RACE: Not a barn burner. More like a sports car endurance race where various interesting stories develop through the course of the event.

TRACK: It may be time for CART to give up on Homestead. Attendance continues to be a problem, and once Winston Cup shows up, it might only get worse. Consider Sebring or Road Atlanta to replace this track. And, maybe even consider moving Long Beach, being the de facto premier event for CART, as the season opener.

MOORE: Greg has been a driver of streaks. To start the season off hot can only be trouble for his competitors.

ANDRETTI: Considering past history, maybe it's best he didn't win this race. Losing four points may be a fair trade off to better luck the rest of the season.

CARPENTIER: Not the Patrick of 1998.

da MATTA: I always believed that da Matta would contend with Montoya for Rookie-of-the-Year honors if he was in equal equipment as the Target driver. Maybe he is. Or maybe he is better than we already think.

MONTOYA: Consider the fact this was his first ever oval race in his life. Just to finish is an accomplishment. To grab a few points is a bonus.

VASSER: Not the best of days, but once again, as always, he collects a lot of points.

de FERRAN: But will the Goodyear tires eventually let Gil down during the course of the season?

UNSER: Not even three months into 1999, and one can only hope that this year does not get any worse for Al and his family.

BOESEL: Must be the Paul Tracy curse.

N. HATTORI: Darn good qualifying effort. Darn lousy first lap.

S. HATTORI: 140 G's!! I understand the driver doesn't actually feel this much, but you still have to think that there are a bunch of medical texts that need revising.

JONES: Everybody said this year was going to be the big break for PJ Jones. That's assuming PJ Jones is capable of taking advantage of a big break. So far, the naysayers are right.

VITOLO: Let's see. He finished. Didn't really get in the way of the faster cars. Didn't spin in the race. Only (for him) was eight laps down to the winner. Damn, can't say anything bad about Dennis.

TOYOTA: Mixed results. Had moments of brilliance, but overall, seemed to be where they stood at the end of last season. Which isn't so bad considering that was a lot better than the beginning of 1998, but they do need to make the next leap.

LOLA: One race wonder? No. The Lola is for real. At least on ovals.

TARGET: A lot of people were more upset with Zanardi leaving because of the effect it would have on their commercials than the action on the track. Well, not to worry. Once again, Target continues to outdo themselves with the most hilarious commercials on TV. CART needs to hire this ad agency.

PAGE: I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me, but Paul Page did a fine job in his return to the CART broadcasts. He almost seemed like the Paul of old when he gained a good reputation anchoring the Indy 500 radio broadcasts. Parker worked out okay. Paul Tracy was the surprise find in his guest appearance. And best of all, no Jack Arute. The overhaul of the TV production, from top to bottom, is heading in the right direction. So far.

PIT CREW: Did you notice at least one pit crew had their tire men wearing open face helmets? This should be mandatory for all pit crews. It's a good compromise between protection and the tire men needing full sight range.

SCHEDULE: Let's hope that they allow more people into Motegi, because the Japanese would love to fill up that place if they allow them to.

Deep Throttle

Copyright © 1999 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.