Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Carpentier never lost will to win

Wednesday, July 25, 2001 | 11:16 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

It may have taken 79 races for Patrick Carpentier to win his first CART race, but the 29-year-old Las Vegas resident said he never lost faith in himself.

"It took a long time but I never quit hoping; I always thought that I could win and that I had the potential to win a race," Carpentier said of his victory Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

"I was wondering if it ever was going to happen. It was tough; something always seemed to happen and get in the way of winning and sometimes you do wonder if it's ever going to happen."

Carpentier inherited the No. 1 spot with Player's/Forsythe Racing at the end of the 1999 season. Budding star Greg Moore, who had been Player's top driver, announced he was leaving the team at the end of the season to join powerful Marlboro Team Penske. But in his final race with Player's, Moore was killed in an accident at California Speedway.

Many racing fans, especially those in his native Canada, hoped Carpentier would step in and fill the void left by the popular Moore. Although Carpentier's engaging personality is similar to Moore's, his on-track performance last season was not.

"I don't think you can replace a guy like Greg Moore," Carpentier said of his late countryman.

"It was difficult for me at first (because) the car was not functioning as well as we wanted it to and I don't think we had all the resources that we do now. We were hoping to get good results but it did not happen last year; we got a couple podiums but not what we were looking for -- our first victory."

Carpentier's fate with Player's this season wasn't determined until after the end of the 2000 season -- a full three months after his contract was up for renewal. That proved to be a trying -- and valuable -- experience for Carpentier.

"Player's almost didn't sign me up last year for this season so it was a really tough year last year," he said. "I don't think I would have ever quit the sport but, man, it was tough last year to wait a long time before renewing the contract.

"I decided to just enjoy the driving and focus on making the car better with the engineers. I think it was a good lesson. I'm so much more confident and relaxed than I have ever been in the past."

Nevertheless, the season didn't start out as Carpentier had hoped. He suffered through a bizarre assortment of mechanical failures and failed to score a point toward the championship in his first five races.

"I think the biggest thing that has changed is (our) luck," Carpentier said of the mid-season turnaround. "We seem to have had more luck in the last few races than we have had in the last two, three years. Over the winter, we never had any problems with the cars ... but as soon as we started this season, for some reason we couldn't finish races; the cars kept breaking down.

"Finally, the team decided to totally take the cars apart and redesign every part that they thought had a chance of failure. They actually went through the whole racecar and tore it apart before Detroit and finally we started finishing races and the car has been really good since then."

Carpentier's Reynard/Ford was never better than it was on Sunday, when he raced from the 21st starting position to the lead on lap 248 of 250 and held off Dario Franchitti and Michel Jourdain Jr. for the win.

Carpentier established a CART record for winning from the deepest starting position in a superspeedway event.

"The team had a fantastic strategy ... and the Ford engine was as powerful -- or more -- at the end of the race than it was at the beginning of the race," Carpentier said. "I think, right now on the speedways, Ford is stronger than any other engine manufacturer."

Carpentier also received a hand from Player's teammate and fellow Las Vegan Alex Tagliani in the closing laps.

"It was important," Carpentier said of Tagliani's move that allowed him to draft past and then hold off Franchitti and Jourdain as the cars raced to the finish line. "But to be honest, I think that we could have won that race, anyway."

Tagliani was a lap down but running among the lead pack of cars when he bolted past all of them on the outside of the track. As the cars exited turn four, Tagliani was positioned directly ahead of Franchitti and Jourdain, negating any slingshot tactics the pair might have used to pass Carpentier.

"I think the thing that Alex did ... was that he created confusion between Dario and Michel Jourdain," Carpentier said. "They were looking at Alex and I think Dario stopped looking for me.

"I don't know if it was really planned or what it was, but what he did definitely helped me to secure that win."

Now that he has had his first taste of victory in the CART series, Carpentier said he doesn't believe it will be his last.

"I think if you win once, after that, I think it's not easier, but you've done it once, so you know you can do it," he said. "You know how you did it and you know that it takes -- patience and to be aggressive and stuff like that.

"But I think I'm going to repeat it, for sure."