TRACK: 16 turns in 1.387 miles? Come on! Lime Rock is more reasonable than that. It's high time that CART starts setting minimum requirements, like F1 does, in terms of length of track and perhaps number of turns per mile allowed.

RACE: Surprisingly, not the crashfest most expected. And it wasn't just a parade either. Even the Trans Am race saw lots of passing.

DA MATTA: No question, a well deserved championship for Cristiano.

NEWMAN-HAAS: Nice to see some of the good guys in CART ownership take the title.

TOYOTA: A bittersweet engine winner for CART fans. It's been a long way since their back of the pack days, but most blame Toyota's backroom dealings for the mess that CART is in right now.

KANAAN: We're going to be real blunt and non-politically correct about this. Is this what racing has come to? The idea that you can make a move to defend your line no matter what? Is the Jeff Krosnoff tragedy that long ago for everybody to forget the consequences of blocking due to sheer pigheadedness? Listen carefully Tony. You do not have the right to defend your line when the other car is right next to you. You do not have the right to move over just because you are not man enough to accept being passed. And most of all, you do not have the right to cry about it when you have nobody to blame but yourself. Quite frankly, what you did was horse shit!

DIXON: Scott, understandably upset, was more of a man than Tony Kanaan was. Most people would have punched Tony in that oversized nose of his.

FITTIPALDI: Another very strong run. Plus, he got the fastest lap of the race. Christian seems to be getting better ever since he announced he was heading for Bubba Land.

VASSER: Pulled a Tracy. On Paul himself.

JUNQUEIRA: Now the fight is for second.

TRACY: A typical wild race for Paul. But man, his driving sure is entertaining.

JOURDAIN: In the points. Again. Though this time, it was mighty close thanks to his own teammate.

DOMINGUEZ: Just two points behind the rookie lead with three races to go! The tension is unbearable.

TAKAGI: Once again showed excellent speed.

NAKANO: With three weeks till the next race, hopefully his burns will heal in time for Surfers Paradise.

CARPENTIER: It seems like it is either feast or famine for Patrick this year.

LOBOTOMY OF THE WEEKEND: To Tony Kanaan. Not so much for the move he made -- though that certainly would qualify -- but for the way he dealt with it afterwards, deflecting blame.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 68.723 mph. The slowest race in CART history.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The first championship race in Florida took place in Jacksonville back in 1911 on a 5-mile beach track. Running on sand 91 years ago, the winner, Louis Disbrow, averaged a higher speed -- 79.56 mph -- than this year's Miami race.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Jimmy Vasser on his punting Paul Tracy, "I figure if anyone can understand, it would be Paul."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Again to Jimmy Vasser on pointing out one of the benefits to the Miami circuit, "There's lots of good scenery, if you know what I mean."

SCHEDULE: Off to the best locale on the circuit. And perhaps the largest crowd of the year.

Copyright © 2002 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.

Agree with Deep Throttle? Disagree? Let others know what your Miami thoughts are by visiting the Forums.