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| | Monday, October 30 Another Mears hits champ car field | |||||
| Associated Press FONTANA, Calif. -- There's another Mears running fast, and his name does not start with the letter 'R' this time. Casey Mears, who finished fourth in the Marlboro 500 in his CART debut, got off to a more auspicious start than either his father, Roger, or uncle, Rick. Roger Mears, known mostly for his off-road racing success, finished eighth in his first CART race, at now-defunct Ontario (Calif.) Motor Speedway. Four-time Indy 500 champion Rick Mears also was eighth in his first outing, at Phoenix International. "I got a lot of good advice from my uncle Rick," Casey Mears said. "I stepped right out of our lights championship into this. A lot of the same things I learned running the lights car apply to champ cars as well, but they (champ cars) just have more power." WHO'S IN FIRST: There were 59 lead changes in the Marlboro 500, second only to the CART-record 62 in the 1998 Michigan 500. Twelve different drivers were at the front of the Fontana pack at different times. Kenny Brack led the most laps, 42, and Christian Fittipaldi led 35. SWITCHEROOS: In addition to Juan Montoya leaving CART for the Williams Formula One team, other drivers are switching teams. Adrian Fernandez is leaving Patrick Racing to start his own team, with Shinji Nakano leaving Walker Racing to be his co-driver. Others leaving their current teams include Cristiano de Matta, Mark Blundell and Jimmy Vasser. MERCEDES FINALE: In what was Mercedes' last CART race, none of the five Mercedes-powered cars finished. SPARKPLUGS: Gil de Ferran is the second Brazilian to win the points championship. Christian Fittipaldi's uncle, Emerson, won the title in 1989. ... Of the six cars still running at the end, five were on the lead lap. ... Ford-Cosworth cars finished first seven times this season and Ford got its first manufacturers' title since 1995, when Jacques Villenueve, now in Formula One, won four races and the driver championship. ... Roger Penske's team won its 10th open-wheel championship, but first since 1994. "I think we're going to be up there again next year, and I couldn't say that until right now," Penske said. "A lot of times, we were hitting off the tee with a sand iron over the past couple of years." | ALSO SEE De Ferran clinches first CART championship Marlboro 500 results CART Final Points Standings | |||||