Local CART drivers run into bad luck

Monday, March 11, 2002 | 9:37 a.m.

Luck wasn't with any of the four CART drivers who call Las Vegas home when the FedEx Championship Series opened the 2002 season Sunday in Monterrey, Mexico.

Jimmy Vasser, one of the early favorites to challenge for the CART championship, didn't even complete a full lap on the 2.1-mile road course before being knocked out of the Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix, which was won by Cristiano da Matta.

A multi-car incident involving Vasser, rookie Townsend Bell, Kenny Brack and Bruno Junqueira relegated Vasser to a 19th-place finish in his first race with Team Rahal.

"I guess (Bell) thought he could win the race on that first lap," Vasser said. "If Kenny wasn't there, Bell would have blown off the track. So I went to the outside of them and I think someone backed into me.

"There was no way (Bell) was going to make that move stick."

Team Player's drivers Alex Tagliani and Patrick Carpentier finished fifth and seventh, respectively and Team Kool Green pilot Paul Tracy took eighth -- but all three suffered misfortunes during the 85-lap event.

Tagliani was leading the race when he pitted on lap 27, but was delayed on pit road when the airjack used to raise his car during pit stops failed to engage.

Carpentier also led the race briefly, but a radio miscommunication with his crew caused him to stay out on the track past his mandated pit window -- a new rule instituted this year by CART that specifies maximum number of laps between pit stops. The error caused him to be black flagged by series officials and assessed a drive-through penalty.

Busch, who started fourth, led eight times for 59 laps before his pit strategy backfired late in the race. His Roush Racing crew put on four tires while the other front-runners took just two tires and beat him back on the track.