Race No. 4
Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota
Nazareth Speedway — Nazareth, PA
April 30 - May 2, 1999
|
Montoya Moves to the Front
Win from the pole makes him an instant championship contender
By Greg Spotts
© 1999 SpeedCenter
Rookie Juan Montoya parked his red Target car in victory lane once again on Sunday, taking the pole, leading the most laps, and departing Nazareth with 22 precious points. The last time a rookie won two consecutive races was none other than Nigel Mansell, who started that year as a newcomer and ended it as the series champion. After today's exceptionally poised performance, Montoya heads to the next race in Rio as the points leader and a favorite to win the PPG Cup.
Although drivers enjoyed the sunniest Nazareth weather in years, the race started under a cloud of anxiety. Usually gung-ho CART drivers sounded demoralized and fearful, deeply unhappy about unpredictable handling caused by the debut of small speedway wings on a one-mile oval. The rule change was a safety-driven attempt to lower cornering speeds, but drivers who tested the new wings here in March lamented the resulting loss of stability and "feel."
Race officials responded to driver concern by adding an unusual Thursday practice session, yet the extra track time did not increase confidence. Oval specialist Mauricio Gugelmin, who holds the record for the fastest qualifying lap in history, explained that while the new wings reduced the possibility of injury in a crash, they also increased the likelihood of a crash, especially in the turbulent air of race traffic.
Helio Castro-Neves dominated the Thursday and Friday practices, significantly quicker than the next-fastest drivers Greg Moore and Mark Blundell. The two drivers blasted the new rules on Friday, Blundell stating flatly that cars in this configuration should not be running at Nazareth, and Moore predicting a race devoid of passing and filled with "carnage." The atmosphere was further darkened a day later by the sad news that three spectators had been killed at Saturday's IRL event in Charlotte.
The only Reynard driver able to keep up with Castro-Neves in the Saturday practice was Montoya, proving once again the superiority of his engineer Morris Nunn, who almost retired after winning two championships with Alex Zanardi. Montoya and Castro Neves set the stage for a Sunday dogfight by qualifying with almost identical times, Montoya on the pole with a lap of 19.600 and Castro-Neves a millisecond behind at 19.601. At the conclusion of qualifying, Montoya, Castro-Neves and Paul Tracy were some of the only drivers who expressed excitement about showing up for work on Sunday, the rest dreading a parade punctuated by frequent yellow flags.
The race started with drivers treading gingery in single-file, as Montoya and Castro-Neves quickly pulled away from the field. Never one to follow the party line, Tracy stole third place from his teammate Dario Franchitti on the opening lap, and minutes later drew gasps from the crowd by pulling a 360 in front of the main grandstand. "Suddenly my car turned into a John Deere instead of a Kool Green machine, and I was mowing the grass across the front straightaway" reported Tracy, who recovered control on pit road and rejoined the pack in tenth position.
The leader Montoya began to encounter slower cars almost immediately, and the low downforce wings did indeed make passing difficult. Montoya led with the patience of veteran, carefully picking his way around each backmarker. Castro-Neves tracked Montoya like a guided missile, darting left and right to stay directly behind the leader. Castro-Neves finally attacked on lap 38, passing Montoya for the lead in the exit of Turn 2.
The pair of twenty-three year olds next slotted in behind eighteen-year man Al Unser Jr, who was desperate to avoid being lapped. In an attempt to keep his pursuers at bay, Unser ran his fastest time of the race on lap 41, and four laps later roared into Turn 3 with a full head of steam, locking up the brakes and skidding into the wall. Wearing a carbon-fiber ankle brace in his first start since Homestead, Unser was lucky to escape the crash without further injuring his still-healing bones.
The ensuing yellow flag shifted the battlefield to the pits, and quick service by Montoya's crew enabled him to retake the lead, followed by Castro-Neves, Franchitti, PJ Jones and Mark Blundell. Jones slipped by Franchitti on lap 97, creating a rare trifecta of Honda-Reynard, Mercedes-Lola, and Ford-Swift at the top of the leaderboard. Lap144 had spectators cheering as the three leaders exchanged positions amid a pack of slower cars. Castro-Neves ducked inside Montoya for the lead in Turn 1, and then Jones went high to get around Montoya in Turn 3.
"I knew that the only way to pass was to use a lapped car as a pick. Juan got held up in traffic so I made a run a him on the outside. I was a little loose in traffic all day, so when I pinched the kink a bit too much it sent me sideways," Jones explained. Like Tracy's earlier stunt, Jones made the full rotation and continued on unharmed. The yellow flag immediately came out, Castro-Neves, Montoya, and Jones headed into the pits for fuel, and Montoya beat Castro-Neves out of the pits for the second time.
The sudden yellow flag ruined the race for Franchitti, Blundell, and Jimmy Vasser, who had all pitted under green just a few laps earlier. The early pitters watched helplessly as those who waited gained valuable track position and vaulted ahead for good. Tracy jumped from thirteenth to fourth, and rookie Cristiano daMatta went from twelth to fifth. Franchitti, Blundell and Vasser all blamed poor luck rather than bad strategy for their misfortune, but in fact early pitters have been punished in all three oval races this season, and those who stayed out have reaped the benefits.
On lap 170, Helio Castro-Neves became the third driver to rotate for the crowd coming out of turn four. Helio came to a stop on the edge of the grass having stalled the engine, and the yellow came out once again as the safety team successfully gave him a pull-start. When the green flag waved six laps later, Helio was tantalized by the ribbon of blank asphalt ahead of him. "I wanted to go for the fastest lap, and as I headed toward three and lifted off, the throttle stuck and when I hit the brakes the pedal went straight to the floor. The next thing I knew I was in the wall." Helio's body was unscathed in the crash, but the "patience" he had been talking about on Friday and Saturday will needs a bit more development.
The final portion of the race was marred by some patently unsportsmanlike driving by Alex Barron, who refused to move aside for his ex-teammate Jones and therefore prevented Jones from remaining in contact with the leader Montoya. Attempting to stay on the lead lap is one thing, but a lapped driver who holds up those who are pursuing the leader degrades the race for both participants and spectators. Robby Gordon was an equally egregious offender, holding up Franchitti in the first half of the race.
Montoya finished the race unchallenged, followed by Jones, (his best career finish) Tracy, (his first podium since winning Gateway in '97) and da Matta, who brought Toyota to their finest moment to date. Jones' teammate Fernandez came in fifth, and local hero Michael Andretti was sixth.
Montoya's victory was particularly impressive for the determination and discipline he showed. Unlike the fast but mistake-prone group of Tracy, Jones, and Castro-Neves, Montoya was able to consistently run error-free laps at top speed . Coming from Formula 3000, Montoya is used to a series without ovals, full-course yellows, restarts, and pit stops. His early mastery of the complexities of CART is even more of an achievement than Mansell's rookie exploits, since Mansell came to the series as an established Formula One star and champion.
Notes:
The race for the championship is completely wide-open. Montoya leads with 45 points, followed by Fernandez with 43. Moore and Andretti are tied at 40, with Franchitti at 35, Christian Fittipaldi at 34 and Gil de Ferran at 33.
Although drivers complained before and after the race that the new wings limited passing, Nazareth was the first CART event of the season to feature competitive passes for the lead once the race was beyond the initial phase. The only other battles this season that resulted in a pass for the lead took place in the first three laps of Long Beach.
Team Patrick hedged their bets by running two different chassis, and the gambit paid off, as PJ Jones finished third in the '99 Swift and Adrian Fernandez came in fifth in the "Frankenstein" Reynard. Asked if Fernandez might return to Swift this season, Jones said, "I don't know, Adrian's got a great past with the Reynard, he's been able to tune it, he ran really well with it last year. He likes that car."
Neither of the rookies named Hattori will be competing at Rio in two weeks. Naoki Hattori is still recovering from his accident at Homestead, and Shigeaki Hattori has been suspended by Chief Steward Wally Dallenbach for crashing too often, and must prove his ability to run competitive lap times at Gateway before being reinstated.