Greg Moore killed in CART race crash

Monday, Nov. 1, 1999 | 9:41 a.m.

FONTANA, Calif. -- What was supposed to be CART's brightest moment quickly turned into one of its darkest when 24-year-old Greg Moore, a rising star in open-wheel racing, died of injuries sustained in a crash during Sunday's Marlboro 500 at California Speedway.

Moore suffered massive head and internal injuries in a single-car accident just 10 laps into the 200-lap race and was airlifted to nearby Loma Linda University Medical Center. Moore was pronounced dead at 1:21 p.m.

A crowd estimated at 90,000 packed the grandstands of California Speedway in anticipation of the final race of the 20-event CART season, which paid $1 million to the race winner and decided the season-long series championship.

Adrian Fernandez won the race and rookie sensation Juan Montoya earned the championship in the closest points battle in CART history. But none of that seemed to matter after Moore's pale blue race car spun coming out of Turn 2, slid across the backstretch apron, flipped on its side and slammed hard into the inside retaining wall.

"A day which is traditionally a day of celebration is now a day of tragedy and a day of sadness," Andrew Craig, CART's chairman and CEO, said. "Greg clearly was going to be a future champion in our sport -- clearly and unequivocally."

Moore, a native of British Columbia, Canada, was completing his fourth season in CART and generally was regarded as one of the true up-and-coming stars -- not only for his talent on the track, but for the way he carried himself away from it.

Moore won five races, including the season-opening race in March in Homestead, Fla., had 17 podium finishes and captured five poles in 72 career starts. He was the youngest race winner in CART history, taking the checkered flag at Milwaukee at age 22 in 1997.

"Greg was one of our new, young tigers of Champ-car racing," Craig said. "He was everything that is good about this sport: talented, committed, courageous, fit ... everything that symbolizes what Champ-car racing stands for was embodied in Greg Moore.

"It is a very, very profound loss, indeed. He was a great talent and as his dad said when I was chatting with him at the hospital, he really loved life, he loved having fun. He was a competitor; he really wanted to get into this race today."

Moore nearly didn't start Sunday's race after fracturing a finger on his right hand in a scooter accident in the paddock area Saturday morning. He was cleared to race after passing a special test session Saturday afternoon, and Dr. Greg Bauman, medical director for International Speedway Corp., said Moore's injury "was not related to the cause of the accident."

Fernandez, who won a fuel strategy battle to capture the 500-mile race and the $1 million bonus, broke down as he talked about Moore during an emotional postrace press conference that included runner-up Max Papis and third-place Christian Fittipaldi.

"It's so hard because Greg was such a good friend of ours," Fernandez said. "We had been racing for a while and we have shared so many good moments inside and outside the race track.

"This is a tragedy for all of us. I can't express to you how sad I feel. The win, it doesn't (mean) anything."

Las Vegas resident Paul Tracy, who, like Moore, is Canadian, said Moore's death was difficult to comprehend.

"The loss of Greg is a hard thing to try and stomach," Tracy said. "But I've talked to a lot of drivers now and we all just remember Greg (as he was) on the grid today. He was sitting there in his car with a gimp hand, smiling and ready for the race; ready to go out there and try to win it.

"He wouldn't give up a chance to get in the car, even if his leg was hanging off (and) that's how I want to remember him -- not seeing the accident but remembering all of the good times that we had. He was a guy who always had a smile on his face. He was always upbeat and always in a good mood. He had a great spirit and I hope that continues on in this sport."

Craig said that Moore's Reynard/Mercedes was impounded following the accident and CART officials would examine the car's on-board telemetry in an attempt to find the cause of the accident.

"At this point, we would be speculating if we tried to explain or to pinpoint any possible cause for the accident," Neil Micklewright, vice president of operations for Player's/Forsythe Racing, said. "We have significant data that we should be able to retrieve from the vehicle that may give us some indication of what occurred.

"But up until the time of the accident, the car seemed to be handling correctly and in keeping with the set of parameters that we had."

Montoya, who finished fourth Sunday and won the championship and accompanying $1 million bonus, seemed relieved that CART officials canceled the postrace celebrations out of a show of respect for Moore.

"This is very bad, very bad," Montoya said. "Greg was just a great guy and I'm really sad for his family and friends. He was a great guy to be around."

Montoya wound up tied in the points standings with Dario Franchitti, whom he trailed by nine points going into the race, but won the PPG Cup on a tie-breaker; Montoya had seven wins this season to Franchitti's three.

Losing the championship, though, was the furthest thing from Franchitti's mind following the race.

"Today I lost one of the best friends I ever had," Franchitti said of Moore. "In the last couple of years, ever since I've known him, we shared a lot of good times together.

"He was the guy I competed the hardest with on the track, and he was the guy I had the most fun with away from the track. The guy was going to be a champion many, many times over. He was my friend ... with what's happened, nothing else matters."

Moore's death was the second in the CART series this season but only the fourth since the series inception in 1978. Rookie Gonzalo Rodriguez died in an accident during a practice session on Sept. 11 at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif.

The only other drivers killed in a CART-sanctioned race were Jeff Krosnoff during a street race in Toronto in 1996 and Jim Hickman in a practice crash at Milwaukee in 1982.

Moore's death also marked the second time this season that tragedy has struck Team Penske. Rodriguez was driving for veteran team owner Roger Penske at the time of his death and Moore was slated to drive for Penske next season.