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Sunday |
Adrian Fernandez being interviewed in the morning before the race,
no doubt about the previous day's accident.
11:17 Fujicolor A200
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The Tecate Girls shade their delicate
skin from the sun's harmful rays.
11:30 Fujicolor A200
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This is the first time we've seen them at a race all season.
11:30 Fujicolor A200
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ESPN commentators Gary Gerould, Tom Kendall and Jan Beekhuis
prepare for the start of the show.
11:34 Fujicolor A200
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The scoring tower rises above the pit lane and indicates the
starting grid.
11:38 Fujicolor A200
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Bobby Rahal helping out in Michel Jourdain Jr.'s pit on his final
weekend of racing as a Champ Car driver.
11:40 Fujicolor A200
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The green flag waves for the start of the race, with Scott Pruett
on pole and Jimmy Vasser alongside. Firestone engineers report a track
temperature of 104 degrees F and an ambient temperature of 74 degrees
at the drop of the green flag.
12:40 Fujicolor A200
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As they enter Turn 1, Michael Andretti moves up on Scott to mount a
challenge for the lead.
12:40 Fujicolor A200
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But it is Jimmy who completes the first lap in the lead, with
Michael hot on his heels. Ninth-place starter, Greg Moore falls to
14th, while Robby Gordon jumped from his 22nd starting spot to ninth
on the first lap.
12:41 Fujicolor A200
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Greg gradually worked his way back up through the field to take the
lead on lap 41 when Michael pits. By lap 59 though, Michael is on
Greg's tail and re-takes the lead. They continue to leapfrog each
other for the next 150 or so laps.
13:24 Fujicolor A200
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Arnd Meier's Ford Cosworth explodes in a plume of smoke on the
front straight during lap 89.
13:39 Fujicolor A200
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The only Lola in the field trails smoke and fire down to the apron
of Turn 1. Arnd jumps out of the car and CART safety workers quickly
extinguish the flames.
13:40 Fujicolor A200
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By lap 118, Alex Zanardi, Adrian Fernandez and Robby Gordon have
not pitted, thus regaining the lead lap in eighth, ninth and tenth
places. On lap 127, all three pit to get back in sequence with the
leaders. But Alex leaves the pits with the crew still fueling the car
and hits his fuel man. He is black-flagged and called back in for a
stop and go penalty for a pit road safety violation.
14:14 Konica 200JX
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The green flag waves on lap 130 with the running order Mauricio
Gugelmin leading by .285 seconds over Greg Moore, Paul Tracy, Michael
Andretti, Jimmy Vasser and Scott Pruett.
14:18 Konica 200JX
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The yellow flag waves on lap 139 after Scott Pruett makes hard
contact with the outside wall coming out of turn 4. He rear-ends the
wall and slides down into the grass on the front stretch. He is unhurt
in the incident but the car is done for the day.
14:23 Konica 200JX
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Paul Tracy rockets out of the pit lane on lap 213, positioning him
to challenge Mauricio for the lead at the restart on lap 221.
15:19 Konica 200JX
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The yellow flag waves again on lap 235 after Gil de Ferran loses an
engine going down the back straight at speed. He keeps control and
pulls to the apron in Turn 4. CART safety workers tow the car back to
the pit area.
15:37 Konica 200JX
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The yellow immediately flies at the restart on lap 240 as Max Papis
moves to the outside of future teammate Bryan Herta before the
start/finish line and Bryan moves up the track, making side-to-side
contact. Both cars contact the wall and grind to a halt at the top of
the track, approximately 300 yards past the line.
15:44 Konica 200JX
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With Paul Tracy leading, the race was set to restart on lap 246,
but as the cars came up to speed leaving turn 2, Tracy spun off-course
and into the inside wall. Another day wasted! On the restart Jimmy and
Alex used drafting to great effect to leapfrog past Greg. He managed
to recover second place from Alex, but Jimmy took the checkered flag
on lap 250 to win the million-dollar, first-place purse!
15:59 Konica 200JX
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Another great weekend of racing comes to an end!
16:49 Konica 200JX
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