[an error occurred while processing this directive]

CANOE SLAM! HOCKEY SLAM! FOOTBALL SLAM! BASEBALL SLAM! BASKETBALL SLAM! SKATING SLAM! SKIING SLAM! SPORT-BY-SPORT SLAM! SPORTS SLAM! GLOBAL NAVIGATION
SLAM! 2001 IN REVIEW



SLAM! Sports
2001 in Review


A LOOK BACK
  • Stories
  • Polls
  • Stars of 2001
  • Odds and Ends
  • Sport By Sport
  • Champions
  • Notable Deaths

    INTERACTIVE
  • LIVE! Scoreboard
  • Photo Gallery
  • Sports Talks

    ALSO ON SLAM!
  • Baseball
  • Hockey
  • Basketball
  • Tennis
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Motorsports
  • Other sports
  • FAN 590

    CHRONO SPORTS


    • Sunday, November 4, 2001

    Da Matta beats Papis in record-setting CART race

  • More CART Coverage
  • Results

     FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- The end came early Sunday, with Cristiano da Matta barely beating Max Papis in one of the most competitive events in auto racing history.

     Da Matta and Papis were preparing for a wheel-to-wheel finish in the Toyota 500 when it suddenly was upon them four laps sooner than expected.

     A crash brought out the eighth caution flag of the day and, with Papis looming in his mirrors, da Matta beat him to the finish line by less than six inches. The diminutive Brazilian was then able to cruise around behind the pace car for the last eight miles of the event shortened by a late start due to rain and impending darkness from 250 laps to 220 on the 2-mile oval.

     Da Matta, who finished the CART season with consecutive victories, had passed Papis seven laps from the end for the CART-record 73rd lead change of the race.

     That easily broke the Champ car record of 62 lead changes, set in 1998 at Michigan International Speedway, and came up just short of the all-time record of 75 set in a NASCAR Winston Cup event at Talladega Superspeedway in 1984.

     "It was a very close finish, especially because we did not know it was the last lap," da Matta said after Sunday's race at California Speedway. "I did not want to be in the lead with two laps to go because the draft was such a factor."

     Fortunately for da Matta, who earned his third win of the year and the fourth of his career, he was in the lead when he needed to be -- barely.

     "I was just getting ready for the last four laps," said Papis, who led a race-high 54 laps to 53 by da Matta. "I really believe my car was very fast and that we could win. I was driving my heart out."

     Papis was 10th on a restart on lap 203 following the seventh caution period, but he quickly sliced through traffic and moved past Alex Tagliani to take second on lap 210. The Italian driver led lap 213, but fell back behind da Matta on 214 and appeared to be getting ready for one last run at the leader when rookie Scott Dixon skidded sideways and slammed into the fourth-turn wall on lap 216.

     "I still have to understand how 250 laps goes down to 220 laps," Papis said, shaking his head. "We were planning a different strategy."

     The nose of da Matta's Newman-Haas Toyota-powered Lola crossed the finish line less than six inches ahead of the Papis' Team Rahal Lola-Ford, and that's the way the season-ending race ended as the final four laps were run under caution.

     The official margin of victory was 0.007 seconds.

     "I knew I would cross the line ahead of him," da Matta said. "I knew it was close, but I didn't know the yellow was coming that lap. I thought a bigger battle was coming."

     Papis, who said he was driving his final race for the team run by Bobby Rahal and TV personality David Letterman, said. "I was looking forward to racing some more. I tried to carry the car with me and I came up short by inches. Cristiano had the car to beat from the word go, but I thought I had a car that could win."

     Nineteen of the 26 starters led Sunday's race, breaking the CART record of 12, set on California's 2-mile oval last November.

     Tagliani, the pole-winner, was also in the battle to the end, finishing third, just ahead of rookie Bruno Junqueira. Tony Kanaan was fifth, followed by two-time reigning FedEx Series Gil de Ferran, Michael Andretti, Casey Mears and Alex Barron.

     Sixteen cars were on the lead lap at the end of the race, which started an hour late because of the morning rain.

     Kenny Brack, Papis' teammate and the season leader with four victories -- all on oval tracks -- was the first driver out of the race, spinning through the oil from a blown engine and slamming into the wall on lap 32. The Swedish driver, who will switch to Chip Ganassi's team in 2002, already had clinched second place in the points.

     Andretti, a former champion, broke a tie with Helio Castroneves, who went out of the race early with a blown engine, to capture third in the points.


    [an error occurred while processing this directive]

    Results
     CART-Toyota 500 Results
     By The Associated Press
     Sunday
     At California Speedway
     Fontana, Calif.
     1. (2) Cristiano da Matta, Toyota Lola, 220.
     2. (6) Max Papis, Ford Lola, 220.
     3. (1) Alex Tagliani, Ford Reynard, 220.
     4. (8) Bruno Junqueira, Toyota Lola, 220.
     5. (14) Tony Kanaan, Honda Reynard, 220.
     6. (16) Gil de Ferran, Honda Reynard, 220.
     7. (13) Michael Andretti, Honda Reynard, 220.
     8. (21) Casey Mears, Honda Reynard, 220.
     9. (19) Alex Barron, Ford Lola, 220.
     10. (25) Patrick Carpentier, Ford Reynard, 220.
     11. (17) Oriol Servia, Ford Lola, 220.
     12. (9) Jimmy Vasser, Toyota Reynard, 220.
     13. (5) Christian Fittipaldi, Toyota Lola, 220.
     14. (11) Memo Gidley, Toyota Lola, 220.
     15. (20) Tora Takagi, Toyota Reynard, 220.
     16. (7) Michel Jourdain Jr., Ford Lola, 219.
     17. (10) Scott Dixon, Toyota Reynard, 215, contact.
     18. (26) Adrian Fernandez, Honda Reynard, 195, contact.
     19. (23) Roberto Moreno, Toyota Reynard, 188, mechanical.
     20. (15) Mauricio Gugelmin, Toyota Reynard, 154, mechanical.
     21. (12) Shinji Nakano, Honda Reynard, 119, mechanical.
     22. (24) Helio Castroneves, Honda Reynard, 86, mechanical.
     23. (22) Dario Franchitti, Honda Reynard, 74, mechanical.
     24. (18) Paul Tracy, Honda Reynard, 64, mechanical.
     25. (4) Bryan Herta, Ford Reynard, 54, electrical.
     26. (3) Kenny Brack, Ford Lola, 31, contact.
     ------
     Time of race: 2:59:39.716.
     Margin of victory: 0.123 seconds.
     Winner's average speed: 149.073 mph.
     Caution flags: eight for 57 laps.
     Lead changes: 73 among 19 drivers.
     Lap leaders: Herta, 1-5; Papis, 6-9; da Matta, 10-12; Tracy, 13; Gidley, 14-15; Castroneves, 16-17; Papis, 18-19; Castroneves, 20-21; Gidley, 22-24; Castroneves, 25; da Matta, 26; Castroneves, 27-30; Papis, 31-49; Kanaan, 50; Papis, 51; Gidley, 52-55; da Matta, 56-59; Gidley, 60-63; Papis, 64-71; Vasser, 72-77; Castroneves, 78-79; da Matta, 80-84; Vasser, 85; Papis, 86; Vasser, 87; Mears, 88; Papis, 89-90; da Matta, 91-93; Papis, 94-95; da Matta, 96; Papis, 97; da Matta, 98; Tagliani, 99; Papis, 100-102; da Matta, 103; Papis, 104; Carpentier, 105; Papis, 106; da Matta, 107; Mears, 108; Papis, 109; Andretti, 110; Papis, 111; da Matta, 112; Andretti, 113; Papis, 114; Fernandez, 115-117; da Matta, 118; Barron, 119; da Matta, 120; Barron, 121-122; Carpentier, 123; Servia, 124-125; Takagi, 126-128; Fernandez, 129-132; Fittipaldi, 133-136; Fernandez, 137-138; Papis, 139; Moreno, 140-146; da Matta, 147; Papis, 148-149; Fernandez, 150-156; da Matta, 157-168; Papis, 169-170; Kanaan, 171; Junqueira, 172-180; Moreno, 181-183; Junqueira, 184-185; Carpentier, 186-189; Junqueira, 190-202; da Matta, 203-212; Papis, 213; da Matta, 214-220.
     Series points leaders: de Ferran, 199; Brack, 163; Andretti, 147; Castroneves, 141; da Matta, 140; Papis, 107; Franchitti, 105; Dixon, 98; Kanaan, 93; Carpentier, 91.