Vasser Scores Hot Victory in Cool Nazareth
28 April 1998
Nazareth, PA (April 27, 1998)-- Twenty-Two hours after the scheduled starting time, the green flag dropped for the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix. Unlike the balmy conditions of qualifying on Saturday, the weather was clear and cold. However, after the 225 laps and 7 caution periods were completed, Target-Ganassi driver Jimmy Vasser was first across the line. The win broke a victory drought for Vasser that extended back to the US 500 in May of 1996. Vasser's teammate Alex Zanardi was second. Greg Moore in the Players Indeck Mercedes was third with Gil de Ferran coming home a very strong fourth. Pole-sitter Patrick Carpentier held the early lead, but was soon overwhelmed by Newman-Haas driver Michael Andretti. Starting from 3rd on the grid, Andretti swept by Moore on the back stretch on the opening lap. Andretti had just passed Moore when the caution flag came out for a single-car spin by Adrian Fernandez. The Tecate/Quaker State driver's racing day was short-lived. The cold weather no doubt played a part, but his spin was eerily reminiscent of Robert Gurrero's spin at the 1992 Indy 500. The results of the spin found Fernandez' car up against the inside back-straight guard-rail with a bent left front suspension arm on his Reynard. Fernandez did not even finish one lap. How quickly fortunes change. Less than a month ago, Fernandez was basking in the glow of victory in Motegi, Japan. On Lap 9 the course went green. On the ensuing lap, Andretti swept past Carpentier and began to open a sizable lead against the rest of the field, if there is such a thing at Nazareth. On lap 14, Dennis Vitolo, who had earlier been involved in a spin similar to Fernandez's made contact with the walls of Nazareth ending his day. Finally after 6 more laps of caution the course went green. After 20 laps the top five running order was Andretti, Carpentier, Moore, deFerran and Vasser. The field seemed to settle down and the driver's were reporting that the grip on the cold track was improving. Race time temperature was a balmy 51 degrees. The race remained caution free until lap 63 when Helio Castro-Neves in the Alumax Reynard Mercedes hit the outside wall in turn 4. Castro-Neves was able to exit the car on his own power, but his race machine was finished for the day. The race field took advantage of the third caution of the day. On lap 67 the top 20 cars all pitted. Andretti was able to retain his lead after the pit-stop. De Ferran returned to the race in second place after a splendid pit stop. Moore came out in third with Tracy in fourth. Scott Pruett, who had been contending in the top ten, was forced to retire from the race after an O-ring on his fueling hose failed, causing an excessive fuel dump and a fire. Pruett, who had just exited his pit area, did not immediately realize the severity of the problem. He returned promptly to the pits on the next lap, and his the crew extinguished the fire, but Pruett's day was over. Another pit-stop incident involving JJ Lehto and a crewman on Vasser's team brought out the black-flag for the Championship Car rookie. CART officials informed Lehto's team that he would be black-flagged as soon as the race went back to green. The field went back to racing on lap 79. Lehto was given the black flag on the ensuing lap. At lap 80 the running order was Andretti, DeFerran, Moore, Tracy and Carpentier. As soon as the field seemingly found the racing groove, another caution was brought out on lap 82: Dario Franchitti had spun and made heavy contact with the ever-familiar fourth turn wall. Thankfully, Franchitti was not hurt, but his race machine was in pieces. Ten laps later the green flag waaved. Andretti and de Ferran, once again built up a sizeable lead over the rest of the field. On lap 100 the top ten running order was Andretti, de Ferran, Moore, Tracy, Carpentier, Zanardi, Herta, Vasser, Rahal and Kanaan. The field continued to circulate until lap 109. Mark Blundell crashed at the entrance to the back straight. On lap 113, the field pitted for the second time. Herta, Vasser, and Gordon decided to forgo pitting. The feeling in the Gordon pit was that there would be at least two more caution periods over the remaining 112 laps and that track position was more important. Gordon's crew was correct about the number of remaining cautions, but they probably did not anticipate that the caution would be so soon. Just as the race went green, Michael Andretti became a victim of the cold weather. Once again, the now familiar turn four was becoming the "wrecking ball" area. Andretti's day was finished. It was really too bad for Andretti, who had led 102 of the 123 laps. Andretti commented that "I just stood on it a bit too early, I guess. I suppose, given the cold tires, I should have been more careful." It was one of the understatements of the day. After clearing the debris from Andretti's turn four incident the race went back to green on lap 132. At the 150 lap mark the top ten running order was Herta, Vasser, Gordon, Zanardi, de Ferran, Tracy, Moore, Gugelmin, Kanaan and Rahal. From 1st to 10th the field was covered by 15.4 seconds. On lap 155 Vasser passed Herta for the lead and pulled out to a 1.8 second lead. Robby Gordon holding down third place since lap 109 was forced to pit on lap 156. Bryan Herta soon followed suit and lost second place on his pit stop on lap 160. The pit-stops allowed Zanardi to move from fourth to second. On lap 165 Vasser pits and Zanardi took over first. The top ten running order on lap 175 was Zanardi, de Ferran, Moore, Tracy, Gugelmin, Hearn, Kanaan, Rahal, Fittipaldi and Carpentier. The last set of pit stops were rapidly approaching for all of the driver's except Vasser who was out of sequence but certainly had enough fuel to go the distance. Gil de Ferran was the first of the top ten to pit on lap 189. Zanardi came in on lap 192. Greg Moore inherited the lead but two laps later was in the pits for his last stop of the day. The re-cycling of the pit stops returned Vasser to the lead. On lap 200 the top ten was Vasser, Zanardi, Moore, Gugelmin, de Ferran, Tracy, Gordon, Herta, Rahal, and one lap down, Carpentier. The race appeared to have all of the makings of a 25-lap "wild west" shoot-out between the two Target teammates with Moore and Gugelmin prepared to make their moves for victory. However, the opportunity for Gugelmin came to a quick close when he impacted the fourth turn wall on lap 207. Once again, the field was able to stay out of a multi-car incident but the drama of a 25 lap trophy dash was gone. On lap 220 the race went green and Vasser pulled out to a 1.400 second victory over his teammate Zanardi. Greg Moore grabbed third followed by Gil de Ferran in fourth and Paul Tracy in fifth. Seven cars were on the lead lap. That seventh place finisher, Robby Gordon, was every bit as happy as Jimmy Vasser. Starting from 24th place, Gordon drove his new team to their highest finish this year, and the highest finish for any Toyota powered team, since that manufacturer came into the Championship Series. Vasser commented "that he just tried to drive a very controlled race. I was concerned about being out of sequence but my crew kept telling me that everything was going to work out." For Vasser the victory could not have come at a better time for the 1996 Champion. With the next race in Brazil on May 10th the points race has tightened considerably and Vasser has jumped into the fight. Race Statistics Time of Race 1:57:20 Average Speed:108.839 mph Margin of Victory 1.400 sec. Lap Leaders From To Total Patrick Carpentier 1 10 10 Michael Andretti 11 112 102 Bryan Herta 113 154 42 Jimmy Vasser 155 165 10 Alex Zanardi 165 191 27 Greg Moore 192 194 3 Jimmy Vasser 195 225 31 David Treffer -- The Auto Channel
