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Auto racing briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 28, 2000

Montoya blazes around Fontana at 242-plus in practice

FONTANA, Calif. -- Juan Montoya set the pace in the rain-delayed opening practice Friday for the season-ending Marlboro 500, turning a near-record lap of 242.253 mph at California Speedway.

The official CART record of 240.942 was set on the same 2.5-mile oval in 1997 by Mauricio Gugelmin, whose practice speed of 242.333 that year is the unofficial record.

"I was doing a qualifying simulation and got a little bit of (a) tow down the straightaway," Montoya said. "But I felt like I could do 238 or 239 by myself."

The 25-year-old Colombian, whose apprenticeship in racing came almost entirely on road and street courses, has quickly established himself as one of the best oval racers ever.

Montoya has driven in 18 oval races, with seven poles and seven victories. His average starting positions has been 2.6 and has led in 15 of the past 16 oval events (he was running second in the other when a mechanical problem ended his day).

In the four 500-mile events he has run, Montoya has finished second, fourth, first and first. In fact, if he wins Sunday, Montoya would be the first driver to win three 500-mile races in a season since Al Unser in 1978.

When Unser did it, the victories came at Pocono, Indianapolis and Ontario. CART no longer races in Pocono and the Ontario track closed in 1981.

Meanwhile, Montoya's car owner, Chip Ganassi, whose team's unprecedented string of four straight CART championships is about to end, introduced Bruno Junqeira of Brazil and Nicolas Minassian of France as his drivers for 2001.

The 23-year-old Junqeira won the F3000 championship this year, while Minassian, 27, was the runner-up in the European series.

"We've been an agent of change for a long time in this formula," said Ganassi, whose driver changes over the past five years have been on the mark. The then-unproven Jimmy Vasser came to the team in 1995 and won the championship the next season. Alex Zanardi was the top CART rookie in 1996 and overwhelmed the series with championships the next two years. He was replaced by Montoya, a test driver with F1's Team Williams but almost an unknown in the United States.

MOTOROLA 200: Rookie of the year Kurt Busch led qualifying for today's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event, turning a track-record lap of 177.388 mph. Busch broke the California Speedway record of 173.561 set by Andy Houston in 1999. Houston qualified second in a Chevrolet at 176.605.

MATCO SUPERNATIONALS: Mike Dunn, making his debut in the New York Yankees dragster, led Top Fuel qualifying in the NHRA event at Baytown, Texas. Dunn, driving for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, ran the quarter-mile in 4.530 seconds. Jim Epler (Funny Car), Ron Krisher (Pro Stock) and Matt Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also led their divisions.

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