RACE: After the only crash, the remainder of the race was a gripping tale of watching Brack slice daringly through traffic with the full expectation he would eventually take care of Dixon, but as the laps wound down and the impossible seemed possible, the finish turned into a stunner.

TRACK: It's up to Nazareth to convince CART to bring the race back, and not having half the seats sold is not the way to do it.

START: Okay, the start ... no, wait ... okay, now ... no, not yet ... finally, here's the start.

DIXON: Scott was clearly stronger coming out of Turn 4, and that is what kept Brack at bay. By the way, what were you doing when you were 20-years-old?

PACWEST: A roller coaster week.

BRACK: Is there any other possible way Kenny can lose a race? If so, tell him, because he probably can't imagine any more.

TRACY: Always does well at Nazareth.

VASSER: Had a car capable of winning if he had Dixon's luck.

JUNQUEIRA: Nice pole, but no surprise he was quickly passed in his first oval race. Nonetheless, Bruno did a good job running competitively all day.

GANASSI: It has to be said again -- Hey, Chip, there is talent in Indy Lights, sometimes better than what's over in Europe.

NAKANO: Who says Japanese drivers can't be fast and aggressive on ovals?

KANAAN: Kenny Brack had to have had the fastest lap in the race with the way he was running, right? Wrong. It was Tony who did the trick on lap 196, the only one to get into the 160 mph range, once again making everybody forget that Zanardi (whose fastest lap placed him next to last in that category -- even slower then Max Wilson) is his teammate.

ANDRETTI: Never had the car for this race, but his perseverance got him a good chunk of points.

JOURDAIN: Once again, another opportunity for his breakthrough race was lost.

HERTA: Another top qualifying spot thrown away at the first turn.

DE FERRAN: Gil, there really wasn't much room there.

FITTIPALDI: Don't be fooled by his finishing position. Da Matta outran Christian all day. With ease.

GUGELMIN: Our thoughts are with you.

DRIVEN: Everybody blasted the silly, unrealistic aspects of this movie. Then, the first weekend it comes out, there is a fiery, airborne, pieces scattering, multi-car pileup in an IRL race that seemed to come right out of Hollywood. One week later, a young good looking talented driver wearing Nextel colors comes out of nowhere to burst on the scene with his first win. Just like Jimmy Blye (though he carried the Motorola colors in the movie). Fact truly is stranger than fiction.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: How about Scott Dixon being the youngest driver to win a CART race at 20 years, 9 months, and 14 days? Let's top that. How about Dixon being the youngest driver to win in a major racing series, CART, IRL, F1 or NASCAR? Let's top that some more. How about Dixon being the first CART rookie ever to win his first event on an oval track? We haven't even mentioned the stat that this was the second furthest starting position a winner ever came from. Any one of these feats is amazing enough. All at the same time is just mind blowing.

HISTORICAL FACT OF THE WEEKEND: The last driver to win a Champ Car race at the old Nazareth National Speedway, then a 1.125-mile dirt oval, was Mario Andretti in 1969. The first driver to win at the new Nazareth Speedway when Champ Cars returned there in 1987 was Michael Andretti.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Scott Dixon on why he banged wheels with Max Wilson after taking the checkered flag, "I thought it was the white flag lap. I was going for a pass on Max. We touched a little and I cut a tire. I probably didn't need to do that, but I'm young, come on!"

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Former Benetton F1 Chief Mechanic and current Speedvision F1 analyst, Steve Matchett, on his first visit to a CART event, "This is great. I wish the ambience at F1 races was like this."

SCHEDULE: With some thrilling moments from Nakano and Takagi at the tricky Nazareth oval, the rabid local fans may have a lot to cheer about in Motegi.

Copyright © 2001 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.