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Monday, October 07, 2002

By The Associated Press

Cristiano da Matta clinched the CART series championship yesterday, winning the Grand Prix of the Americas in Miami in the slowest race in the circuit's history.

Da Matta held off his Newman/Haas teammate Christian Fittipaldi by 0.734 seconds, winning for the seventh time this season and the 11th time in his career.

In a race slowed by six yellow flags, Da Matta's average speed on the 1.387-mile, 16-turn temporary road course was 68.723 mph, slower than the 69.576 mph average by Al Unser Jr. in Denver in 1991.

Da Matta extended his lead to an insurmountable 69 points over Bruno Junqueira, who finished fifth. No driver can win more than 68 points in the three remaining races.

"I think there isn't a better way to clinch the championship than with a victory," said da Matta, who collected a $1 million title bonus. "If you clinch in fifth place, everybody forgets pretty quickly that you've won many other races before. When you clinch it with a win, it's pretty obvious that you were there the whole year."

Da Matta, 29, became the quickest to earn the series championship since 1998, when Alex Zanardi wrapped up the crown with four races remaining.

Junqueira needed to finish at least fourth to maintain any chance of winning the championship.

"Cristiano won the championship. He deserves it," Junqueira said. "Even if I finished fourth, the championship was almost gone. Cristiano did a very good job."

Da Matta started sixth but took the lead after pole-sitter and early leader Tony Kanaan was penalized for blocking Scott Dixon on the 20th lap.

Dixon was attempting to slide past Kanaan on the inside, but Kanaan dropped low and pushed Dixon's car into the concrete wall. Dixon spun wildly and was out of the race. Kanaan was able to retain the lead briefly, before race officials issued the blocking penalty and sent him to the back of the pack.

"We had a good run on him and got practically beside him," Dixon said.

"He just turned right and the corner was another 50 yards away. It's just so obvious and pretty blatant."

Kanaan finished ninth.

The only time da Matta relinquished the lead during the final 80 laps was on pit stops.

When Paul Tracy went to the pits on the 88th lap, da Matta -- who lost the lead to Tracy during a pit stop four laps earlier -- reclaimed the lead for good.

It is the fourth time that a driver from the Newman/Haas team has won the CART title. Da Matta joins Mario Andretti (1984), Michael Andretti ('91) and Nigel Mansell ('93) on the list.

"This team deserves this title more than anybody," da Matta said. "They did a great job for me all year."

Other race

EA Sports 500: Dale Earnhardt Jr. cruised to his third consecutive victory at Talladega Superspeedway in the EA Sports 500, a race that shook up the tight championship battle.

Tony Stewart followed Earnhardt across the finish line in second place and jumped from third to the lead in the Winston Cup standings. Rookie Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin, who were ahead of Stewart in points, and Jeff Gordon, who was right behind, ran into trouble.

Earnhardt -- whose late father won a record 10 races at Talladega -- joined Buddy Baker, who did it in the 1970s, as the only driver to win three in a row on the fast 2.66-mile oval. Earnhardt's No. 8 Chevrolet was at or near the front of the pack throughout the 188-lap event, which didn't have a caution flag. He took the lead for good on lap 150 and was never challenged, winding up with a race-high 56 laps led.

"As the pack sort of thinned down, with only four or five cars in line, that makes it harder to pass the leader," Earnhardt said. "I was having a good time. The car wasn't doing everything I wanted it to do, but it did enough."

Other news

Sam Hornish Jr. and his Pennzoil Panther Racing crew members received the Indy Racing League Cup and a $1 million bonus Saturday night for their second consecutive IRL championship. Hornish, 23, won an IRL-record five races in becoming the first two-time champion in series history. He won the last two races to edge Helio Castroneves, 531-511, for the title.