Red Flag Is Like a Go for Vasser

Jimmy Vasser, a man without a ride in motor racing in 2003, put an exclamation point on his employment resume Sunday by winning the fastest 500-mile race run by open-wheel cars.

Vasser averaged a record 197.995 mph and led a record 148 of the 250 laps, but needed a dramatic pass of Michael Andretti on a restart two laps from the finish to take the checkered flag for the Toyota 500 before an estimated 55,000 at California Speedway.

He was driving a Ford-powered Lola for Bobby Rahal, but apparently does not figure in Rahal’s plans.

Being in front for a restart -- the final one came after the race was stopped when the engine on Dario Franchitti’s Lola erupted in a cloud of smoke on Lap 242 -- was not the best place to be.

“Had it not been for Dario causing the red flag, it would have been difficult to catch Michael under race conditions,” Vasser said. “Michael drove a great race. At the end, he was in a tough position. The guy leading in that position is like a sitting duck out there.”

It was the first one-two finish for U.S. drivers since the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach last April when it was Andretti winning and Vasser second. They were the only Americans in the 18-driver field. It was also Vasser’s second win at California Speedway, having won in 1998. Vasser’s speed eclipsed the 500-mile record of 189.727, set in 1990 in a CART race by Al Unser Jr.

Cristiano da Matta, who clinched the Championship Auto Racing Team championship several races ago, appeared to be on his way to an eighth win this season and his second in a row at California Speedway when the Toyota engine in his Chevron Lola let go on Lap 236.

“To end the race this way was a huge disappointment for myself and the team,” Da Matta said. “We waited for this point in the race to come before we went for it and everything was going as planned until the car just lost power. I had no indication there was a problem.”

The Brazilian, who is headed for Formula One with Toyota next year, led only 14 laps but seemed a likely winner after beating Vasser out of the pits in a drag race a few laps earlier.

“I think Cristiano had a little left in his hip pocket because he really started playing with me at the end,” Vasser said. “He was going to be tough to beat.”

When Da Matta caused a yellow caution flag, Andretti got the lead on the restart by jumping Vasser before they reached the first turn.

“I thought I had the race won right there [after Da Matta stopped],” said Andretti, “but then Dario’s car lost a motor and I became the sitting duck. What’s fair is fair. The yellow [flag] came out and cost Jimmy and the red flag came out and cost me.

“The red flag is in the rule book, so it was the right decision. I’m sure Jimmy loved the red flag. He probably had the best car and deserved to win. I tried to catch him in Turns 3 and 4 at the end but came up a little short. I radioed the crew, ‘I’m done.’ ”

It was the second time a CART race had been stopped for a red flag this year. The first came at Vancouver where Franchitti won. Patrick Carpentier, one of three Canadian drivers in the race, finished third, but didn’t challenge Vasser or Andretti.

Although there were only 18 starters and the field at times looked lost strung out around California Speedway’s two-mile D-shaped oval, there was enough excitement up front where the 225-mph front-runners passed and re-passed one another 43 times in the 2-hour 33-minute 42.9-second race. Eight cars dropped out with mechanical problems, but there was no car-crash accident.

One of the strangest mishaps occurred to Bruno Junqueira on Lap 34 after what should have been a routine stop for tires and fuel. As he exited his pit, the left rear tire came off and rolled all the way to the grassy Turn 1 infield. The rear-wheel crewman, knowing the tire was not on properly, frantically waved to hold Junqueira but it was too late.

By the time the Chip Ganassi crew retrieved the machine and bolted on another tire, Junqueira had lost a lap, which he was unable to regain.

Vasser’s crew won the Craftsman Pit Crew Challenge on Friday, and Vasser credited them with helping him win Sunday. Statistics bore him out as his seven stops averaged 39.058 seconds, compared with 40.966 for Andretti. Times are recorded from the moment the car enters and exits the pit lane.

“We had a great car today and a lot of the credit goes to the Shell crew guys who busted their butts this week to put everything together after Australia,” Vasser said. “We had a big pile of junk from last week,” where Vasser was in the center of a nine-car pileup in the rain.

The tub of Vasser’s car was flown in from Rahal headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday and the crew -- after arriving from a 6,000-mile trip from Australia -- bolted it together in time for Friday’s practice.

Some of the tightest side-by-side racing took place early in the race when Andretti and Paul Tracy exchanged the lead 16 times in 51 laps before Tracy dropped out with mechanical gremlins.

Oriol Servia, who started last and finished fifth, had the day’s fastest lap, 232.114 mph, on Lap 234. That was also the fastest lap for Vasser (231.188), Andretti (231.101) and Da Matta (230.379). Servia’s lap, coming in traffic while he was in 11th place, was faster than Tony Kanaan’s pole-sitting speed of 232.011 set Saturday.