RACE: Did you see how happy the drivers were after this race? That's because they were finally allowed to race. Happy drivers will mean entertaining races.

TRACK: Maybe next year they can make that configuration change they talked about last year? Hopefully.

DA MATTA: May as well make him a Mexican citizen.

NEWMAN-HAAS: It was a brilliant strategy only because it worked. Still, it was a strange call. Nonetheless, a great weekend for the team.

FRANCHITTI: A solid, solid weekend. A great way to start what very well may be a championship run.

FITTIPALDI: The first person to fall victim to the new penalty for causing a red flag in qualifying. Instead of losing eight minutes of track time, he lost the pole position and one point. Otherwise, a very strong weekend for Christian.

JOURDAIN: He has had solid performances before, but they were sporadic. Thus, we display a reserved excitement for this performance. However, it was an impressive run, and he does have some solid equipment behind him now.

FERNANDEZ: Maybe it didn't all work out for Adrian, but he did experience some great thrills in front of his countrymen. And most importantly, showed that he is ready to concentrate on driving and not be so distracted this year with team ownership.

TAGLIANI: A great run foiled by a failed air jack.

CARPENTIER: A great run foiled by pit miscommunication.

TRACY: It only took till the first turn of the season for Paul to wind up off the track. Frankly, that was longer than we expected. However, that led to one of the most exciting runs of the day. If nothing else, Tracy will always be entertaining.

PAPIS: A decent run in his first outing with Sigma.

BELL: Give Townsend credit for being honest and taking responsibility for the first lap incident. But, not the way to start out your rookie season.

TAKAGI: Continues to live down to his reputation.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: How about Cristiano da Matta currently on a three race winning streak, the first in CART since 1999. Or, maybe Newman-Haas winning nine season openers in their 20 year existence. Either one is a pretty good stat.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Five previous times, the winner in the season opener has won the CART championship -- Johnny Rutherford in 1980, Rick Mears in 1982, Nigel Mansell in 1993, Jacques Villeneuve in 1995, and Jimmy Vasser in 1996.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Dario Franchitti showing his pleasure with the new rules, "We were running flat out all day. That was a lot of fun. That's the way races should be."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: This one's a tie due to the circumstances. Townsend Bell on his premonition, "I expect the first lap to be a wild one," and Jimmy Vasser on the outcome, "Stupid, stupid thing to do on the first lap of the race."

SCHEDULE: Five weeks? Five weeks?! FIVE WEEKS?!

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