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Rain Postpones CART Title Race

October 29, 2000 / 8:53 PM EST / AP

Rain postponed CART's championship battle for one more day, but not until another driver was eliminated from title contention.

The wet weather reached California Speedway after 33 of 250 scheduled laps in the season-ending Marlboro 500 had been completed. It was scheduled to resume Monday at 10 a.m. PST, weather permitting.

An unusual fall storm threatened Southern California with more rain Monday.

Before the red flag came out Sunday, halting the action, Paul Tracy one of four drivers who came into the race with a chance to win the $1 million Vanderbilt Cup championship went out of the race on lap 23 with a blown engine in his Reynard-Honda.

Cristiano da Matta apparently ran over a piece of debris from the blown engine and his right front suspension collapsed, sending his car hurtling into the fourth-turn wall.

Da Matta walked away without injury, but Tracy drove slowly to the pits knowing his championship chances were over.

"I don't really know what happened," Tracy said. "There was no warning. We were just cruising."

The Canadian driver, who came into the race tied with Kenny Brack for third in the standings, 20 points behind leader Gil de Ferran and 14 behind runner-up Adrian Fernandez.

De Ferran, virtually assured of his first CART championship if he finishes in the top three, started from the pole after winning the pole with a closed-course record lap of 241.428 mph.

The first 22 laps developed into a somewhat surprising battle at the front between de Ferran and Penske Racing teammate Helio Castroneves, who powered from fourth to first before the first lap around the 2-mile oval was completed.

With de Ferran's championship very much in doubt, the teammates battled wheel-to-wheel, swapping the lead five times before the caution flag brought everyone in for a pit stop.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed by the delay, especially with our car running so well," de Ferran said. "Now I'm just going to stay as focused as I can."

Juan Montoya, the defending series champion, making his final start for Chip Ganassi Racing before heading for Formula One, came in fourth and got off pit road first. He was trailed by Tracy's teammate Dario Franchitti, Michael Andretti, de Ferran and Montoya's teammate Jimmy Vasser.

Brack was sitting in sixth and Fernandez ninth after both made major chassis adjustments during the stop.

Castroneves stalled his Reynard-Honda during the pit stop and list time while it was restarted. He slipped to 18th in the 26-car field.

Looking at the ongoing championship, Brack, who remains the long shot, said, "De Ferran obviously needs to bring his car home, Adrian needs to finish in front of Gil and I need to finish in front of both of them and lead the most laps. That's the plan. Easy, huh?"

A maximum of 21 points are available to a driver in the race, with 20 going to the winner and one for th driver leading the most laps.

Fernandez said, "Penske is very strong again. That's the reality of the situation and we just have to deal with that. They're not unbeatable in a long race where anything can happen."

It's the fourth time this season that a CART race has been postponed by rain or snow, but the first time since the race in Elkhart Lake, Wis., in 1986 that a race has been postponed after being started. That event began Sept. 21 and was completed Oct. 4.