1999 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix
The 1999 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix was the fourth round of the 1999 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on May 2, 1999, on the Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
Report
Race
Juan Pablo Montoya followed up on his win in Long Beach by taking his first CART pole in Nazareth, beating Hélio Castro-Neves by the minute margin of one-thousandth of a second. Montoya led the early stages of the race until Castro-Neves passed him in traffic on lap 39, however, a quicker pitstop by Montoya's Ganassi team got Montoya back out in front again. Montoya led for the next 95 laps, but Castro-Neves stayed on his tail all the time, the duo being much quicker than anyone else. Castro-Neves again passed Montoya on lap 145, only for the pit stops to reverse the order. On the resulting restart, Castro-Neves was caught out and passed by P. J. Jones, and later while trying to get the place back, he spun and lost two laps, before eventually crashing out. Montoya cruised to victory ahead of Jones and Paul Tracy, which also gave him the championship lead.
Classification
Race
Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chip Ganassi Racing | 225 | 1:46:13.527 | 1 | 20+1+1 |
2 | 20 | P. J. Jones | Patrick Racing | 225 | +5.103 | 8 | 16 |
3 | 26 | Paul Tracy | Team Green
|
225 | +5.880 | 4 | 14 |
4 | 25 | Cristiano da Matta | Arciero-Wells Racing
|
225 | +6.305 | 17 | 12 |
5 | 40 | Adrián Fernández | Patrick Racing | 225 | +16.401 | 9 | 10 |
6 | 6 | Michael Andretti | Newman-Haas Racing
|
225 | +16.719 | 14 | 8 |
7 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing
|
225 | +20.624 | 12 | 6 |
8 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green
|
225 | +21.836 | 3 | 5 |
9 | 36 | Alex Barron | All American Racing | 224 | +1 Lap | 18 | 4 |
10 | 24 | Scott Pruett | Arciero-Wells Racing
|
224 | +1 Lap | 21 | 3 |
11 | 12 | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | 224 | +1 Lap | 11 | 2 |
12 | 99 | Greg Moore | Forsythe Racing | 224 | +1 Lap | 10 | 1 |
13 | 7 | Max Papis | Team Rahal
|
224 | +1 Lap | 7 | |
14 | 33 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 224 | +1 Lap | 6 | |
15 | 5 | Gil de Ferran | Walker Racing | 224 | +1 Lap | 13 | |
16 | 19 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 224 | +1 Lap | 22 | |
17 | 18 | Mark Blundell | PacWest Racing | 223 | +2 Laps | 5 | |
18 | 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing | 222 | +3 Laps | 15 | |
19 | 22 | Robby Gordon | Team Gordon | 220 | +5 Laps | 24 | |
20 | 10 | Richie Hearn | Della Penna Motorsports | 212 | Oil Pressure | 19 | |
21 | 9 | Hélio Castro-Neves | Hogan Racing | 175 | Contact | 2 | |
22 | 8 | Bryan Herta | Team Rahal
|
77 | Handling | 16 | |
23 | 44 | Tony Kanaan | Forsythe Racing | 51 | Engine | 20 | |
24 | 2 | Al Unser Jr. | Team Penske | 44 | Contact | 23 | |
WD | 34 | Dennis Vitolo | Payton/Coyne Racing | Withdrew | |||
WD | 16 | Shigeaki Hattori | Bettenhausen Racing
|
Withdrew |
Caution flags
Laps | Cause |
---|---|
12-17 | Tracy (26) spin |
46-59 | Unser Jr. (2) contact |
146-154 | Jones (20) spin |
171-176 | Castro-Neves (9) spin |
179-199 | Castro-Neves (9) contact |
Lap Leaders
|
|
Point standings after race
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 45 |
2 | Adrián Fernández | 43 |
3 | Greg Moore | 40 |
4 | Michael Andretti | 40 |
5 | Dario Franchitti | 35 |