Sports: Indy improvements for F1 pay off

Indy improvements for F1 pay off

By KEVIN KELLY

It took an estimated $45-million in improvements to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Formula One to return to the United States for the first time since 1991.

Besides a couple of minor adjustments -- the starting grid and line marking the start of pit road and the pit speed limit were moved back after qualifying on Saturday -- drivers seemed pleased with the 2.606-mile, 13-turn course built for Sunday's race.

"It's a fantastic circuit," said David Coulthard, who started second and finished fifth in his McLaren Mercedes. "I look forward to coming back. Thumbs up."

Of concern before the race was the banking in Turn13 (Turn1 on the oval) and the speeds attainable on the 3,000-foot front straightaway.

Cars topped out at 200-plus mph before braking for the first right turn off the frontstretch. Lap speeds averaged 123-127 mph.

"The only problem is there is not one place on the track where you get an adrenaline rush," Jacques Villeneuve said. "The driving is very intricate. It's very difficult to get a good lap. You're always braking while you're turning."

BITTERSWEET WIN: While Michael Schumacher's victory in the U.S. Grand Prix was the 42nd of his career and moved him out of a tie with Ayrton Senna for second on the all-time list, the milestone was bittersweet.

Senna was on top of the sport, and Schumacher's popularity was on the rise when the popular Brazilian was killed in a crash during the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 at Imola, Italy. Schumacher was running second to Senna, a three-time champion, at the time of the accident. "To some degree I'm glad I'm able to do this," Schumacher said Sunday. "But all of us know his career stopped earlier than he wanted.

"We will never find out how many races he would have won. So I don't think it's a fair comparison."

APPEALING: Hendrick Motorsports, owners of Jeff Gordon's Winston Cup team, will appear before a NASCAR appeals panel Thursday to contest a penalty levied by NASCAR this month.

NASCAR officials docked Gordon 100 points and fined his crew chief, Robbie Loomis, $25,000 for an illegal manifold on Gordon's car after his victory Sept. 9 at Richmond International Raceway.

"I've tried to put that stuff behind us," Gordon said Saturday. "I know what won us the race at Richmond and it had nothing to do with the manifold. That's a technicality."

Asked what his chances of winning the appeal were, the three-time Winston Cup champion said: "If you look at the statistics, I don't think any of them have been overturned.

"We've got to fight it because we feel we're right."

TIRE WOES: Several top drivers dropped out of Sunday's MBNA.com 400 at Dover Downs International Speedway because of blown tires.

Among them was Jerry Nadeau.

The driver of the No. 25 Chevrolet, who has five top-10 finishes in his past 16 starts, was leading when his tire blew. He finished 33rd.

PIT NOTES: Schumacher, who leads Mika Hakkinen by eight points with two races left, can clinch his third world championship with a win Oct. 8 in the Japanese Grand Prix. It would be Ferrari's first drivers' title since 1979. ... Ferrari's best finish at Indianapolis came in the 1952 Indy 500 when Alberto Ascari was 31st. ... Johnny Benson's second place in the MBNA.com 400 marked his third top 10 in the past six races. ... Kurt Busch (18th) and Carl Long (41st) made their first Winston Cup starts at Dover.

- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.