The 1999 ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix was the thirteenth round of the 1999 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on August 8, 1999, on The Raceway on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. The race marks the 17th and final career podium for Greg Moore, who finished third.
Report
Race Championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya took his fifth pole of the season, and he dominated the early stages of the race, rapidly building a 6-second lead. Paul Tracy ran second early on, although it did not last for long as his teammate Dario Franchitti passed him. Franchitti was able to pull away from Tracy but had no answer for Montoya, whose lead was up to 10 seconds before a caution caused by a coming together between Robby Gordon and Jan Magnussen triggered the first round of pit stops, with the top three remained unchanged. Montoya continued to dominate once the green flag was brought out, although a miscommunication meant that he did not enter the pits when another caution period caused by Memo Gidley's car failure. The other drivers were all able to make their second stops and effectively gained a free pitstop on him. Montoya stayed out in an attempt to get as big a lead as possible once the track went green. He built a lead of 15 seconds before he made his pitstop, but rejoined only eighth, as Franchitti was handed the lead. Franchitti, despite more caution periods, went on to win the race ahead of teammate Tracy in another Team Green 1-2, with Greg Moore taking the final spot on the podium. The win handed Franchitti the championship lead as well, as Montoya was taken out of the race by Hélio Castroneves after the latter misjudged a restart attempt.
Classification Qualifying August 7, 1999 - Qualifying Speeds Grid Driver Team Lap Time Leader Speed (mph)1 Juan Pablo MontoyaChip Ganassi Racing1:13,585114,7732 Paul TracyTeam Green1:13.611 +0.026114,7333 Gil de FerranWalker Racing1:13.789 +0.204114,4564 Dario FranchittiTeam Green1:13.792 +0.207114,4515 Roberto MorenoNewman-Haas Racing1:13.865 +0.280114,3386 Tony KanaanForysthe Championship Racing1:13.958 +0.373114,1957 Greg MooreForsythe Racing1:14.020 +0.435114,0998 Michael AndrettiNewman-Haas Racing1:14.039 +0.454114,0709 Patrick CarpentierForsythe Racing1:14.090 +0.505113,99110 Max PapisTeam Rahal1:14.215 +0.630113,79911 Bryan HertaTeam Rahal1:14.222 +0.637113,78812 Jimmy VasserChip Ganassi Racing 1:14.355 +0.770113,58513 Mauricio GugelminPacWest Racing Group1:14.530 +0.945113,38114 Cristiano da MattaArciero-Wells Racing1:14.753 +1.168112,98015 Mark BlundellPacWest Racing Group1:14.877 +1.292112,79316 Gonzalo RodriguezTeam Penske1:15.034 +1.449112,55717 Scott PruettArciero-Wells Racing1:15.059 +1.474112,51918 Helio CastronevesHogan Racing1:15.095 +1.510112,46619 Robby GordonTeam Gordon1:15.101 +1.516112,45720 Al Unser Jr.Team Penske1:15.495 +1.910111,87021 Richie HearnDella Penna Motorsports1:15.650 +2.065111,64022 Jan MagnussenPatrick Racing1:15.749 +2.164111,49523 Michel Jourdain Jr.Payton-Coyne Racing1:15.807 +2.222111,40924 Memo GidleyPayton-Coyne Racing1:16.372 +2.787110,58525 Gualter SallesAll-American Racers1:16.452 +2.867110,46926 Naoki HattoriWalker Racing1:17.005 +3.420109,679Source:Saturday Qualifying Results
Race Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 27 Dario Franchitti Team Green 71 2:02:24.662 4 20 2 26 Paul Tracy Team Green 71 +0.135 2 16 3 99 Greg Moore Forsythe Racing 71 +0.530 7 14 4 6 Michael Andretti Newman-Haas Racing 71 +1.471 8 12 5 12 Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing 71 +2.594 12 10 6 44 Tony Kanaan Forsythe Racing 71 +3.652 6 8 7 9 Hélio Castro-Neves Hogan Racing 71 +4.802 18 6 8 24 Scott Pruett Arciero-Wells Racing 71 +6.750 17 5 9 8 Bryan Herta Team Rahal 71 +7.211 11 4 10 18 Mark Blundell PacWest Racing 71 +8.230 15 3 11 36 Gualter Salles All American Racing 71 +9.220 25 2 12 3 Gonzalo Rodríguez Team Penske 71 +14.473 16 1 13 10 Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports 71 +15.831 21 14 11 Roberto Moreno Newman-Haas Racing 70 +1 Lap 5 15 2 Al Unser Jr. Team Penske 70 +1 Lap 20 16 15 Naoki Hattori Walker Racing 70 +1 Lap 26 17 4 Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing 68 Contact 1 1+1 18 20 Jan Magnussen Patrick Racing 68 +3 Laps 22 19 25 Cristiano da Matta Arciero-Wells Racing 65 Contact 14 20 71 Memo Gidley Payton/Coyne Racing 42 Transmission 24 21 19 Michel Jourdain Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing 41 Transmission 23 22 5 Gil de Ferran Walker Racing 32 Contact 3 23 33 Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing 27 Contact 9 24 17 Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing 27 Contact 13 25 22 Robby Gordon Team Gordon 23 Contact 19 26 7 Max Papis Team Rahal 0 Contact 10 DNS 40 Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing Injury
Caution flags Laps Cause2-3 Carpentier (33), Papis (7) contact24-27 Gordon (22), Magnussen (20) contact29-33 Carpentier (33), Gugelmin (17) contact34-35 de Ferran (5) contact45-46 Gidley (71) stopped on course64-65 Moreno (11), Montoya (4) contact67-69 da Matta (25) contact, Unser Jr. (2) spin70-71 Montoya (4), Castro-Neves (9) contact
Lap Leaders Laps Leader1-58 Juan Pablo Montoya 59-71 Dario Franchitti Driver Laps ledJuan Pablo Montoya 58Dario Franchitti 13
Point standings after race PosDriverPoints 1 Dario Franchitti 136 2 Juan Pablo Montoya 131 3 Michael Andretti 119 4 Paul Tracy 106 5 Christian Fittipaldi 101
References