2000 Portland Thoughts
RACE: Remember back not too long ago when Team Penske dominated, turning races into
processional bores? Remember when everyone started feeling sorry for The Captain and hoped he
would soon win his 100th? Well, be careful what you wish for...
TRACK: Never liked the Festival Curves. And still don't.
DE FERRAN: Second place in the standings, just one point out of first. There's a reason
why Penske paid Gil a lot of money.
MORENO: If not for a problem in the last pit stop, there would have been been 8
different winners in 8 races. However, the consolation prize for Roberto is the points lead.
CASTRONEVES: Still trying to figure out how he lost this race, gearbox problems not
withstanding.
BRAZILIANS: Quite remarkable that it took this long for an all Brazilian podium.
ANDRETTI: Michael seemed to have the more visible drive up through the field, but ...
FITTIPALDI: ... it was his teammate Christian who made up more positions, due to an early
pit stop, and finished ahead of Andretti.
PPI MOTORSPORTS: Slowly becoming a team to be reckoned with.
MONTOYA: Even the gods have an off day.
BRACK: Nobody warned this IRL newbie about how not to approach the Festival Curves on
the first lap? And consider what might have been since Kenny turned the fastest lap in the
race...
CARPENTIER: Hey Patrick, get the &%$*# out of the way!!
GARCIA: Mirrors, my friend, mirrors. Use them.
TRACY: Are his good fortunes starting to run out? Probably not.
FONTANA: Is Norberto a bust, or the Della Penna team that bad or rather poor?
COYNE: Dale should have just stayed in bed all week. First, the transporter and the
race cars inside are damaged in Kansas by a fire caused by overheating brakes. Then, the stage
at his Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL for a major rock concert is smashed by high winds. Next,
Takuya Kurosawa cannot take part in the final qualifying session because his car was stuck in gear.
Finally, Kurosawa lasts only 10 laps in the race due to a fire, but at least Marques finished.
INTERESTING STAT OF THE WEEKEND: In every race this year, the pole position winner
has also led the most laps. Yet, only once did the same driver win the race.
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Gil de Ferran to his children on the cell phone, "Daddy won!"
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Derrick Walker on whether Bobby Rahal would consider
becoming a permanent CEO of CART, "I'm sure Bobby can't afford to take a pay cut to keep the
CART job."
SCHEDULE: Who made up the schedule that has the teams traveling from Detroit to Portland
in one week, to Cleveland in the next week, and then wait two weeks to hop up to Toronto?
Copyright © 2000 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.
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