EVENT: Even more successful than the year before with a 31% attendance increase.

THE BIG PICTURE: Champ Car wants to be in Texas for marketing and demographic purposes. Okay, we came to town and did not embarrass ourselves. Now, we can go home to rest.

RACE: With the third straight street race and a long gap on the schedule afterwards, there was no longer a reason for the drivers to be careful. And it showed.

TRACK: For a track where you can't pass, there sure was a lot of passing throughout the field. That and a lot of failed passes, too.

START: The first attempt looked okay, and we figured they would throw the green on a worse lineup. Surprise, surprise, the second attempt was the best start in a long, long time.

BOURDAIS: At the start of the year, many asked if Sebastien would run the table. Las Vegas nixed that right from the start. However, we may need to revisit that concept.

RAHAL: Graham said he had the second fastest car, and he did indeed finish second. We hope his girlfriend enjoyed that instead of the Senior Prom. We also hope for Bobby's sake that his son was kidding when he said Dad should stay home from now on...

NEWMAN HAAS LANIGAN: They are annoying, win or lose. But, they are good in this version of Champ Car, and they are very hard to beat. Very hard.

DOORNBOS: What do you know? Another podium for Robert, our biggest surprise so far this season, although he's not a commanding presence on the track. He's funnier than most of the drivers and not too hard on the eyes according to the ladies. Is he a star in the making? Too soon to tell, but he is leading Rookie of the Year which is a rather tough competition this season.

SERVIA: Gerry Forsythe said if Oriol won today, he would run him all season. Well, he's sixth in points and has only run two races. It's not our money, but if it was, we would definitely run Oriol all year.

PAGENAUD: This time Simon had problems early in the race, leaving time to make up for it. He's far more impressive than a tenth place spot in the standings.

DOMINGUEZ: Once again, Mario gets in the way of a Forsythe teammate.

JUNQUEIRA: Seventh in the race and fifth in the points. Bruno's got to be making Dale Coyne a very happy man.

DALZIEL: Ryan continues to make up in the race what he lacks in qualifying.

TAGLIANI: Alex leads the series in laps completed and is fourth in points. He learned a lot last year when he couldn't afford to crash his car.

WILSON A blown opportunity. Yet, despite starting third, leading 12 laps, and looking racy all weekend, Justin doesn't seem to have anything for Seb when he needs it.

POWER: Pulled a Tracy trying to beat Bourdais.

MORENO: Welcome back, "Old Man."

GOMMENDY: We can't decide if Tristan is Jimmy's experiment in trying to win a race with alternate fuel strategy ala Jim McGee or if Tristan is a much better driver than we thought. But, consider that behind Bourdais and Power, who have both won races this season, Tris is third in laps led. We know, weird, isn't it?

HALLIDAY: Matt's three race deal just expired, and his results have not been impressive.

CONQUEST: Mr. Philippe should consider the idea of buying into Bachelart's team and running Nelson. They're good guys and deserve a break.

JANI: He was running in fourth when he got hit, setting off an interesting tirade from Kevin Kalkhoven.

LEGGE: Katherine is not going to be well respected in the series if she continues to drive as she did today.

CLARKE: Dan's season goes from bad to worse.

PACIFIC COAST MOTORSPORTS: We suggest stealing Michael Cannon from Minardi...

TRACY: Looking forward to Portland.

FIGGE: We hope Alex gets better soon. While there are faster drivers in the series, no one other than PT is as honest and that makes Tom Figge's boy a welcome addition.

MATOS: Three for three in Atlantic. It's not a surprise that Raphael is doing well this year. What is surprising is that he is doing so well with seemingly such ease.

F1: Certainly a good alternative to keep you busy during the long break. Plus, F1 has something Champ Car doesn't -- three different winners in three races. Heck, there are times F1 doesn't have three different winners for a whole season! It certainly is an interesting F1 season this year.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Hot.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 50% -- Sebastien Bourdais has won 22 of his last 44 races since the start of the 2004 season.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The last time someone won a Texas race twice in a row was when A.J. Foyt won three consecutive races at the 2-mile College Station oval in August, 1978, April, 1979 and August, 1979.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Graham Rahal on missing his prom, "I'm much better at this than dancing."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Ryan Dalziel on the rough Houston circuit, "I can't think at the moment, my brain is rattling in my head!"

SCHEDULE: The dreaded (first) seven week gap is upon us. It's time for Champ Car to get busy.

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