St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 80

post-dispatch 0 0 0 A 3 0 0 Sunday, may 23, 1 999 www.postnet.com Season Recap G8 Name Address Cars, colors What's your favorite color for a race car? Kids who are 9 years old or younger can show us by entering our coloring contest. You could win tour and kids Phone number Montoya emerges as dominant CART force Ifrookiecanmakeit four in a row with win at Motorola 300, hell tie record held by Zanardi andUnserJr. tickets to the Motorola 300 or one of the upcoming races at Gateway International Raceway, plus a souvenir cap. And the winning picture will be published in next Saturday's Sports OT section. Here's what you have to do: 1.

Cut out and color this picture. Be creative with the flag background it doesn't have to be black and white! 2. Fill in your name, address, phone number and birth date (month, day and year) 3. Mail the picture to: Car Coloring Contest co Sports Department St. Louis Post-Dispatch 900 North Tucker Boulevard St.

Louis, Mo. 63101 4. Very important: Try to get your picture in the mail by Tuesday morning. Note to parents: The winner will be notified by Friday afternoon. Thafs short notice for attending Saturday's race, so if you are unable to go Saturday, the prize will be four tickets to the Gateway race of the winner's choice: the Sears Craftsman Nationals (NHRA) on June 26; the Carquest Auto Parts 250 (NASCAR Busch Grand National) on July 31; or the Ram Tough 200 (NASCAR Craftsman Trucks) on Aug.

20. a Jt 'J qdl? kmMi petes w(79 l49tf" until 2000 By bill Coats Of the Post-Dispatch With Alex Zanardi's defection to Formula One this year, CART will crown a new season champion for the first time since 1996. But it looks as if not much has changed. Colombian Juan Montoya was hired by TargetGanassi Racing to fill Zanardi's spot, and the rookie has emerged as the most dominant figure in the FedEx Championship Series. Montoya, 23, has won the last three races and holds a 15-point lead in the standings.

If Montoya can make it four in a row at the Motorola 300, he'll tie the CART record held by Zanardi (1998) and Al Unser Jr. (1990). Here's a recap of the first five events on this year's 20-race schedule: Grand Prix of Miami: Canadian Greg Moore roared from the gates in the opening race March 21 on the 1 '2-mile oval at Homestead Motorsports Complex. Moore won the pole in his Player's Reynard-Mercedes, then held off two-time defending champion Michael Andretti on race day. Moore was in front for 96 of 150 laps and beat Andretti to the finish line by 1.1 seconds.

Third was Dario Franchitti, a second behind Andretti. Moore's average speed for the 225-mile race was 136.671 mph. Firestone firehawk 500: On April 10, the CART show traveled to Japan for the second consecutive year, and Mexico's Adrian Fernandez reprised his 1998 triumph on the IVi-mile oval at Twin Ring Motegi. Fernandez started from the fourth position and patiently steered his year-old TecateQuaker State Reynard-Cos-worth to the front After pole-sitter Gil de Ferran, Mauricio Gugelmin and Scott Pruett shared the lead early, Fer nandez held onto the top spot for the final 153 of 201 laps. He cruised home 63 seconds ahead of de Ferran and 7.6 in front of third-place Christian Fittipaldi.

Fernandez averaged 176.195 mph for the 300-kilometer race. Grand Prix of Long Beach: The Montoya March began on "the first non-oval race of the season. Montoya slipped in front when race leader and pole-sitter Tony Kanaan crashed on the 45th lap April 18, and the rookie stayed there for the final 40 circuits on the 1.8-mile temporary street course in downtown Long Beach. After finishing 10th and 13th in the season's first two races, Montoya posted his first win in his TargetGanassi Reynard-Ford by outdistancing Dario Franchitti by 2.8 seconds. Third was Bryan Herta, about 4 seconds behind Franchitti.

Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix: This time, Montoya nabbed the pole and the race. After twice wresting the lead from St. Louis-based Hogan Racing's Helio Castro-Neves in the pits, Montoya stayed in front for the last 77 laps around the 0.946-mile tri-oval at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway. Overall, Montoya was at the head of the pack for 210 of the 225 circuits May The drivers' ability to make bold passing moves was blunted by CART's mandate that smaller speedway wings be used on short ovals this year for the first time. Runner-up P.J.

Jones arrived 5.1 seconds behind Montoya in the best finish of his four-year CART career. Paul Tracy was third, less than a second back of Jones. Montoya averaged 120.255 mph over 225 laps. Rio 200: Fans at Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway in Rio de Janeiro rejoiced when Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi Emerson's nephew earned the pole position. But on race day May 15, it was that pesky Colombian who stole the show.

Montoya became the first CART rookie to win three races in a row, and he did so in dominating fashion. Montoya led 93 of 108 laps and held off a determined charge by Franchitti, who finished 1.7 seconds behind. Fittipaldi came home third, 3.9 seconds off the pace. Montoya, who averaged 125.120 mph in the rain-slowed event on the 1. 86-mile oval, said the secret to his early success has been the highly accomplished TargetGanassi outfit, including a crack pit crew.

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