NASCAR visited the Michigan Speedway back in June and it was standing room only. Last Sunday many of the grandstands at the very same track stood empty for what was to be a very exciting Champ
car race. Montoya took the lead initially battling with Michael Andretti but as the race settled down
Montoya settled into the lead followed by Andretti, Vasser and Papis until the first round of pitstops.
Papis in his Reynard Ford took advantage of a good stop and held a comfortable lead over Jimmy Vasser. Not a lot happened during the subsequent laps until the final round of stops on lap 221.
Enjoying a comfortable lead, Papis was called in by his team and given enough fuel to last to the end of the race. In the meantime Tony Kanaan had regained a lost lap and was carving his way through the field making it to third before he made his final stop. Papis was in control followed by Montoya. Victory seemed inevitable for Papis. Suddenly on the final lap his Reynard Ford slowed, he had run out of fuel. The following Kanaan was taken by surprise seeing the leader slow in front of him. He lifted off momentarily but carried enough speed to take him over the finish line 0.032 seconds ahead of Montoya.
It was an exciting finish to what had been an exciting race. It was tinged with heartbreak however, for Papis who drove a faultless race only to be denied victory by a fault in his car's telemetry which meant he was unable to monitor fuel usage over the final laps. Dario Franchitti, Michael Andretti and Paul Tracy
had a teriffic battle down the field. Tracy finished third followed home by Andretti and Franchitti. The next round takes place around the 2.361 mile track of Belle Isle Raceway in Detroit on August 8th. We hope to continue our full coverage of the season then.
Murph (Email)
Round 7
