Tracy Wins To End Penske Team’s Skid

Auto racing

Paul Tracy likened his team’s plight to that of a defense making a goal-line stand.

“The whole team just dug in and got it done,” he said Sunday after winning the Bosch Grand Prix to end the longest drought ever for Indy-car’s top team. “For a while it was like we were in quicksand and sinking even more.”

But what a difference a victory makes. His triumph in a thrilling late-race duel with defending champion Michael Andretti ended the slump at 20 losses.

The victory at Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, Pa., which extended the Roger Penske team’s record to 97, was its first since Al Unser Jr., won at Vancouver in 1995. Tracy had been winless in 27 events.

Unser, who finished third, believes the losing is over.

“The team is back. The snake bite we had is healed,” he said.

“This means a lot to Marlboro Team Penske,” Tracy said. “Mercedes worked hard on the engine to get us back here.”

San Marino GP

Heinz-Harald Frentzen outdueled his former go-kart pal Michael Schumacher in the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Italy, to capture his first career Formula One victory and create an unprecedented 1-2 finish for German drivers in a championship race.

Frentzen, in his first season with the dominant Williams-Renault team, edged the more successful and more experienced Schumacher, a Ferrari driver, by 1.23 seconds in the fourth race of the season.

xxxx

This sidebar appeared with the story: RAINOUTS Rain forced postponement of Sunday’s Winston 500 at Talladega, Ala., until today at 9 a.m. PDT. Also, final eliminations for the NHRA Pennzoil Nationals have been postponed until May 10 after rain washed out racing after the first round at Dinwiddie, Va.