Juan Montoya of Target Chip Ganassi Racingbrought Toyota the first FedEx Championship Series win in its five-yearhistory Monday when he drove to victory in the rain-delayed Miller Lite 225at The Milwaukee Mile.

Barely a week after his dominant performance en route to victory in theIndianapolis 500, Montoya (Target Toyota Lola) was strong again on the1.032-mile oval at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds as he led a race-high 179laps and became the first winner from the pole this season.

He also became the sixth winner in as many FedEx Championship Series eventsas he averaged a race-record 142.684 miles per hour while finishing 1.015seconds ahead of Michael Andretti of Newman/Haas Racing. Montoya's victory,his first since last year at Vancouver, was the eighth of his career andfirst for a Toyota-powered driver since the engine manufacturer entered theFedEx Championship Series competition at the start of the 1996 season.

Toyota's previous best finish was a runner-up effort by Jimmy Vasser, hisTarget Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, in the April 30 Rio 200 at Rio deJaneiro, Brazil.

Montoya, the defending FedEx Championship Series champion, completed aperfect weekend with a 22-point sweep for the victory, the pole and leadingthe most laps, doubling his point total to 44 for the season. The total tieshim with Andretti for fourth place in the championship.

Andretti's (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) runner-up effort continuedan outstanding record of success at Milwaukee that includes five victories(1986, '87, '91, '92 and '96). The second-place finish was also Andretti'ssecond podium in three events -- including a victory last month at Japan --the 86th podium result of his career and his ninth podium in 16 careerstarts at The Milwaukee Mile.

Third place went to Patrick Carpentier (Player's Forsythe Racing Team FordReynard) of Player's Forsythe Racing, who scored the third podium finish ofhis FedEx Championship Series career and his best effort since a runner-upeffort at Vancouver last year.

After finishing no better than 19th in his first three starts of the season,Montoya has posted top-seven finishes in each of his past three starts,leading a combined 461 of a possible 651 laps. That does not include the 167laps he led en route to victory in last Sunday's 84th Indianapolis 500 atthe Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Rookie Kenny Brack (Shell Ford Reynard) of Team Rahal finished fourth,continuing a run that has seen him record three consecutive top-fivefinishes, following fifth at Japan and a season-best third at Nazareth.Roberto Moreno (Visteon Ford Reynard) of Patrick Racing rounded out the topfive finishers with his fifth top-10 effort in six starts this season, aneffort which moved him into sole possession of second place in thechampionship.

FedEx Championship Series points leader Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard)finished 15th, his first non-scoring performance of the season. Even so, heholds a 59-52 lead over Moreno heading into Round 7, the June 18 TennecoAutomotive Grand Prix of Detroit at The Raceway on Belle Isle. Vasser, whofinished 13th Monday, stands third with 48 points, followed by Andretti andMontoya with 44 each.

An estimated crowd of 25,000 returned one day following the thirdweather-related delay of the FedEx Championship Series season to witnessMontoya's drive to victory.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

JUAN MONTOYA, Target Toyota Lola: "I'm really happy. We've been veryunlucky in the last few races. I think it was very good to win for Toyotaand Target. I'm really glad to win for Toyota, because they've worked sohard. There's so many people working hard for Toyota and we should have wonbefore now. We had the speed all year, but we finally got to the end.There's 14 races left and last year I had a huge lead, and then going intothe last race I was actually behind. We need to make consistent points andwe'll see what happens. The win had to come sooner or later. We were leadingmore than 50 percent of the laps. Today, we finally did it."

MICHAEL ANDRETTI, Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola: "It was a good day.My car was half-decent, not perfect. All the passing for me was done at thestart and in the pits. The Kmart/Texaco/Havoline crew did a great job in thepits all day. I was actually able to pass Juan in the pits, but he got meback in traffic. With about five laps to go he got caught in traffic and Iwas driving as fast as I could, but I just ran out of laps. If there wereten laps to go, it would have been interesting." [On the fans coming out onMonday] "I was impressed big time. It looked like there were almost as manypeople here today as there were yesterday. I think that was very impressive.We have some real loyal CART fans here in Milwaukee."

PATRICK CARPENTIER, Player's Forsythe Racing Team Ford Reynard: "I'm veryhappy. Player's did a great job today. At the end my car was a bit loose andI couldn't push hard. Early on, I think we were running about the same speedas Juan. I was just trying to keep up with him, but the car got loose lateron. But we've got a good package and I look forward to being up here a lotmore this year."

WHAT'S NOTEWORTHY

* With Juan Montoya's (Target Toyota Lola) victory Monday, the FedExChampionship Series has now seen six different winners in its first sixevents of the season, tying a record established in 1991. This year'swinners, in order, are Max Papis (Miller Lite Ford Reynard) at Homestead;Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) at Long Beach, Adrian Fernandez(Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard) at Rio de Janeiro; MichaelAndretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) at Japan and Gil de Ferran(Marlboro Honda Reynard) at Nazareth.

* Though Monday marked Juan Montoya's (Target Toyota Lola) firstvictory of the season, he has been the dominant driver in each of the pastthree FedEx Championship Series events. Montoya has led 461 of a possible651 laps (70 percent) during that three-event stretch, including 172 of 201at Japan and 110 of 225 at Nazareth in addition to 179 of 225 Monday.

* Montoya's victory for the Toyota RV8E marks the first victory for aU.S.-designed and built engine since Mike Mosley won at The Milwaukee Milein a Gurney Eagle-Chevrolet on June 7, 1981. The Toyota RV8E was designed,built and developed at Toyota Racing Development in Costa Mesa, Calif.

* Montoya became the ninth driver to follow a victory in theIndianapolis 500 with a triumph at The Milwaukee Mile. The last was Al UnserJr. in 1994.

* Kenny Brack (Shell Ford Reynard) of Team Rahal picked up theBudweiser Hard Charger Award for showing the most improvement in the23-driver field. Brack improved 12 places from his 16th starting position tofinish fourth.

* Team Rahal owner Bobby Rahal paid tribute to the fans who turned outMonday to witness the rain-delayed Miller Lite 225. "How about that crowdtoday?" Rahal asked. "That says a lot for the Milwaukee fans. To come to ourrace on a Monday afternoon is just fantastic. I have always thought thatMilwaukee had some of the best fans on the CART series. I think they provedit today."

* CART President and CEO Andrew Craig refuted news reports Monday thatnegotiations are taking place with IMG, promoter of the Tenneco AutomotiveGrand Prix of Detroit, concerning a buyout the final year of CART's contractwith the promoter, which comes in 2001. "Reports of discussions of a buyoutof the remainder of the contract for the Detroit Grand Prix are entirelyfalse," Craig stated emphatically. "CART has a contract with IMG for theyears 2000 and 2001. A buyout has never been discussed with IMG." TheTenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit is the next round of the FedExChampionship Series championship, scheduled for June 18 at The Raceway onBelle Isle.

* The first of three CART Open Tests scheduled for the 2000 seasonbegins Wednesday and continues through Thursday at the Mid-Ohio Sports CarCourse in Lexington, Ohio. On track activity is scheduled from 9 a.m. to12:15 p.m. and 1:45 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, and from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.and 1:30 to 5 p.m. on Thursday. Mid-Ohio hosts Round 13 of the FedExChampionship Series, the Miller Lite 200, Aug. 11-13. Additional Open Testsare scheduled at Chicago Motor Speedway, July 6-7 and at Laguna SecaRaceway, Aug. 24-25.

WHAT'S NEXT