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Brat Pack-ing

CART's 20-somethings a formidable friendship force

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Posted: Tuesday July 20, 1999 09:26 PM

(From left to right) Dario Franchetti, Max Papis, Greg Moore and Tony Kannan enjoy the laughs off the track CNN/SI

ATLANTA (CNN/SI) -- While eyes have popped over Tony Stewart's NASCAR Winston Cup debut, youth is also prominent on the CART series, where a quartet of drivers have bonded off-track, and just happen to form CART's talent-core-of-the-future on the track.

Meet Max Papis (29), Dario Franchitti (26), Greg Moore (24) and Tony Kanaan (24). All are hotshots in the points standings. All hail from a different country. Franchitti is the latest victor, having led a one-two sweep of last Sunday's Molson Indy in Toronto; Team Kool Green teammate Paul Tracy finished second. And Papis wasn't far behind in fifth place.

"I don't really know where it came from," Moore said of the group's Brat Pack nickname. "But if that's what they want to call us, we can act like that if they want us to."

They don't act their age on the track. Heading into this week's U.S. 500 at Michigan Speedway, three Brat Packers rank among the top 10 in point standings through 11 of 20 CART events. Franchitti is second, followed by Moore (seventh), Papis (ninth), and Kanaan (12th).

"We all try to have as much fun as we can when we hang out together," Kanaan said. "And I would say we're all pretty crazy."

"This is only friendship, nothing else," Papis added. "Everything else around it has kind of been built by other people."

Franchitti, a Scotsman of Italian descent, had his breakthrough year in 1998, capturing his first three CART victories. Moore, a Canadian and the 1995 Indy Lights champion, won this year's season-opener in Miami. Papis, an Italian, was handpicked by former three-time CART champion Bobby Rahal to succeed Rahal in the driver's seat. And Kanaan, the 1997 Indy Lights champion and '98 CART rookie of the year, hails from the long Brazilian pipeline of talent.

"They just like hanging out with each other and like each other's company," said Rahal, who retired after last season. "And it's fun seeing it. Because you don't often see that in sports, particularly racing."

Friendship would seem to come with a price. All four Brat Packers drive for big-name owners -- Kanaan for Gerald Forsythe's newest team, Championship Racing; Moore for the better-known Forsythe Racing; Papis for Team Rahal, and Franchitti for CART icon Barry Green. Careers are shaped race-to-race and wheel-to-wheel, yet the Brat Packers say they leave all competition at the garage.

"When you're not with your engineers," Franchitti said. "When you are not in the car, when you're not working, you have that sort of happier -- the fun side is very accessible because you are all here doing the same thing."

"Talks are about a lot of things," Papis said. "About life, about women, about everything."

"You're not talking about business all the time," Moore said. "And I think that's one thing that's nice about the four of us, is that we can get away."

The getaways take the form of lawn-chair sessions outside motor homes (Moore is a frequent host), motor scooter rides, and recreational watercraft sprees (Kanaan recently picked up a speeding ticket during one of the latter). They've also taken the form of typical 20-something social excursions -- Moore's Miami victory party was a legendary affair hosted by singer Kenny Kravitz -- but the Brat Packers insist their party-hearty reputation is outdated.

"Especially last year was more, you know, after races and parties and things like that," Franchitti said. "That's kind of calmed down this year, we've all got girlfriends now."

And yes, there have been some, um, post-race discussions.

"Max tried to put me in the pit wall in St. Louis," Franchitti said, referring to the Motorola 300 on May 29, which was won by John Andretti. "But we discussed it afterward and he said he was looking the wrong way."

"For a while," Papis interjected, sitting nearby. "Until I saw you."

Moore has a similar perspective: Friends don't let friends beat them.

"Everyone expects us to give a little bit more room," Moore said. "But I think you want to have bragging rights over each other, so we probably race each other harder than we would anyone else"

Or, as Kanaan says, "I don't want them to win, and they don't want me to win."

Because the loser usually buys dinner.

"You've got to have bragging rights at the end of the day," Franchitti said. "You know what I mean?"

 

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Multimedia
Watch Max Papis and the guys do their thing.   • Start(1.36 M .MOV) Greg Moore believes there's no better time to get together than for a meal. (98 K) Bobby Rahal believes their friendship is uncommon in sports. (78 K) Dario Franchetti says there's a lot at stake when they're out on the track. (80 K) Max Papis believes they are in a unique situation. (55 K) Tony Kanaan says they are into having a lot of fun when they're together. (76 K) Click here for the latest audio and video
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