MIAMI - (October 6, 2002) - Cristiano da Matta (#6 Chevron Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone) used a fast car, quick pit work from his Newman/Haas Racing crew, every bit of racing skill he has - and a bit of help from his closest friend on the circuit - to win his seventh Champ Car race of the year and clinch his first CART FedEx Championship Series title on a balmy Sunday in downtown Miami.

Da Matta came from his sixth-place starting position to lead 58 of the 105 laps and win the inaugural Grand Prix Americas on the temporary 1.379-mile street course on the shores of Biscayne Bay. The win was his seventh of the season, and combined with Bruno Junqueira's (#4 Target Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone) fifth-place finish, it gave da Matta his first Vanderbilt Cup. The championship is the first for the 29-year-old Brazilian and the fourth for Newman/Haas Racing, and is the first for the team since Nigel Mansell turned the trick in 1993.

Da Matta's close friend and roommate Tony Kanaan (#10 Pioneer/WorldCom Honda/Lola/Bridgestone) led the race from pole for the first 23 laps, but set the stage for da Matta's ascension through the field when he and Scott Dixon (#44 Target Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone) brought out a yellow flag with a Lap 19 crash. Dixon and Kanaan had been the class of the field in the opening laps, running out to a seven-second lead, but Dixon's bid for the lead heading into Turn One was ended by Kanaan, who moved to his right to block the advance and triggered an accident that would bring out the yellow flag.

The timing of the caution flag was nearly perfect for some drivers as the pit window to make the race on just two stops opened on Lap 21. All but six cars took the opportunity to pit on Lap 21, but da Matta led the group that stayed on course, effectively moving himself from sixth to first - but only after Kanaan got sent to the rear of the field by CART stewards for causing the Lap 19 accident.

The yellow flag not only moved da Matta into the lead, it also vexed his closest challenger in the championship, as Junqueira was called in on Lap 20 by his Target Chip Ganassi Racing squad, a decision that proved to be a dubious one as the timing of the stop meant that he would have to pit twice more before the end of the 105-lap event as CART rules dictated that everyone had to stop every 42 trips around the course.

The middle part of the race was clean as da Matta, Paul Tracy (#26 KOOL Honda/Lola/Bridgestone) and Junqueira swapped the lead as their respective fuel strategies cycled through, but just when it appeared that everyone had a handle on the race and how the championship race was going to shake out, things got a bit sideways.

Dario Franchitti (#27 KOOL Honda/Lola/Bridgestone), who was trying to keep his title hopes alive, brought out a caution on Lap 90 and bunched the field up behind the leader when he spun and got stuck in Turn Three. The stop not only bunched the field, but also aided the Junqueira cause as he was able to make his final pit stop under the yellow flag and rejoin the fight in seventh place.

Da Matta claimed the championship point for leading the most laps after the Lap 93 restart, meaning that Junqueira would have to climb to fourth place in order to stay in the hunt. One lap later it appeared that all hope was lost as Junqueira and Kanaan tangled in Turn One, sending Junqueira rolling through the runoff lane. He would keep the car moving however and took the subsequent restart in seventh place, needing to pass four machines to stay in the hunt.

Help nearly came four laps later in the form of Jimmy Vasser (#8 Shell Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) when Vasser cut inside of Alex Tagliani (#33 Player's/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone) in Turn Three in a move for fourth, and hit Tracy's car in the rear, spinning him out in the middle of the track. The spin collected Michel Jourdain Jr. (#9 Office Depot Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) and brought out another yellow flag, but Junqueira was trapped behind the stricken cars and could not advance any positions.

The CART Simple Green Safety Team cleaned up the broken cars quickly and got the race restarted with five orbits to run, but Tagliani and Vasser would maintain their spots ahead of Junqueira through the finish, meaning that da Matta would clinch the title by taking a 69-point lead in the series with just 68 points left on the board for the 2002 season.

Da Matta's big day nearly overshadowed another strong run from his Newman/Haas teammate Christian Fittipaldi (#11 Lilly Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone), as Fittipaldi would finish second for the third time this season, coming home a scant 0.734 seconds behind his teammate. Fittipaldi earned his fifth podium of the year and cemented his hold on fifth place in the title standings. Vasser would round out the podium in third, taking his best finish since his runner-up placing from the pole in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

GRAND PRIX AMERICAS RACE DAY "QUOTEBOARD"

CRISTIANO DA MATTA (#6 Chevron Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone): "Of course it feels great to win the championship. It's impossible to explain though. When I saw [Scott] Dixon crashing and Tony [Kanaan] got sent to the back of the line, it was the opportunity I was looking for after starting seventh. My car wasn't that great and Dario [Franchitti] was all over me while Christian [Fittipaldi] was all over him. I knew Bruno [Junqueira] had to make a few more stops because of strategy, and that it all could work out for us. After that it was of course a tough race. I didn't know where Bruno was and I didn't want to ask my team where he was either because I was thinking about it. So I just tried not to think about it and concentrated on driving. After all [the yellows] were clear, it was a good feeling to drive it to the checkered. I think there isn't a better way to clinch the championship then with a victory. When you clinch it with a win it shows that you were there all year. I'll just try to go for the record of nine wins [in a season] because that's all that's left for me this season."

CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI (#11 Lilly Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone): "The race was actually very good. The first quarter of the race was the hardest. At the half-way point, I really started to feel comfortable. Track position was king today. If we didn't have problems qualifying on Friday we would have started where we should have. But I'm really happy for shorty [da Matta]. He's been consistent all year and he deserves this."

JIMMY VASSER (#8 Shell Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone): "I've been looking at the points, and after an abysmal start to the season we just looked to be out at sea. We started twelfth today which made it difficult, but the car was braking well in turn one. A lot of the race I was stuck behind guys and I just had to be patient. I passed [Tora] Takagi and eventually worked my way up around [Kenny] Brack, then to [Paul] Tracy." (On the incident with Tracy) "When I slid in there with [Alex] Tagliani I clipped the rear wheel of Tracy. All my apologies to Paul, but he's been in that situation before." (On the track) "It's a fantastic venue and we should have been coming here all along. I think the future for this race looks bright." (On CART) "CART's level of competition is very high and world class and I hope it continues to be. This racing series produces not only great drivers, but great team personnel who can move onto and excel in other great things, and win."

ALEX TAGLIANI (#33 Player's/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone): "It was very difficult to pass today. My crew did a great job on the first pit stop and I picked up a position but I think the tire pressures were too high and the car started to slide and I had no grip. I touched the wall a couple of times and actually the car was catching me by surprise as I was turning." WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN JIMMY (VASSER) AND PAUL (TRACY)? "Paul was doing well except under braking. I saw him lock up the brakes and I tried to go inside of him but I saw Jimmy coming and I backed off as he hit Paul. I lost a position but I saved the car."

BRUNO JUNQUEIRA (#4 Target Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone): "We took a gamble on pit strategy today. We thought that it would end up being a timed race because of all the yellow flags. But we'll take fifth place. Cristiano deserved to win the race and the championship, so my hat's off to him. He did a good job all year long. We'll go out there and try to finish second in the championship. That is all we have to fight for now. Team Target did a very good job all weekend and Toyota gave me good power. Our goal now is to go out and try win the rest of the races."

MICHEL JOURDAIN (#9 Office Depot Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone): "It is a shame because we had a great car but I made a mistake on my second pit stop. The strategy was brilliant and the guys gave me a great car. Unfortunately, a communications problem cost us a chance at being on the podium."

ADRIAN FERNANDEZ (#51 Tecate/Quaker State/Telmex Honda/Lola/Bridgestone): "The car was okay the first 10 laps and then I started picking up push and then loose. We never really recovered the car. Today was just a matter of hanging in there. The car was just getting worse and worse. We made an adjustment on the tire pressure but I don't know what happened. It was very strange - no grip in the front and no grip in the rear. We ended up with a top 10 under bad conditions, and hopefully we can improve from here."

MICHAEL ANDRETTI (#39 Motorola Honda/Lola/Bridgestone): "It was really, really physical out there today. When you combine the tight track with today's heat and an ill-handling car, it sure makes for a long day. I thought Team Motorola was going to be able to salvage a decent finish at the end but Tony (Kanaan) tried to pass me in a spot that I didn't expect and I guess he was committed to the inside and he took me out. It was a challenge out there today for us. We couldn't get the car handling well and that just made it tough."

TONY KANAAN (#10 Pioneer/WorldCom Honda/Lola/Bridgestone): "Well, that was a really tough pill to swallow. It was really unfortunate that CART decided to penalize me for that incident with Scott (Dixon) because that took away every chance in the world that we had to win the race. As far as I'm concerned, I don't agree with the call. I am allowed to make one move to protect my position. Scott got inside of me trying to go for the lead and we both touched as we were coming to the corner. He was out of the race and I was able to continue. It was a racing incident, as far as I am concerned, but who am I to judge? I'm just a driver and I'm paid to do my job. You're damned if you're aggressive, and you're damned if you're not. I feel bad for both of us because neither of us was able to finish the race. You put these kinds of cars on a course that is so extremely tight like this one and there is going to be contact. So you really need to give us a little bit of a break, otherwise we have no business racing on a track like this. I accepted the penalty and the rest of our day was hell after that. If the officials who made the call can put their heads on their pillow tonight and feel like they did the right thing, then so be it. Let's go to Australia."

DARIO FRANCHITTI (#27 KOOL Honda/Lola/Bridgestone): "I lost my radio after the first pit stop, so I wasn't able to communicate with Team KOOL Green during the race. I just kept trying to keep up with Cristiano (da Matta). The car was running all right, it was quicker on some parts of the track than others. First off I want to congratulate Cristiano, his team did a great job this year and he really deserves this. I'd buy him a drink tonight but I think we're all paying for the bar jointly. I'm pretty disappointed with race control. When I went into the tires it took them two laps to get the yellow out, but yesterday when I spun and went off, they threw the red in two seconds and my car was still running. I wouldn't have been on the podium, but I could have been much further up when the other guys went out."

MARIO DOMINGUEZ (#55 Herdez Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone): "The team gave me a great car today but two mistakes on my part really cost us. The pit crew did a fantastic job of replacing the steering part that was broken after I brushed the wall the first time. And then I hit the wall again - trying a little too hard to make up time I guess. The track was still really slippery in places but it held up well during the race. This was a tough event today with the heat and the challenging track layout so I'm just happy that we were able to get back out there and bring the car home with some points."

PAUL TRACY (#26 KOOL Honda/Lola/Bridgestone): "A disappointing day for Team KOOL Green. I was just trying to get my third place. I don't know what happened, but Jimmy (Vasser) hit me. That's kind of out of character for him. He's not one to really do things like that, so I guess it was just one of those things. ON THE SPIN: It's one of the fastest parts of the track and I just lost it through there. I was lucky not to hit the wall. I was looking in my mirrors driving backwards down the track and backed into the runoff area and took off again. It was a pretty tough race all the way around. All day long the handling on the car would come and go depending on who was in front of you and what was going on with the track. In spite of that we were in position for a podium finish but it just didn't happen today."

KENNY BRACK (#12 Target Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone): "The car was pretty bad from the start of the race and then got worse. I think that the differential froze up or something. We'll have to take a look at it and see what happened. We were pushing like a snowplow out there, it was almost undriveable. I think that we were three seconds off the pace. It's another tough day for us."

SHINJI NAKANO (#52 Alpine/Mitsuba Honda/Lola/Bridgestone): "The track conditions were not that good. The temperatures were really hot and I was really struggling with understeer. The car was sliding everywhere. It wasn't just me; I think everyone had the same situation. I cannot say my car was perfect, but it was reasonably good. Our strategy was pretty good and if I could stay out without having any problems, I think we could have run a pretty good race. It's a shame to end up like this. I don't know exactly what happened. Going into the last turn, fire came out from the back."

PATRICK CARPENTIER (#32 Player's/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone): "I got in a little bit too deep and I thought I could make the turn but I changed my mind and tried to go down the escape road and hit the wall head-on instead." WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN YOU AND MARIO DOMINGUEZ? "It was very disappointing because he came in too fast, spun me around and I lost a lap right there, but the car was alright after that. It's just very disappointing."

ORIOL SERVIA (#20 Visteon Toyota/Reynard/Bridgestone): "From the start of the race things went bad for the Visteon/Patrick Racing Team. On the first lap I made a move to the outside of the driver in front of me, but he closed the door going into the corner. I braked as hard as I could, but he still hit me on the right front, which knocked the left rear into the wall. We lost a lap at that point, but more importantly the impact damage the suspension and 28 laps later the suspension failed. It is unfortunate. The Visteon/Patrick Racing Team did a great job this weekend and we had a good car for the race. We will just have to continue to work hard and try to get our first win in Australia.

SCOTT DIXON (#44 Target Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone): "What a day…I was going down the frontstretch and I had a run on Tony (Kanaan). I got inside him and then for some reason, he decided to turn right and squeezed me into the wall. My car was much quicker than his during the first part of the race and I was looking for the right time and place to pass him. We had the car to win this race and it's pretty disappointing."

NOTEWORTHY

• Cristiano da Matta becomes the 16th driver to win a CART championship and the third Brazilian to do so, matching Emerson Fittipaldi (1989) and Gil de Ferran (2000-01) as CART titlewinners.
• Da Matta led 58 laps on Sunday, giving him 812 in his career and moving him into 19th on CART's all-time laps led list. He bumps Teo Fabi from the top-20 list and moves Jimmy Vasser to 20th with 792. Da Matta has led at least one lap in 11 of 12 CART road or street courses this season, getting shut out only in Denver.
• Da Matta won his seventh race of the season, moving him into exclusive company in the annals of CART history. Only four other drivers have ever won as many as seven races in a season with Al Unser Jr. (1994) and Michael Andretti ('91) winning eight while Juan Montoya ('99) and Alex Zanardi ('98) each won seven in a year.
• The race for the championship may be sewn up, but the battle for second place is still up for debate. Bruno Junqueira holds the second spot with 143 points but there are still 10 other drivers that can still end the year as the championship runner-up.