paul Tracy of Team KOOL Green (KOOL Honda Reynard) finished third atHomestead and brings 14 points to Nazareth, where he owns a pair ofvictories (1994,'97), a pair of poles (1996, '97), and three other podiumfinishes, including third last year.

While Papis and Team Rahal captured many of the headlines following theseason opener, a resurgence has begun at storied Marlboro Team Penske. AtHomestead, Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) opened the weekend byearning the team's first pole position since 1997. De Ferran also led arace-high 41 laps - nearly double the amount the team led all of last year -and may well have brought veteran team owner Roger Penske his 100th careerChamp Car victory but an untimely caution following the team's green-flagpit stop ruined his bid for the win. De Ferran ultimately finished sixth andcomes to Nazareth, where he finished fourth in 1997 and '98, with 10 points.

Former Nazareth winners in this weekend's field include Montoya, Tracy,Michael Andretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) and Jimmy Vasser(Target Toyota Lola). Andretti, a Nazareth resident, is a two-time winner athis home track (1987, '96) while Vasser won in 1998.

Following the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota, the FedExChampionship Series makes a cross-country journey the following week forRound 3, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 14-16 on the streets ofLong Beach, Calif.

WHO'S HOT

Team Rahal driver Max Papis (Miller Lite Ford Reynard), who leadsthe FedEx Championship Series points race for the first time in hisfive-year career, brings a string of five top-four finishes into Sunday'sBosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota. The streak began last yearwith his first career podium result (third) at Laguna Seca and was followedby a fourth at Houston and runner-up efforts at Australia and CaliforniaSpeedway. Papis then continued the run with his first career victory at theseason-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota. Papis hasfinished fifth or better in nine of his past 12 starts, dating to lastyear's fifth at Road America.

Dario Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard) of Team KOOL Green brings arun of 11 consecutive points-paying finishes to Nazareth, the longest activestreak in the FedEx Championship Series. It began with a victory at Torontolast year and includes subsequent wins at Detroit and Australia. Franchitti,runner-up in the 1999 FedEx Championship Series, recently recovered from afractured pelvis and brain contusions sustained in a single-car accidentduring CART Spring Training at Homestead in February. He finished 11th inthe season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota.

Christian Fittipaldi (Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola) of Newman/HaasRacing has scored points in eight of his past nine FedEx Championship Seriesstarts, dating to last year's 12th-place finish at Cleveland and includinghis first career victory at Road America. The run was interrupted asFittipaldi missed five events while recovering from a subdural hematomasustained in a testing accident at Gateway International Raceway lastAugust. He finished seventh in the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix ofMiami Presented by Toyota. Overall, Fittipaldi has scored in 16 of his past18 starts, dating to a third-place finish at Australia in 1998.

Tony Kanaan (Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Mercedes Reynard) of newlyformed Mo Nunn Racing has scored in six of his past seven FedEx ChampionshipSeries starts, dating to an 11th-place finish at Chicago last year, andeight of 10 dating to his first career victory at Michigan Speedway. Kanaanfinished 10th at Homestead.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Michael Andretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) owns eighttop-five finishes in 12 career starts at his "home" track - NazarethSpeedway - including victories in 1987 and '96. He also recorded runner-upfinishes in 1988, '92 and '97, finished third in '91 and claimed the poleposition in '87 and '92. He has scored points in 10 of 12 career starts andhas led 646 career laps at Nazareth, over 10 percent of his CART-leadingcareer total of 6,119.

Team KOOL Green driver Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) owns fivepodium finishes in nine career starts at Nazareth, including victories in1994 and '97. He also finished third in 1992, '93 and last year. He is atwo-time polesitter (1996, '97) and has finished outside the top 10 onlyonce (26th in 1995). Of his 2,313 career laps led in FedEx ChampionshipSeries competition, 536 - 23 percent - have come at Nazareth.

MANUFACTURING SUCCESS

Max Papis' victory in the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix ofMiami Presented by Toyota gave Ford-powered drivers six victories in thepast eight FedEx Championship Series season openers, dating to NigelMansell's 1993 win at Australia. The other Ford-powered winners were MichaelAndretti (Australia, 1994); Jacques Villeneuve (Miami, '95); and Andretti(Homestead, '97-98).

Honda, courtesy of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, has won the past twoFedEx Championship Series events contested at Nazareth Speedway. JimmyVasser won in 1998 and Juan Montoya was victorious last year.

MILESTONES

By leading a race-high 41 laps in the season-opening Marlboro GrandPrix of Miami Presented by Toyota, Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard)moved into 16th place on the CART career laps led list with 710. He passedNigel Mansell, now 17th with 706 career laps led. Teo Fabi stands 15th with774 career laps led.

Max Papis' win in the Miller Lite Ford Reynard from the 13thstarting position at Homestead ranks fourth in CART for furthest startingposition to a victory on short/medium ovals. The record is held by MikeMosley, who started 25th and won at Milwaukee in 1981.

Jimmy Vasser (Target Toyota Lola) and Michael Andretti moved up inthe CART annals for most consecutive starts following their season debuts atHomestead. Vasser, whose streak began at Laguna Seca in 1993, moved intosole possession of sixth place with 107 consecutive starts. Andretti, whosestreak began at Australia in 1994 upon his return from Formula One, movedinto a tie for seventh with his father, Mario, at 106 in a row. The CARTrecord is 192, set by Al Unser Jr., and the current streak is 109 byMauricio Gugelmin (Nextel PacWest Mercedes).

NOTEWORTHY

This weekend's Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota willmark the competitive debut of the high-downforce variant of the HandfordMkII, a new rear-wing aerodynamic package implemented by CART for use atfive venues this season. The device, designed by Mark Handford, former vicepresident of engineering and technical director at Swift Engineering, isexpected to create enough additional drag to reduce the need to downshift onovals, thereby reducing the potential for accidents. The Handford MkII isalso expected to improve cars' overtaking ability on short and intermediateovals. In addition to Nazareth Speedway, the high-downforce variant of theHandford MkII will also be utilized at Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil; The Milwaukee Mile, Chicago Motor Speedway and Road Americain Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Phe pit crew for Paul Tracy started out strongly in its defense ofthe Craftsman Pit Crew Challenge championship it won last season, taking thelead in this year's competition following the season-opening event atHomestead. Among drivers who finished the event, Tracy spent the least timein the pits and thus his crew collected 20 points for their performance. MaxPapis' crew stands second with 16 points, followed by the crews for DarioFranchitti and Cristiano da Matta (Pioneer/MCI WorldCom Toyota Reynard),with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Craftsman Pit Crew Challenge is aseason-long pit stop competition that will pay $50,000 to the winning teamat the season-ending Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota at CaliforniaSpeedway. Points in the Challenge, sponsored by Craftsman, the Official Toolof CART, are awarded according to the same scale used to determine the FedExChampionship Series champion (20-16-14-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1), but based ontotal time spent in the pits at each event. Points will be accumulatedthrough the first 19 events of the season, and the top four teams followingRound 19 - the Honda Indy 300 in Surfers Paradise, Australia - will qualifyfor a head-to-head battle for the top prize prior to the season finale.

Tracy also took the early lead in the season-long competition forthe Budweiser Hard Charger Award, which recognizes the driver who improvesthe most positions from start to finish at each event. Tracy gained 14places from his 17th qualifying position to his third-place finish to topPapis (13th to first), Franchitti (22nd to 11th) and da Matta (23rd to 12th)on the opening weekend. Standings will be kept throughout the season, withdrivers receiving one point for each place gained. The overall winner at theconclusion of the campaign will receive a cash award from Budweiser, theOfficial Beer of CART.

ESPN's telecast of the FedEx Championship Series season opener fromHomestead was the fourth-rated cable sports telecast for the week of Monday,March 20 through Sunday, March 26, according to Nielsen Media Research. Thetelecast, which drew a 1.7 rating, outdrew such programs as the NASCAR BuschSeries, the NIT basketball tournament and the PGA Professional Player'sChampionship. The 1.7 rating translates to an equivalent of 1,326,000households and 1,867,000 viewers.

Newman/Haas Racing driver Michael Andretti will make an appearanceat Philadelphia's First Union Center on Wednesday night during "NazarethSpeedway Night at the 76ers." Andretti will sign autographs prior to theNational Basketball Association game between the Philadelphia 76ers and theAtlanta Hawks, and a Champ Car driven by Michael's legendary father, Mario,will be displayed on the First Union Center concourse. The CART FanFest, amobile display transporter featuring several interactive exhibits, will beon display outside the arena for free fan tours, and the first 5,000 fans inattendance at the game will receive free rally towels, courtesy of Toyota,presenting sponsor of the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix.

ON THE AIR

Pole qualifying for the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented byToyota will air 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2. CART 2Day airs 11 a.m.Sunday on ESPN2, with ABC-TV's live race broadcast due to begin at 1 p.m.ET.