De Ferran Wins Rockingham 500

Defending CART series champion Gil De Ferran won for the first time this season, passing Kenny Brack on the final turn in Saturday’s shortened Rockingham 500 in Corby, England.

The Brazilian driver was overtaken by Brack with two laps remaining in a race delayed at the start by more than an hour. He rallied on the final lap to win by 0.634 seconds and post his sixth career victory.

Drainage problems on the new oval not only led to a delay, but wiped out two days of practice and qualifying for CART’s second race in Europe.

Brack, of Team Rahal, kept the season points lead with 147 to 141 for De Ferran, of Team Penske. Helio Castroneves was third, also in a Penske.

De Ferran, whose previous victory was in Portland, Ore., last season, took the lead on a pit stop under the third yellow flag of a race shortened to 140 laps from 210.

Two laps from the end, Brack passed De Ferran as the Brazilian got caught in traffic behind Max Papis, Brack’s teammate.

“I tried to hold off Brack,” De Ferran said. “Max shut the door and I thought, ‘Oh, no.’ But I also thought it wasn’t finished yet.”

The race originally was set for 311 miles and 210 laps, but was shortened to 249 miles and 168 laps. However, after 100 laps with dusk settling, the distance was shortened to 140 laps.

Brack has won his four races this season on ovals. He was going for his second victory in a week after winning the American Memorial 500 in Germany, in which a crash cost Alex Zanardi his legs.

The 1.5-mile Corby oval opened a few months ago. Crews have been working since Thursday, drilling holes into the surface of the track to relieve underground pressure and speed drying. A half-dozen jet-dryers were being used with about 1,500 gallons of fuel burned.

Drivers practiced for only 90 minutes Saturday, their first practice on the track.

Most drivers seemed willing to go along with CART’s decision to run on the untested oval, which has remained wet in places despite two days without rain.

“There has been a little cloud over this trip with Alex’s accident in Germany,” De Ferran said. “However, it’s largely been a success. Here it was reasonably well attended and in Germany it was a very well-attended race.

“Of course, we had to contend with rain and all that. And if I had to give any advice to CART, they shouldn’t come back in September.”

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Busch series champion Jeff Green took the lead with a quick pit stop late in the MBNA.com 200 at Dover, Del., and won after polesitter Ryan Newman started a three-car crash.

Newman dominated the race until his crew decided to change four tires on the 176th of 200 laps. Green was among those who changed two tires, leaving the pits ahead of Newman.

“Track position is everything when you come down to 10-15 laps to go, more important than four tires,” Green said of his crew chief Harold Holly’s pit strategy. “If we got four, we were going to be fifth or sixth. And if we got two, we were going to be first or second.

“We just took a gamble and it worked.”

Newman became trapped behind several cars and tried to force his way through on the bottom, but was unable to hold his line exiting the first turn and tapped another car, starting the three-car chain reaction.

Green’s Ford finished 0.786 seconds ahead of Kenny Wallace’s Chevrolet. Green averaged 107.598 mph in a $798,158 race slowed six times by 28 laps of caution.

It was the third victory this season and 13th in Busch competition for Green, who next season will move into a Winston Cup car owned by Richard Childress.

“Dover is a special place, and I’ve been hoping to win here for a long time,” Green said. “The guys made great pit calls all day and that last one put us out in front.”

After that, Green said all he needed to do was take care of his tires.

Wallace, among those who will race today in the MBNA Cal Ripken 400, was impressed with Green’s strategy.

“I can’t believe we got beat by right-side tires,” said Wallace, who changed four on his final stop.

Winston Cup driver Jimmy Spencer, the winner of the Dover Busch race three months ago, was third in a Chevy. It was another impressive outing for Spencer, who has three victories in 14 Busch races this season.

He said Newman should have learned a lesson about trying to go three wide on the high-banked concrete oval.

“It really got wild there at the end,” Spencer said. “I never knew you could race down on the apron, and he proved you can’t.”

Newman called it a learning experience.

“I saw a hole and stuck the car in there,” Newman said. “It was just an issue of the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Chad Little finished fourth in a Chevy, followed by the Ford of rookie Greg Biffle.

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Larry Dixon led the Top Fuel qualifying with a run of 4.581 seconds at 314.17 mph at the AutoZone Nationals at Millington, Tenn.

Dixon will go for his sixth victory this season when he faces Don Sosenka today.

Two-time Winston champ Jim Yates turned in his second top qualifying effort of the season in Pro Stock in 6.883 at 199.29.

Yates complained of chest pains following the first of two qualifying attempts and was taken to Regional Medical Center for tests. His condition was not immediately known.