nazareth

Race No. 4

Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix
Presented By Toyota
Nazareth Motorsports Complex — Nazareth, Pennsylvania
April 25-27, 1997

1996 Pole Winner: Paul Tracy
1996 Race Winner: Michael Andretti
1996 SpeedCenter Report
Nazareth/Allentown Weather Forecast
Gateway International Raceway Map

Left Turns Only
CART visits the first 'bull ring' of the season

©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.

Nazareth, Pennsylvania — This coming weekend, the PPG CART World Series will return to oval trackracing for round four of the '97 season at the one-mile tri-oval atNazareth Speedway in Nazareth, PA.

The season to date has proven that the dominance experienced by theHonda powered cars of '96 is not so skewed as it once was. After threeraces, looking only at the top five on the leader board, the standingsare as follows:

1. Scott Pruett Brahma Reynard Ford Firestone
2. Alex Zanardi Target Reynard Honda Firestone
3. Michael Andretti KMart/Texaco Swift Ford Goodyear
4. Greg Moore Players Reynard Mercedes Firestone
5. Mauricio Gugelmin Hollywood Reynard Mercedes Firestone

The only evidence of any dominance thus far is the Reynard chassis andFirestone tire combination. Yet based on what happend on the track in the recent races, a dominance of Firestone would be hard to defend. The power plants are well mixed for top fivehonors in the constructors battle. Previous success at Nazarethshouldn't be too much of a factor, since only three current drivers in thetwenty-eight car line-up have ever won races at Nazareth: MichaelAndretti in '87, the tracks' inaugural year hosting CART events, thenagain last year. Bobby Rahal won the race in '92, and Paul Tracy won in'94.

The one-mile tri-oval at Nazareth Speedway has presented drivers withthe same challenge dealt by any short oval track...a traffic jam. Lastyears' winner, Michael Andretti had this to say in the post raceinterview:

    "It was just fantastic - What a day! We had a feeling it was gonna belike this, because we...ran really well all weekend. The car didn't missa beat; the guys did a great job. We ran well in traffic - that's wherethe key was.

    "We had a really good car, maybe not so much on our own, but really soin traffic. And that's always the difference here."

Andretti's victory was his first in '96, and came on the race followinga virtual uproar about his driving style. At the Long Beach Grand Prixonly two weeks earlier, drivers Paul Tracy, Robby Gordon and MauricioGugelmin showed up for the Saturday driver's meeting wearing "MichaelAndretti Driving School For the Blind" t-shirts. Andretti was eventuallyfollowed in order by Greg Moore, Al Unser, Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi, andPaul Tracy.

One note of interest in the upcoming event is regarding the status ofthe Player's sponsorship on the #99 car of Greg Moore. As of Monday,April 21, Player's has threatened to act immediately to cancel it'ssponsorship should Canadian legislation regarding tobacco companies cometo be. This was in a story released by the Canadian Press on Saturdaystating one particularly dooming sentence that was included in thecontroversial Bill C-71:

    "In the case of Canadian tobacco companies, cease displaying tobaccoproduct promotions at foreign performances, events or activities thatare to be broadcast into Canada."
It is speculated though, that this threat by Player's may be no morethan another attempt to accellerate the final ammendments to thegovernment document prior to it becoming law.

This weekend will be a telling story. Will Greg Moore's car have all ofit's original paint excluding the Player's sponsorship? Or will theaction take place and actually eliminate Moore from contention?