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Out in front Brack gains first CART victory, points lead
Updated: Saturday May 19, 2001 3:58 PM
MOTEGI, Japan (AP) -- Kenny Brack has been almost unbeatable this season -- on qualifying day. This time, he was finally unbeatable when it really counted. The 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner took his first checkered flag in the cockpit of a Champ car Saturday, shaking off Helio Castroneves to win the Firestone Firehawk 500. The win was especially satisfying because the Swedish driver had put his Lola-Ford on the front row in one qualifying session after another at CART events this season, only to watch another car drive away to victory on race day. This time he started sixth -- but grabbed the lead on the 150th of 201 laps and fought off a late assault by the faster-qualifying Honda Reynards of Castroneves and Tony Kanaan. "We've been leading so many races ... but we just haven't been able to lead the last lap," said Brack, a former IRL champion and the 2000 CART rookie of the year. "It was starting to irritate me." He had little to get irritated about Saturday. His 20-point performance gave him the lead in the FedEx Championship series with 49. Castroneves is now second with 47 points.
"It's better for me to start sixth than on the pole," joked the Team Rahal driver. "We haven't had much luck from the front row." Pole-sitter Castroneves came up just short in what turned into a hard-fought race of nine lead changes and few interruptions -- all but 13 laps were run under a green flag. The Brazilian started fast, led the most laps and appeared on his way to his second win of the season when he was forced to pit before Brack on lap 149. Fuel conservation proved decisive with only two yellow flags to slow the cars, and Brack said he succeeded in taking full advantage of drafting situations. He broke Adrian Fernandez's course record at the 1.549-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval, averaging 178.113 mph. Brack joined two-time winner Fernandez and Michael Andretti on the list of winners at the mountaintop circuit in central Japan, where Ford has never been beaten. Andretti completed only 33 laps after blowing a gearbox, leaving him 23rd in a field of 25. "It's a shame because the car was running really well," he said. "I think all we needed to do was get into traffic and we could have gained some ground on the leaders." Kanaan, driving a Reynard, wound up a lap down in third, followed by the Lola-Toyota of Christian Fittipaldi and the Reynard-Toyota of Jimmy Vasser. Cristiano da Matta, who came in tied with Paul Tracy for the points lead, crashed out on the first lap. Tracy wound up 18th, leaving with a mechanical problem after 77 laps. Series champion Gil de Ferran finished 13th.
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