New names fight it out for CART title

Mike Harris

Thursday, Oct. 28, 1999 | 4 a.m.

FONTANA, Calif. - The words come harder these days for Dario Franchitti and Juan Montoya.

The young Champ Car stars are tired of talking about their duel for the CART championship. They're anxious to hit the track and answer all the questions at 230 mph.

They will do just that Sunday in the season-ending Marlboro 500 at California Speedway.

"I love this kind of race, where every lap is important," Montoya said.

Franchitti, who comes in with a nine-point lead, is confident.

"I know we're capable of getting the job done," he said. "We just need to get on with it."

The 24-year-old Montoya has had a sensational rookie season, winning a series-high seven races. He led the points from the fourth event of the 20-race season until two weeks ago, when Franchitti won in Australia - his third victory of the year.

Just a few weeks ago, most people were all but conceding the title to the brash Colombian. But Montoya, who replaced 1997-98 series champion Alex Zanardi, couldn't sustain his advantage.

Although he refuses to admit that the pressure of nearing the $1 million championship has had anything to do with it, Montoya no longer looks invincible.

He has crashed out twice in a row - slamming into a stalled car in Houston and simply overdriving and sliding into a wall on the tight street course in Australia.

"I should have won the championship a few races ago," Montoya said. "It's been mistake after mistake after mistake. It's a shame, but you have to deal with these things."

Rookie jitters or simply racing luck?

"I don't think anything has changed," Montoya said. "I don't think we've lost any momentum. We're just making some mistakes and have to pay for them.

"I'm pretty relaxed about it. We've won seven races and we've just had some bad races. We gave away some races with a single, silly mistake. We gave away points to Dario, but I'm not going to give up."

Franchitti blossomed into a Champ Car star in his first year with Team Kool Green in 1998. The 26-year-old Scotsman turned a hot second half, including the first three victories of his CART career, into a third-place finish in the standings.

With Zanardi gone to Formula One, Franchitti began 1999 as the title favorite. But a sluggish start let Montoya bask in the spotlight until Franchitti began another second-half rush with a victory in July in Toronto.

"We started off the season a bit conservative," Franchitti explained. "I thought in midseason that Juan was doing a terrific job, especially for someone new to the series. It was hard to believe he could be that consistently good.

"But we were never all that far behind."

In the only other 500-mile race on the CART schedule, the U.S. 500 in July at Michigan Speedway - a virtual carbon copy of its sister track in Fontana - Montoya finished second to Brazilian Tony Kanaan. Franchitti was fifth.

The same results Sunday on California's 2-mile oval would give Franchitti the title by three points.

If he wants to win the championship, Montoya has no choice but to go hard on Sunday.

He needs the point that goes to the driver leading the most laps, and getting the 20 points for winning would at least give him a shot at overtaking Franchitti.

"We would have liked to have been in a better position going into the final race, but we're going to go for the win," Montoya said. "We can't control what Dario does."

Franchitti's task is easier.

"Unlike Juan, I don't feel like I have to go out and win the race on Sunday," he said. "I just need to keep within a couple of places of Juan. But I'd like to win the race. Then there would be no questions."