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May 27 to be new date for event at Nazareth Monday, April 10, 2000 By Chris Dolack, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
NAZARETH, Pa. -- Target/Chip Ganassi Racing's Juan Montoya won the pole Saturday at Nazareth Speedway for yesterday's Bosch Spark Plugs Grand Prix in his technologically-advanced Champ Car.
Montoya drives a new Lola chassis powered by an 800-horsepower turbocharged Toyota V-8 capable of running more than 230 mph. It costs more than $750,000.
For that kind of money, Montoya, the defending race winner, should have looked into a four-wheel drive option with snow tires because that was the only way he was going get around the mile oval yesterday.
After the qualifying in windy conditions with temperatures in the upper 70s, snow fell across the Lehigh Valley overnight. And in the morning. And into the afternoon.
Never before has two inches of snow looked so intimidating -- especially when 11 of the 22 drivers who qualified have Latin American roots.
With the Championship Auto Racing Teams headed to the West Coast for the Grand Prix of Long Beach Sunday, CART officials decided to postpone the race from yesterday until May 27, the day before the Indy Racing League's Indianapolis 500. The qualifying results from Saturday will stand.
"There are two reasons we've done this," CART President and CEO Andrew Craig said. "Firstly, for the fans, and, secondly, because there are several safety issues involved. We think that, under the circumstances, this course of action is the best for everyone concerned."
But Mario Andretti, the 1984 CART champion who lives in Nazareth, caught flak from some fans after the announcement.
"I apologize for the weather in my hometown," said Andretti, who won 52 races in his career. "I feel sort of responsible. In the paddock, one lady said, 'You really have stinky weather here.' I wish we could have done better."
One driver, Team Rahal rookie Kenny Brack, didn't seem bothered by the weather. Brack, the 1999 Indianapolis 500 champion who qualified sixth, is from Sweden.
"The weather is fine for me," Brack said. "It reminds me of Sweden and learning to drive in the snow. I'll take on the other guys in these conditions."
None of the teams disagreed with the decision to delay the race until May because CART left Memorial Day weekend open on its schedule. Only Ganassi Racing, which has won the past four series titles, had the resources to take advantage of the open date and announced in late February it would return to Indianapolis. It was a decision Ganassi doesn't regret now that he has to field two cars Saturday and two different cars Sunday that weekend.
"It seems to me guys can change tires one day and change them the next," said Ganassi, who will field G-Force chassis with Oldsmobile Aurora power for Montoya and Jimmy Vasser. "I think they're going to get quite a charge out of it because Saturday there's not much to do anyway at Indy.
"I would rather do it this way than have it on the weekend before when there's qualifying."
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