TRACK: If Chicago really is worth keeping, it needs to be moved away from the heart of the summer (not too far away obviously, this being Chicago) to get away from all the festivals and parties that compete for spectators. And the blistering heat.

RACE: The biggest issue in CART right now is no longer engines, budgets, grid sizes, or Tony George. It's the aerodynamic package that has turned some of the most exciting tracks -- one-mile ovals -- into some of the most boring.

DA MATTA: So now Cristiano and Newman-Haas has their act together on ovals. The schedule is now back to seven consecutive road/street circuits. Note to other competitors -- be afraid. Be very afraid.

BRAZIL: Wow, Cristiano must be real famous in his homeland for Brazil to declare a national holiday on the Monday after his victory. What's that? You mean the national holiday is for the soccer team? Oh. Never mind...

JUNQUEIRA: Despite da Matta's domination, Bruno is only 25 points back in second place. The championship is far from over.

FRANCHITTI: You know that trick pet owners play on their dog where they balance a treat on the dog's nose, and tell the dog to wait ... wait ... wait before finally allowing them to flip the food into their mouth? Well, that must have been how Dario felt waiting for his pole position to be confirmed while Fernandez and Andretti decided to take another stab at it with their backup cars.

TAKAGI, NAKANO: Land of the Rising Sun drivers did quite well on a day with a blazing sun.

TAGLIANI: It was just a matter of time before the race win would escape Alex.

REYNARD: Far from dead.

JOURDAIN: Coming back down to Earth?

ANDRETTI: Why is it that Michael can dice and slice, but everybody else always complains about dirty air?

BRACK: That looked like a bonehead move from his F3000 days.

VASSER: Jimmy now takes over the hard luck award from Tony Kanaan.

BELL: Hey, Townsend, stop tailgating.

PIT STOPS: Time to send all the tire men back to school.

CBS: Another cool intro.

CROWD: It was so hot, half the crowd went downstairs to watch the race on the large screens in the air conditioned lounges. In other words, a crowd DNF.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Once again, Cristiano is poised to tie Al Unser, Jr and Alex Zanardi's record of four consecutive wins. He has now won six of the last nine races.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Chicago was home to a board track during that brief era of American racing. The two-mile track hosted races from 1915-18. Ralph DePalma won the most champ car races on it with four victories, including the last three in a row.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Dario Franchitti for stating the obvious, "We have to stop Cristiano from winning."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Tony Kanaan on the two-day format, "If you have a good car, it can be a two-day event -- no problem. But if you have a bad car, it needs to be a six-day event."

SCHEDULE: CART is going to Canada for the 4th of July weekend?! A papal visit will do that to the schedule.

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