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Shuffl e Up and Deal
Champ Car at PIR
by Randy Unsbee
Morning practice started out more than a little confusing. First, A.J. Allmendinger
went by in Mario Dominguez’ Indeck car, then Cristiano DaMatta went
by in A.J.’s Rusport car, and then Mario went by in Cristiano’s Sonny’s BBQ
ride. Okay, in less than a week three teams shuffl ed three drivers in Champ
Car’s version of MLB’s “let’s trade our players before the All Star Break.”
But that wasn’t all. A.J. didn’t want to let on if he was disappointed by getting
fi red from Rusport, so he went and got himself engaged at Niagra Falls just
a week before the Portland race. In fact, he got fi red, engaged and won his
fi rst Champ Car race in little more than a week. And, to prove that wasn’t all
afl uke, he went out and did it again the following week at Burke Lakefront
Airport in Cleveland. Of course, he slid off the track, damaged the nose, had
to pit for a replacement as did many in the fi eld after the fi rst lap fracas, and
then he charged from the back of the fi eld to win. Geesh, what’s this guy taking
for vitamins?
(Photos by Howard Allen, Doug Berger, Wayne Flynn, Randy Unsbee)
Paul Tracy’s (above) troubled season didn’t improve much at Portland, though he
was one of the fi rst to congratulate teammate Allmendinger in victory lane. The
season-long juggernaut of Sebastien Bourdais (right) ended with a third-place in
Portland and lots of pouting about the race start that probably was messed up by his
own teammate, Bruno Junqueira, when he tried to short brake the fi eld.
Page 8
The race itself was probably better than most in recent years at Portland International
Raceway. Former Rusport teammate Justin Wilson, who came so
close to winning here a year ago, made valiant charge after valiant charge at
A.J. He fi nally reeled-in the Indeck steed only to fl at spot a tire overcooking
it into turn one and had to settle for second. A great many other battles raged
throughout the fi eld before a crowd estimated at over 40,000 spectators under
cloudy, cool but ideal racing conditions. As for the pre-race politics surrounding
Champ Car at PIR, things were, and are, less than ideal.
With numerous cities in the U.S. and Canada coveting Portland’s increasingly
valuable Champ Car race date, this event’s days may be numbered. Portland’s
city government has a vision fi rmly entrenched in the 19th century. With a
Mayor more concerned about attending noise complaint meetings and marching
in parades rather than championing his city’s largest international event,
one must wonder why Portland even deserves a Champ Car race.