Race No. 15
Target Grand Prix
Chicago Motor Speedway — Cicero, Illinois
August 20-22, 1999
Sunday Quotes from Chicago: | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Finished: 3rd |
| JIMMY VASSER | |
| It was a pretty good race. I'm very happy for the Target Grand Prix. With Juan and myself on the podium, finishing one-three, the only way it could have been better was to finish one-two, so I'm very pleased. I had a poor start for some reason, but once we got going the car was pretty fair - not perfect. I thought we were running pretty well until the last stop, and then I got stuck behind Robby Gordon for 70-some laps. But I'm very happy for Juan and myself, to be on the podium together for the Target Grand Prix made it a great day for our sponsor and the entire team. | |
 | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Finished: 26th |
| GREG MOORE | |
| The car started getting looser, and then it started smoking, so we just pulled off. The track was still a one-groove racetrack. I thought there would be more diving into the corners under heavy braking, but it was just too slippery. | |
 | Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Finished: 9th |
| ROBERTO MORENO | |
| HOW DID THE CONTACT BETWEEN YOU AND MAGNUSSEN OCCUR? I got a run on him and then he shut the door on me. I was already committed and there was no way he should have tried to make the pass. AT THE END OF THE RACE IT SEEMED THAT YOU WERE FAST ENOUGH TO HAVE CONTESTED FOR THE WIN . . . We had a car that was a little loose after the first stint and we made it better towards the end. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO PASS FRANCHITTI AT THE END OF THE AND BECOME A FACTOR IN THE BATTLE FOR THE LEAD? I was trying to get my lap back. If a yellow comes out I would get my lap back. When you are driving fast you just want to try and drive as fast as you can. | |
 | Marlboro Lola Mercedes Finished: 25th |
| AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| This just wasn't our weekend. After yesterday's spin and crash during practice, the team did a great job getting the backup car ready for qualifying and today's race. We were working our way up the field when we developed an engine problem, ending our day early. It's unfortunate, because the car was running well, and we were posting lap times as fast as the leaders. | |
 | MCI Worldcom Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota Finished: 14th |
| CRISTIANO DA MATTA | |
| The MCI WorldCom car was handling really bad at the start of the race. I had to come in early to change the right rear tire, and then it just got worse from there. I had lots of mid-corner understeer, and it was really hard to hang on in the turns. We tried to fix the balance of the car in the pits, and it helped enough to get me to the end of the race in one piece. The guys on the team worked really hard to keep me going, and it’s because of them that I was able to stay out there. We’re still not sure if anything else was wrong with the car, but we're looking at it now. | |
 | Pioneer Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota Finished: 20th |
| SCOTT PRUETT | |
| As the race went on, the Pioneer car was really coming into its own. It wasn’t handling so great at the beginning, but it got better as the race progressed. We ran harder, faster laps as the car improved – it was one great race car. I was really looking forward to the finish. If we had been able to go longer, we could have had a real advantage toward the end of the race. I was able to put a few good moves on Herta (to gain position), but most of the time I wasn’t able to do anything in traffic. We just didn’t have the power. | |
 | PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes Finished: 21st |
| MARK BLUNDELL | |
| At the start, we had troubles with the car being loose, but we got it balanced out again and I was quite comfortable. We were looking very good with our fuel consumption. But we developed a problem and couldn't continue. It's a shame we didn't get the opportunity to carry out our plans for the rest of the race. | |
 | Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford Finished: 18th |
| MICHEL JOURDAIN | |
| I had a very loose car today. We tried to work on it throughout the race but we were not making quite the progress we needed to. I was also struggling with gearbox problems early on and then finally at the end the car just quit. I think we lost an engine. It was a frustrating day overall. | |
 | Miller Lite Team Rahal Reynard Ford Finished: 4th |
| MAX PAPIS | |
| We had a very good race and we pushed hard all day. We were loose during the first stint and then at the end of the race we had to conserve fuel. If we had a little more (fuel) we would have been able to gain on the guys up front. We were waiting for the race to come back to us but it didn't. If we would have been able to stop once more it would have been different. We had to run very, very lean. We learned a lot and overall it was a pretty competitive race. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING AFTER THE FOUR STARTS TO BEGINNING THE RACE? I didn't know what to think. I was doing what I was supposed to do. I guess Mark (Blundel) didn't want to get beat. It was very strange but at least we were finally able to get the race going. HOW HARD WAS IT TO PASS OUT THERE? It was difficult, but, we did it. Especially at the end with the marbles out there you couldn't go to the outside. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CLOSING LAP BATTLE WITH VASSER? I tried to go on the outside of Jimmy (Vasser) but there was no way I was going to pull it off. | |
 | Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford Finished: 8th |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| The Shell car was pretty loose and we battled that all day. The back end of the car kept wanting to kick out on me. We didn't have a car capable for the lead today. We didn't guess right on the setup at the start of the race and it sort of handcuffed us a bit with the changes we needed to make. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Finished: 2nd |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| You're never satisfied with second, but we had a good result today for Team KOOL Green. We were in the hunt all day. We started to get some braking problems towards the end of the race and we were battling a problem with the balance of the car. But we just dealt with it. It all came down to that last little bit. We were starting to fight a loose car on entry with a long brake pedal, which isn't the best thing to have. Then it would understeer through the middle, so I couldn't get close enough, and then it would oversteer on exit. Juan [Montoya] was fighting oversteer as I was trying to get as close to him as I could off the corner. I was just looking for one small mistake from him as we fought our way through traffic. If he had just got held up slightly, then I would be on him. But then Roberto [Moreno] came between us. I'm not quite sure why he did that. Maybe Juan paid him some money. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Finished: 23rd |
| PAUL TRACY | |
| It looked to me that we were going for the same piece of real estate. I was about a half a car length in front of Michael [Andretti] and we made contact heading into the corner. That sent both of us around. It was disappointing because both of us had good cars. It was pretty racy early on. I knew he was there, but I didn't think he was far enough up alongside to out-brake me. This track is such a one-line place that you've got to turn in sometime. I thought I was clear of him and I also thought he was down on the apron a little bit. We then made contact with each other. My car was pretty good. I was able to pass guys. I'm very disappointed because I thought we could have been on the podium. The Team KOOL Green guys gave me a great service on my first stop. I went from ninth to fourth. We'll try to get on the podium in Vancouver. | |
 | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Finished: 1st |
| JUAN MONTOYA | |
| I'm so pleased. All weekend was really bad. We couldn't get the car working the way we wanted to. [Race engineer] Morris Nunn and the guys stayed late last night and they made the right changes. This morning, when we went out for the warmup, the car was so much better. I knew coming into the weekend that we had a chance at winning the race, but I wasn't really a contender until this morning. [Regarding the CART rookie record of six victories in the season] It's good, but it's not what I think about when I'm out there. I just go racing and try to win. | |
 | McDonald'sForsythe Championship Racing Team Reynard Honda Finished: 11th |
| TONY KANAAN | |
| We picked up a couple of points today. We didn't have the best car, but I think we got the most out of it. We had some bad luck in the race. The dash went away and then we had some electrical problem where the car shut off in the middle of the corner. I lost a position which would have put us 10th. We know we struggle on the one-mile ovals. We have to get a better car and we will. We have a lot of time before the next mile oval next year, and we'll be working hard. It's time to go for the fun now. I am really excited about the last five races. Today is done and tomorrow is another day. I am looking forward to Vancouver now. | |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford Finished: 7th |
| PJ JONES | |
| It was a really interesting race for us. We had some pretty eventful moments out there. Jan and I got together and actually touched wheels at one point. We both had to do some heads-up driving out there. The Tecate/Quaker State guys gave me a great car, one that I was comfortable racing. I really enjoy racing these short ovals. We really needed the top-ten finish. Given the kind of car we had, I am happy with the seventh place. | |
 | Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Walker Racing Reynard Honda Finished: 13th |
| GIL de FERRAN | |
| It was one of those days where you just had to get the car to the end and live to fight another day. It was a long day. The car handled okay, but the two pit lane speed violations killed us. I don't know what it was, the telemetry said we were fine on speed. If it weren't for those, we would definitely have finished in the points. | |
 | Hogan Racing Lola Mercedes Finished: 5th |
| HELIO CASTRO-NEVES | |
| It was a really tough race. It was hard to overtake anyone, because the track had only one line. When it was Vasser and Papis in front of me, they were taking all the lines in front of me, so I was just hanging there trying to hold the car. We saved fuel today, and I thought we'd have the advantage we had before on the short ovals, but we didn't. But it still worked out well. | |
 | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Finished: 6th |
| PATRICK CARPENTIER | |
| We were hoping for a better day. On the restart, my car got a little sideways on the exit of turn four, and that allowed Helio Castro-Neves to get by me that one time. The car was pretty loose at the end. | |
 | Hollywood Reynard Mercedes Finished: 19th |
| MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| The balance was pretty good today, although we had difficulty on restarts because the car was difficult to predict. That was the biggest problem I had. The engineers chased the balance really well with tire pressures. The trick today was to have a good car for the restarts when everybody was still settling down. Unfortunately, that's what I definitely didn't have. About 15 laps before I retired, I started feeling a vibration at the back of the car coming from the gearbox. Something must have broken, because I lost the drive completely. | |
 | Patrick Racing Visteon Reynard Ford Finished: 24th |
| JAN MAGNUSSEN | |
| I had a lot of fun today. I want to thank the Visteon guys for giving me such a good car for the race today. Unfortunately I couldn't bring it home, but I enjoyed my first oval race. The car was running really good and considering that we changed cars mid-week and decided to go with the Reynard. This was a good experience for me. WHAT CAUSED YOU TO HIT THE WALL? Moreno and I made contact and that turned us both around. Unfortunately I ended up in the wall and was not able to continue. Moreno took my racing line away and there as nothing I could do. It was a racing incident. | |
 | Team Gordon Eagle Toyota Finished: 10th |
| ROBBY GORDON | |
| The Gurney guys did a great job and so did our guys. No matter what kind of obstacle I throw at them, whether it be a Swift, Reynard or Eagle, they always make sure it's bulletproof. Our weekend was up and down, but we left here with some points and that's what counts. I think we've climbed to within a point of being the top Toyota, which was a goal of ours from the beginning of the season. The car had some push in it in the corners, but it would come around for me as the runs went longer. By the end of the race, we had worked the tire pressures and the car was fast. I feel good right now. It's nice to wrap up this trip with two top 10s in a row. I also want to thank Dan Gurney. He went out on a limb for us and made this experience as easy as possible. Both Eagles scored points today. That's something to talk about. | |