1999 Michigan 500 Explained

The 1999 Michigan 500 was the twelfth round of the 1999 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on July 25, 1999 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. For sponsorship reasons, and in light of the continuing split in Championship Car racing, the race was branded as the 1999 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota.

Report

Race

The qualifying saw Jimmy Vasser take the pole with Adrián Fernández alongside, but at the second attempt to start (the first was called off due to field alignment issues), it was the second-row starters Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Andretti who raced away into the first two spots. In the early stages, the duo exchanged the lead many times (most unofficial, though) before Andretti was able to build a lead. He led until the second round of pit stops when a caution due to Gil de Ferran's crash bunched the field up, allowing second-placed Montoya to close and pass him on the restart. The duo again battled for the lead, but then Max Papis surged bast both of them and began to pull away. Papis led comfortably until a crash for P. J. Jones erased a nine-second lead and allowed Andretti to jump him in the pit stops. The restart saw Papis battle with Andretti and Dario Franchitti for a few laps before breaking away again, only for another caution caused by Scott Pruett's crash to again bring the field closer to him. Once again Papis was able to pull away from his pursuers when the race went green, as an epic battle for second commenced between the Team Green duo of Franchitti and Paul Tracy, and the Newman-Haas duo of Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi, which was later joined by Montoya and Tony Kanaan as well. After the final round of pit stops, Papis continued to lead, though Kanaan, on an alternate strategy was able to run 5-7 laps longer than other frontrunners and thus had a shorter stop and was up to second, only three seconds behind Papis, and well ahead of a battle between Andretti, Franchitti, and Tracy for third. Kanaan initially closed up on Papis, but Papis was able to pull away again, and, behind them, the Ganassi drivers, Montoya and Jimmy Vasser started to set a searing pace. Both passed Andretti, Franchitti, and Tracy and set off after Kanaan, lapping much quicker than anyone else. However, Vasser had to pit for more fuel after a problem with the fuel rig, and this also made Montoya's task harder as he now had to chase Kanaan on his own without his teammate's help. Papis continued to lead and was well set to take his first career win only for his car to run out of fuel midway through the last lap. Kanaan went by but Montoya was right with him and attempted to pass him at the line. Kanaan however, held on to beat Montoya by 0.032 seconds, with Tracy taking the final step of the podium after passing Andretti at the line.

Classification

Race

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
144 Tony KanaanForsythe Racing2502:41:12.6321120
24 Juan Pablo MontoyaChip Ganassi Racing250+0.032316
326 Paul TracyTeam Green250+8.453814
46 Michael AndrettiNewman-Haas Racing250+8.506412
527 Dario FranchittiTeam Green250+9.137910
640 Adrián FernándezPatrick Racing250+9.52128
77 Max PapisTeam Rahal250+10.34366+1
811 Christian FittipaldiNewman-Haas Racing250+15.410165
912 Jimmy VasserChip Ganassi Racing249+1 Lap14+1
1033 Patrick CarpentierForsythe Racing248+2 Laps123
1134 Dennis VitoloPayton/Coyne Racing232+18 Laps232
1210 Richie HearnDella Penna Motorsports207Electrical201
132 Al Unser Jr.Team Penske206Engine13
1424 Scott PruettArciero-Wells Racing183Contact5
1536 Gualter SallesAll American Racing146Engine24
1620 P. J. JonesPatrick Racing132Contact22
1725 Cristiano da MattaArciero-Wells Racing126Electrical10
183 Alex BarronTeam Penske120Engine18
1918 Roberto MorenoPacWest Racing113Handling13
208 Bryan HertaTeam Rahal92Suspension7
2119 Michel Jourdain Jr.Payton/Coyne Racing80Driveshaft26
2217 Maurício GugelminPacWest Racing64Radiator14
2399 Greg MooreForsythe Racing63Transmission21
245 Gil de FerranWalker Racing59Contact15
259 Hélio Castro-NevesHogan Racing47Electrical19
2622 Robby GordonTeam Gordon33Handling25

Caution flags

Laps Cause
1 Field not aligned
61-71 de Ferran (5) contact
137-144 Jones (20) contact
185-193 Pruett (24) contact

Lap Leaders

Laps Leader
1
2-7
8
9-18
19-36
37-38
39-70
71-72
73
74
75
76-83
84-105
106-107
108-139
140-144
145-147
148 Dario Franchitti
149-151
152 Dario Franchitti
153
154-177
178 Dario Franchitti
179-182
183-220
221
222 Dario Franchitti
223-228
229-249
250
 
Driver Laps led
143
65
28
7
4
2
1

Point standings after race

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "1999 Michigan 500".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.

PosDriverPoints
1 Juan Pablo Montoya129
2 Dario Franchitti116
3 Michael Andretti107
4 Christian Fittipaldi101
5 Adrián Fernández95