October 31 1999

The day started out absolutely beautiful with an air of excitement. Never before have I seen this part of southern California to have such clear, deep, blue skies and great visibility. We settled into our seats early to watch morning warm-ups. The raw speed of these cars at the CA. Speedway is breathtaking. All teams went out for about two laps each, apparently to scrub in their race start tires. After this warm-ups continued with lap speeds in the high 220 to low 230-mph range.

The day continued to get better and better. The Indy Lights race was to also decide a drivers' championship and that 100-mile dash was an awesome contest. Multiple lead changes every lap. Speeds hovering in the 180mph range. Intense competition among CART's stars of the future.

Noon rolls around and it is time to get the CART season championship decided. Also up for grabs was a one million-dollar winning driver's purse. Nine points separated (Super) Dario Franchitti over (Rookie star) Juan Pablo Montoya in the title chase. Of course nobody knew that this stage, which was set for such a potentially exciting afternoon would turn to tragedy.

After driver introductions and a tribute to outgoing CART Chief Steward Wally Dallenbach engines were fired and the race was underway. After just a very few laps Richie Hern lost control in turn two and brought out the race's first caution. No injuries and the race was quickly back underway. Then on lap 10 in the same location one of CART's up and coming super-stars, Greg Moore, had a horrific crash. The car went off in essentially the same location as Hern's but instead of harmlessly spinning to a stop it went roll bar first into an inside concrete retaining wall, broke into two separate pieces, and rolled violently four times. From the grandstands it was difficult to see this unfold, all we saw was the ESPN TV coverage on the big screen TV and it was (thankfully) only shown once. The track commentators made no announcement about Greg Moore's condition but we all knew it was potentially very bad. This caution period lasted quite a bit longer to extricate Greg from what was left from his car and begin life support, as well as clean the track of debris.

After the restart things settled down for some serious and fast green flag racing. Michael Andretti was the class of the field and pulled away visibly over the second place car. By the time Michael came down pit lane for his first green flag stop he had over a straightaway length's lead built up. The stop appeared routine at first. Then fire broke out on the left rear brake just as the stop was being completed. Apparently the left rear caliper and/or brake line sprang a leak resulting in the failure of the brake and the fire. (How do brakes fail this way on super-speedways?!) This ended Michael's day.

During this time we noticed the air ambulance helicopter fly off and we knew it must be Greg Moore. This actually gave hope for a time since there was still no announcement and they would not use the helicopter if he weren't still alive (as I witnessed sadly at Laguna Seca when they slowly departed with Gonsalvo Rodriguez in an ambulance).

Once first round pit stops were all completed Max Papis took the lead with Paul Tracy, Juan Pablo Montoya, Christian Fittipaldi, and others all running at the front. During Dario Franchitti's pit stop at lap 71 a problem with the right rear wheel nut resulted in his having to limp slowly around the course and stop again to get the tire properly secured. This apparently all but handed the title to Juan Pablo Montoya but Dario did not give up. He charged through the field as best he could, running very fast, but still 2 - 3 laps down from the leaders. As the race continued attrition typical of a high-speed 500-mile race started to set in. Paul Tracy dropped out. Greg Moore's teammate Patrick Carpentier mysteriously dropped out (the team cited "electrical problems") but very soon after the flags at victory square were lowered to half-staff and we all knew right then that the news about Greg was grim.

Slightly after the mid-way point of the race a caution was thrown for "debris." At this time the announcement was made to all at the speedway, except to the drivers on course, that Greg Moore had suffered fatal injuries. Immediately the mood of the 90,000+ in attendance went from excitement to deep sorrow. In the stands we looked at one another in complete shock and disbelief. Somehow we all stayed to see the race and championship unfold, albeit in a much more somber mood. It became very hard to focus on the race without thoughts drifting towards Greg, his family, and his loved ones.

Meanwhile on course the race indeed went on. Adrian Fernandez and Al Unser Jr. remained out while the leaders all stopped around lap 197 which put them on a different pit sequence from the leaders who would need to stop one more time for a "splash and go" as well. The result of this, combined with a little luck, enabled them to make one less stop than the other leaders towards the end of the race. Adrian Fernandez was very fast at this point and with a bit of a gamble took full advantage of the situation. Al Unser Jr. didn't have a car under him to keep up and faded into the pack.

Despite Dario's early troubles, he and Juan Pablo Montoya fought a hard championship battle the entire way and it looked like Dario could still win the title.

Adrian Fernandez's team gambled and it payed off. He took the checkers 7.634 seconds ahead of second place Max Papis. Adrian's fuel load was so close that he ran out of fuel on the cool down lap and had to be pushed down pit lane to his pit box (there would be no victory ceremonies today).

Juan Pablo Montoya finished fourth and Dario Franchitti finished tenth at two laps down. The final results in the championship points race resulted in a tie at 212 points. The first tie breaker is race wins which handed the title to Juan Pablo Montoya who had 7 wins to Dario's 3.

As the drivers climbed from their cars they were informed of their friend and fellow driver's tragic death. Tears and sadness immediately replaced the joys of championship and race victories. The crowd began to file out as the track announcer requested we remain seated for a few more minutes. It was as if time stood still. Everybody present froze in place with an eerie silence. The CART Chaplain came on the microphone and requested a moment of silence for Greg and then said a prayer. At that point the crowd was allowed to leave. Many still were looking at each other in disbelief and some visibly in tears.

CART had initially planned to cancel the following night's awards banquet. On the urging of Greg Moore's father the banquet was held with the first part of the night's activities being a dedication to Greg Moore. Greg was truly a star in CART. He was the youngest ever race winner in series history when he scored his first win. He had 5 wins already in his short career. Greg always smiled and always had a very positive and approachable attitude at the track and was regarded by all to be a genuinely good person. At the awards banquet various CART drivers had many great things to say about their friend. Greg Moore was a brilliantly talented driver who would have achieved even more greatness in his career had it not been tragically cut short. Greg will be missed very much and his loss is one that hit the entire motor sports world very hard.

As it turns out, Greg Moore was not the only member of the CART family to pass away that sad week. Later that week team co-owner and NFL great Walter Payton died of liver cancer and Mario and Aldo Andretti's father Alvise passed away at the age of 90. A sad way to end what was a great and intensely competitive season. Time now to regroup and look forwards to a new season, but never forget the two fallen drivers, Greg Moore and Gonsalvo Roriguez.

Next race is round 18 (of 20) on September 26 on a street circuit in Houston, Texas.

Mike Veglia ([email protected])