Race No. 9
Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200
Portland — Oregon
June 20 — June 22, 1997
Sunday Quotes from drivers and managers at Portland: | Marlboro Penske Mercedes Finished: 7th |
| PAUL TRACY | |
| "It was a tough day out there --we're lucky to still be leading in the PPG Cup points. In the heavyrain, I was skating all over the place because I had no sidebite andno traction. As the track became partially dry, the car improved and Iwas able to start picking off drivers. We waited as long as we couldfor our second pit stop [lap 63] so we could put on the slicks (tires)as the track started to dry. Unfortunately, I must've lost about 30-40seconds when I spun in the grass, and then I was black flagged forpassing under the yellow in the chicane so I had to do a drive throughpenalty which lost me about another 10 seconds. By the end of therace, I was able to catch that train of drivers for the lead butunfortunately it turned out to be the last lap because we had to go toa timed race [two hours for 78 laps] instead of the scheduled 98 laps.Š This is a big disappointment because I feel we could've won thisrace if I hadn't spun, but luckily I was able to keep it running andget back on the track. The car wasn't the way we would've liked ithere, both during qualifying and the race, so we have work to do if wewant to keep up with these guys. The good news is that we were able tokeep our points lead, which is pretty good since we missed a race." | |
 | Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Cosworth XD Finished: 8th |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| "The car was totally undriveable in the wet. It was like racing onbanana peels. Saying it was 'wet' is an understatement because it wasmore slippery than just water. At one point, a fourth place finishlooked possible until the track started really drying out. It wasimpossible to hold off the guys on slicks and it cost us fourpositions and seven precious points. Christian drove a great racetoday. He's made such a strong comeback. You wouldn't even know he hasa rod in his leg or that he was out of the car for two months." | |
 | Marlboro Penske Mercedes Finished: 25th |
| AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| "I came into the chicane and Franchitti came blasting in atthe same time. I think he may have passed two cars trying to get in therewith me. We went into the right hander side by side and on the exit of theturn, we ended up hooking wheels. Once that happened, we both went offand our day was finished. We werefighting all kinds of side-bite with my Marlboro car. We were trying to be aspatient as possible out there, but our wet set-up just wasn't as good as itshould have been. We didn't really think it was going to be this wet. Thevisibility was really tough, especially on the re-starts" | |
 | PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes Finished: 1st |
| MARK BLUNDELL | |
| "It has been anunbelievable couple of weeks. Detroit was a fantastic high for us but forthe last 300 feet. Then, it was one of the biggest lows I've ever felt in mylife. But we knew from that race that we had run a great tactical race. Theteam gave me a good car, whether it was on wets or slicks. . . . I tried to go around Gil two or three places. I'm surehe knew I was there. He came into the last corner, and I knew what hewas going to do, because I'd have done exactly the same thing. He tried toslow the pace down a bit, but I came out of the turn just a snatch quickerand you saw what happened. The slicks were warmed up to temperatureand it was a drag race to the end. Fortunately, for me, I got a nose infront." | |
 | MCI Arciero Wells Reynard Toyota Finished: 28th |
| MAX PAPIS | |
| "The rain was good for us. We wererunning very well. I think it was the one time all year that we had a reallygood chance to do well and it didn't happen. It is a very unlucky day for us.We were having a very strong race and I was driving smooth. We wererunning our own strategy and I think it would have worked well for us,maybe even a top-ten finish. All of the sudden I lost fourth gear and wewere out of the race." | |
 | Pennzoil Special Reynard Ford Davis/Craig Racing Finished: 23rd |
| GUALTER SALLES | |
| "I had a misfire for much ofthe race. I couldn't hear it, but I knew the car was down on power.Then late in the race I got hit real hard in the rear by somebody whokept going. That caused me to spin in the Festival chicane, but thecorner workers got me going again. Even with the engine problem, wehad climbed to fifth and were looking real good. We needed one morepit stop and it looked like a definite top- 10 finish when the enginecaught fire. It was both disappointing because we didn't finish again,and positive, because the team had a good run going in the points.This gives us a lot of hope as we head to the second half of theseason." | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Finished: 9th |
| PARKER JOHNSTONE | |
| "This was a great race for me,one of the best this season. I was running right up there with first,second and third. Even though we had a really rough weekend, thisreally buoyed up the team because we were running at the front. Andfor me, it was even better to do it at home. Š Racing in theseconditions is good in the sense that the rein tends to equalizethings, not completely, but some. So if you're back in 19th position,you have a fighting chance. If this had been a dry race it would havebeen completely different, so running in the rein was a greatopportunity." On tire strategy: "For me, I just watched [Mark]Blundell - with his being from England and having run in the rein asmuch as he has - and he took every opportunity to run through thewater in the rain to cool the tires. So wherever Mark went, I went,and I noticed Greg [Moore] was doing it, too. Prior to the second pitstop: "I think I could have put a run on Greg Moore [who was runningthird], but I didn't know how long I needed to make the rain tireslast. Then when we changed to the slicks, the most difficult thing wasthe first couple of laps on cold tires and a damp track with standingwater. Barry's experience in these things is invaluable - I sawdrivers sliding off, and Barry just kept telling me to be careful,take it easy and get the tires up to temperature. I wassideways-opposite-lock-being-careful, listening to Barry. Then whenthe tires got up to temperature, we just took off." | |
 | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Finished: 11th |
| ALEX ZANARDI | |
| "What can I say? I am very, verydisappointed. The car was fantastic in the wet, the Firestone tireswere fantastic. The work we did at Firebird (Raceway testing raintires) paid off today. Not just for us, but for all the otherFirestone drivers. I had a puncture at the end and the team put on drytires for the last lap. The result we had today did not show what wewere capable of doing." | |
 | LCI International Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group Finished: 13th |
| ANDRE RIBEIRO | |
| "We were running good towardsthe middle of the race, but unfortunately I spun. We lost two laps andseveral positions waiting to get a push to get restarted. We changedto sticks at the right moment, but we were too far back at that point.It was a difficult day. The car felt pretty good, but it's always alottery in the rain. At the beginning, I couldn't see anything." | |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group Finished: 10th |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| "The car felt very,very good at the beginning of the race. I had a good start and passedseveral cars. On the second restart, I couldn't see anything andmissed my breaking point at the end of the straight. I tappedsomebody, and the car was never the same. Š It was a crazy race. Ilost radio communication affer the second pit stop and it wasdifficult to understand what was happening, especially with everyonecoming out on slicks. I am happy to finish and to be where we are intenth. It was a difficult weekend working with the handling of thecar, and tenth was good for the team." | |
 | Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford Finished: 2nd |
| GIL de FERRAN | |
| "We knewit was going to be tough. With three laps to go, Derrick [team ownerDerrick Walker] came on the radio and said that Mark was just behindChristian, and I thought, 'Hopefully, Christian will delay him a bit.' Thelast lap was difficult. I had a lot of wheel spin and I tried to stop the car toget good traction out of the corners. I guess it was not to be.Staying on raintires was a gamble that came very close to working. I definitely knewMark [Blundell] was behind me. I was able to hold him off though thewhite flag lap until we got to the very last turn. I got off the gas alittle early to get a good run onto the straight for the drag race tothe checkered flag and it was a simple matter of traction. Mark gotless wheel spin than me on his dry tires and that was that. So close.We knew it was going to be tough. I understand our second place wasthe closest finish ever in Indy car racing. We've been knocking on thedoor for a while, and good things are just a matter of time." | |
 | Hollywood Reynard Mercedes Finished: 6th |
| MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| "It was prettystraightforward. We were very fast and consistent in the wet. Ibelieve we were the fastest car in those conditions, faster thanZanardi. We had newer tires and I was just waiting for an opportunityto make a clean pass. I feel we pitted for slicks at the right time.But when I did, I came out and I got caught behind a lot of slowercars. I got off the dry line trying to get by and had a smalloff-track excursion. It didn't hurt the car, but it lost me positionto the guys who finished ahead of me in the end." | |
 | Castrol/Jockey AAR Racing Reynard Toyota Finished: 20th |
| P.J. JONES | |
| "I think that we got outtired. The Goodyears weren't as good in the wet as the Firestones, andI was having a hard time keeping it on the race track. That just gotus early and caused us to lose a lap. We got punted one time and madeanother mistake on our own in the middle of the race, that cost usanother lap. It was a tough day for us, and probably a tough day forall the Goodyear guys." | |
 | Castrol/Jockey AAR Racing Reynard Toyota Finished: 22nd |
| JUAN MANUEL FANGIO II | |
| "This was an unluckyweekend. I'm still upset about the problems I had during practice andin qualifying. I think that the Firestone tires had some advantagetoday. I usually feel very comfortable in the rain but I didn't today.We had a problem with the throttle at the beginning of the race. Itdidn't open all the way. The guys did a good job switching everythingfrom one car to the other but sometimes things like this happen I wasonly using 50 to 60 percent of the throttle so I went straight to theback of the field in four or five laps. We fixed it and went back outbut the popoff valve stayed open the entire time, so I was completelydown on power. If you put all these things together, you can't saythat you had a good weekend." | |
 | Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford Cosworth Finished: 3rd |
| RAUL BOESEL | |
| "One time during the race, Iwas counting how many [cars on] Firestone tires were ahead of me. I washoping not too many, because mine were doing so well. Firestone is reallydoing its homework and it's really paying off. They made a big differencetoday." | |
 | Hasseroder Project Indy Lola Ford Cosworth Finished: 18th |
| ARND MEIER | |
| "I'm happy that we saw the checkered flag after my firstrain race, especially because this was my first time driving the carin the wet. During the whole race I couldn't really see very goodbecause I was using a new helmet which I have also never used in therain before. The water kept coming inside, which made it even moredifficult. We are still suffering under the weak performance of theLola chassis. We really hope that our next car will be massivelybetter with the new parts Lola has promised us for the next race;otherwise, it will be very difficult for the rest of the season." | |
 | Team Kool Green Team manager |
| BARRY GREEN | |
| "Parker drove a very, very smart, aggressive, cautious race. Hesurvived some wheel-banging moments for sure, and after a great firstpit stop that earned us a few spots, he kept marching forward. There'sno rest for a driver out there in conditions like this, and he reallyworked hard and kept after it." Green on the decision to switch toslick tires in the second pit stop: "We watched [Paul] Tracy after heswitched to slicks, and he banged out some really quick lap times.Even though he was sliding around a few times after that, we knew wehad to make the change to keep up. Parker had been concerned aboutlosing the rain tires, especially the rear tires - after the trackdries out a bit, the rein tires get heated up and start to go awayfrom you. They can't handle the heat as well. We're very pleased withthe Firestone wet tires, because they certainly helped us get up towhere we were when we switched." | |