The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 31

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR MONDAY, APRIL 19, 1999 J3 0000 QQ60OQ wd i vh mmv Purchase any digital format camcorder and Roberts will Include a Quasar 4 Head HI-FI-VCR Free Quick, cocky Montoya shows he has talent to fill Zanardis shoes Andretti hangs tough, caps sweep for Petty r- 'f SONY DIGITAL 8 Digital 8mm camcorder Color viewfinder 360 digital zoom lens 0 lux night shot recording SALE PRICE $799; l97 Limit 1 Sale prices end 4-24-99 asm ntiiHlf 5S5 photo vinto tilertot di. "We all take steps in our career and this is definitely a big one for me, winning this race. "It's my greatest win, but that's why I was hired." When asked if he expected such early success, Ganassi replied: "Obviously, we have high expectations on this team, but you don't want to put pressure on your driver. Whoever was going to drive the No. 4 car had big shoes to fill.

I 1 msmm Over 300 units in stock and ready for delivery! Shop Safari Spa for all your home entertainment needs. I aEHf By Hank Kurz Jr. ASSOCIATED PRESS MARTINSVILLE, Va. Forty-" nine laps into the Goody's 500 In a car he knew was strong, John of Indianapolis was bumped and spun out. He went a lap down, and he -was furious.

"I was so mad it was too hard me to deal with to even think about winning." Andretti said Sunday. But 449 laps later, racing on the same tires he'd been using -for the previous 109 laps, Andretti passed Jeff Burton and then ran away in the last three laps to earn his second career victory by a surprising 1.066 sec-i onds. The car was awesome. It spits concrete," Andretti said after adding the short-track victory to one in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in 1997. "I'm so happy I can barely stand.

I'm about ready to fall out of my skin." Andretti, who took only two tires on the final yellow-flag pit stops with 112 laps to go, trailed Burton by 2.8 seconds with 19 laps remaining, but reeled in Jeff Gordon and then Burton in a car that kept getting stronger. There at the end, we said it's about the only thing we can do" to get into contention, Andretti said of the two-tire stop. Andretti passed Gordon with -11 laps left, then took aim at Burton. "As fast as he came, I knew it was going to be hard to hold him -back," said Burton, who led for 99 laps until Andretti caught him on the inside, ran side-by-side with him for three laps and then pulled away to win easily. The victory, coupled with Jimmy Hensley's win in the NAPA Robin Miller LONG BEACH, Calif.

Nigel Mansell is the only rookie ever to win in his first Championship Auto Racing Teams start. He did it in 1993 at Australia. It took Juan Montoya three races to find victory lane in a champ car, but that's where the comparisons end. Mansell was a sawy old dog of 39, full of miles and confidence coming off winning the '92 Formula One title. Montoya is a mere pup, 23-years-old and still wide-eyed about the twists and turns ahead of him.

"He's incredible," said Morris Nunn, the veteran engineer for Tar-getGanassi Racing, who inherited this rookie after Alex Zanardi went back to F-l. "He's so fast and he thinks so well in the race car. And he's so cool. All he kept saying today was 'Don't The first time we saw him test at Barcelona (Spain, last winter in an F-l test), I knew he was a winner. At this stage of his career, he's way ahead of anybody I've ever seen." He certainly was Sunday afternoon as he blitzed the field to win the Silver Anniversary staging of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Despite a couple of yellow flags, which erased the big leads he'd built up, Montoya never missed a step or a shift or a comer. He drove away from Dario Franchitti, Bryan Herta and Adrian Fernandez like they were part of the scenery. Filling Zanardi's shoes was a tall order for whoever laced them up. But this diminutive Colombian wasn't a test driver for Frank Williams high-powered F-l team because he was related to somebody or brought money. He had that Job because he'd been so quick in Formula 3 and Formula 3000.

"Everybody thought there would be pressure, but this team doesn't put any pressure on me," said Montoya, who basically changed continents and places with Zanar I km fl-70 DCR-TR7000 1' Indianapolis i 3.5 miles East of 1-465 (Exit 42 Pendleton Fikt) 317-823-9228 J) MAAC0. A national company over 450 centers from coast to coast. No onfc the experience, buying power, or state-of-the-art MAACO Auto Painting Bodyworks near you. on -0" in m. hrt V.

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Equal Opportunity Employer. A' 'iff Associated Press HOW SWEET IT IS: John Andretti high-fives a crew member in victory lane after winning the Goody's 500. 250 Craftsman truck race on Saturday, gave Petty Enterprises a sweep of the weekend at Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR's oldest and shortest track. "Good weekend," team owner Richard Petty said. "We got behind, got a lap down and were able to make that back up.

That was a heck of a race." Gordon said he doubted Andretti had taken just two based on his strong finish. There's no way," Gordon said after finishing third. "I'd like to double check that. How can I get beat by two tires on a 110-lap run?" Andretti chuckled at hearing of Gordon's disbelief. "He questions everybody's win," Andretti said of Gordon.

The victory moved Andretti from 20th to 14th in the point standings. fAY ORNER SONS Game Tables t. DON SISK PONTIAC 3930 Georgetown Road, Indianapolis 317 299 5555 www.donsisk.com Cardinal RitterHigh School Summer Camps Boys Girls sessions beginning June 14, 1999 Register now! For any student entering grades 4-9. Attend up to 8 different camps. Just one fee of $50.00 covers all camps.

For more information please call 927-7828. "When I hired Juan, I thought he had the talent to drive like he did today." But the most impressive thing about Montoya's infant CART career came the weekend before in Japan. He had a brain fade in practice, crashed into Michael Andretti and drew the wrath of several veteran drivers. He was sassy with Andretti in the hospital. After a heart-to-heart with team manager Tom Anderson, Nunn and Ganassi, he apologized to CARTs all-time winner.

There's a dangerous line between arrogance and confidence, especially at 215 mph, and the CART paddock was wondering where the rookie would land. He qualified 13th in Japan, but stormed all the way to second place and was threatening to pass eventual winner Adrian Fernandez when he ran out of fuel. But he'd raced hard and clean all day at Twin Ring Motegi. He wasn't intimidated and came to California like nothing had happened. "I don't think it was anything bad for me, it might have pushed me harder," said Montoya, who was fined $5,000 and put on probation for rough driving.

Ganassi phrased it best when he said: "It's nice to have a short memory. That's good in this business." There's no doubt that Montoya is cocky and maybe a little too bold at times, but so was Mario Andretti in 1964 and 1965 when he was mixing it up with A.J. Foyt and Lloyd Ruby. It's a characteristic of winners. Robin Miller is a sports columnist for The Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis News.

You can contact him by calling (317) 624-4636 and entering 7165 or emailing him at rmillerstamews.com Associated Press drove a great race." Herta also finished where he started (third) in the Shell ReynardFordFirestone of Bobby Ra-hal. "I didn't have anything for Juan or Dario at the end, I was just stuck in third place all weekend," said Herta. Adrian Fernandez, in the Tecate SwiftFordFirestone, finished fourth in his first run with a Swift chassis. Christian Fittipaldi came from 11th to take fifth in the Kmart SwiftFordFirestone. Notes Honda and Ford dominated the weekend, as Greg Moore's eighth place in the Player's Special was Mercedes' top finisher.

He retained his PPG point lead heading for Nazareth in two weeks. Firestone won for the 21st time in a row. Michel Jourdaln's best race in two years ended in frustration as he ran out of fuel on the last lap while running 11th Phillipp Peter won his first PPGDayton Indy Lights race when pole-sitter Felipe Giaffone broke down two laps from the finish. Paul Gen-tilozza won the Trans-Am race. Jf 3 i.

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The track was breaking up a little bit, I ran off line and lost it," said Kanaan, who led 44 of the first 45 laps in the McDonald's ReynardHondaFirestone. "I'm very disappointed, but you learn from your mistakes. I proved to myself I can run up iront. After Kanaan's demise, Montoya had no serious challenges, despite two full-course cautions and two restarts, the final one on lap 82. I was lust trying to keep Juan in sight and I couldn't do it," said Franchitti, who started second in the KOOL ReynardHondaFirestone.

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