Race No. 7

Miller 200
The Milwaukee Mile
West Allis, Wisconsin
May 29-31, 1998

1996 Pole Winner: Paul Tracy 1997 Pole Winner: Paul Tracy 1997 Race Winner: Greg Moore 1996 Race Winner: Michael Andretti 1997 SpeedCenter Report 1996 SpeedCenter Report Milwaukee Weather Robby Gordon's Track Preview in RealAudio   The Last Bullring By Peter Burke This weekend, the FedEx Championship Series will race at the historic Milwaukee Mile and wrap up a series of shortoval races that defined the early part of the season. Although there is plenty of racing left this season, itappears as if the 1998 season is shaping up to be a showdown between Greg Moore and Alex Zanardi. Zanardi is the defending champion and current points leader, but only by a small margin. Unlike previous seasons, Zanardi has done exceptionallywell on the shorter ovals, with the tracks he scored most of his 1997 points at still to come. Moore returns to Milwaukee as the 1997 winner. It was the first race ever the young Canadian won. The victory also crowned Moore as CART's youngest race winner, a titlepreviously held by Al Unser Jr. [22 years, 1 month and 29 days]. "Wow. What more can I say?" Moore asked. "The Milwaukee Mile will always holda special place for me, because it's where I fulfilled that lifelong dream - myfirst CART victory. It's indescribable, the emotions and excitement of winningyour first race. It's a great feeling. I'm definitely looking forward to therace because the short oval provides for great battles, which the fans love. Wehave a super car, so I think we'll be up at the front where the excitement willbe, and hopefully well bring home a win for Forsythe Racing." Moore is also looking to take back control of the PPG Cup Championship pointsbattle, after dropping to second place following the Gateway race. He is currently two points behind Alex Zanardi, following his thirdplace finish in St. Louis. Zanardi comes off a win at Gateway, a second place at Nazareth and a second place at Rio. He should have everythingnecessary to return once again to the podium, which he only missed at Motegi, when he dropped out of the race early'after contact withe the wall. Michael Andretti gained momentum at Gateway, and seemed to be the car to beat at Nazareth before contact took him out of that event. He won at Milwaukee in 1996, and has led the most laps this season so far. Can he make up valuable points to Zanardi and Moore at the Mile? Several other drivers are also looking to stay within reach of the points leaders. This includes Adrian Fernandez, whoran well at Gateway until his engine let go, as well as Jimmy Vasser, who won at Nazareth a few weeks ago. Both drivers arealready more than 30 points behind Zanardi and Moore and need to have top finishes to stay in the points race. Paul Tracy returns to the Mile as the defending pole sitter (started 1st / Finished 6th in 1997): "You've got to have a perfectly balanced car to be competitive atMilwaukee, because with the downforce and tires we have it's nearly flatall the way around. Fortunately I've always liked racing at Milwaukee andour short oval setup has been pretty good this year. But there's noquestion that we've got to get some momentum going at Team KOOL Green, andI can take a little comfort in knowing that I've won races at four of thenext five tracks." Apart from these protagonists, at least a dozen other drivers have the potential to play a major role in theMiller 200 on Sunday. A perfect blend of setup, strategy, and ability to work traffic will determine the winner onthe last short oval of the season. Miller Lite 200 pole qualifying will air 6 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2. CART 2Day, airs 1 p.m. ET Sunday, on ESPN2, one-half hour prior to ESPN's live race broadcast from the Mile.