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| | Sunday, September 26 | |||||
| HOUSTON -- It wasn't the kind of show Michael Andretti
wanted to put on. Still, finishes of third and seventh for his
Newman-Haas team in Sunday's Texaco Grand Prix of Houston were
satisfying.
"Last year was just a total embarrassment," said Andretti, who
along with teammate Christian Fittipaldi, crashed and finished in
the last two positions of last year's inaugural Houston race after
completing just five laps.
One of their team sponsors is Texaco, which is headquartered in
Houston, as well as being the title sponsor of the downtown street
race.
"This was huge," said Andretti, who took over third place when
Fittipaldi had to make a late stop for a splash of fuel. "I'm just
glad we were able to put on a good show for Texaco and Havoline
after what happened last year.
"It could have been better, but at least we were running at the
end this time."
Andretti's third-place finish, behind Paul Tracy and Dario
Franchitti, kept him in the battle for third place in the series
championship. He trails Tracy by 14 points with two races
remaining.
"That's all we've got to fight for, but there's still two races
to win," Andretti said.
Another ragged start For the third time since season, a CART race began under a yellow flag because flagman Jim Swintal made an instant decision that the leaders were not lined up properly. In fact, Swintal did not wave the green flag until the third lap on the downtown street circuit. "You know, I think sometimes CART is trying too hard to make things line up just right," Andretti said. "That's not in the cards. There's too much on the line these days, and it's so hard to pass. "I used to say you don't win a race on the start. But that's not true nowadays. You can win a race on the start." Nice comeback by Fittipaldi Fittipaldi, who had missed the previous five races with a head injury sustained in a testing crash in Madison, Ill., said he had no physical problems in Sunday's race. "It was never an issue," said the Brazilian, who is fully recovered from a subdural hematoma -- a collection of blood under the skin on his skull. But Fittipaldi was disappointed by his seventh-place finish. "It was good to be back for my first race and I'm glad we were able to finish, but I'm not here just to finish," he said. "I'm here to win races." Nice rally by Rahal drivers Team Rahal drivers Max Papis and Bryan Herta overcame mid-race problems to charge from behind and finish fourth and fifth in Sunday's race. Papis fell all the way from second to 19th after being assessed a stop-and-go penalty by CART for exceeding the 50-mph pit lane speed limit by 1 mile an hour. Herta was also second when he clipped a wall and flattened a tire during a restart on lap 19. That sent him back to 24th. Papis gave credit to his physical trainers in his native Italy for helping him get through the heat and humidity. "The humidity was difficult and I could not relax for one lap," he said. "I had to drive very hard to catch up to the pack. I am drained right now, but taking another top five position is very good for the team." Herta said, "It was a wild day for us. But we held in and worked hard. It wasn't a bad day for us considering what happened early. "It was tough on the drivers today. I think everyone is pretty much used up." Spark plugs ... SPARK PLUGS: Tracy's car is powered by a Honda engine and the victory was Honda's 13th in a row on temporary street circuits. It was also the 16th consecutive win for Firestone tires in the streets. ... Tracy led 85 of the 100 laps, including the final 49. That is the most laps led in a single race this season. ... The winner averaged 78.960 mph, considerably better than Franchitti's winning speed of 66.051 in last year's rain-shortened Houston inaugural. | ALSO SEE Montoya mistake makes it a Kool day in Houston
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