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Monday, September 21, 1998
Paul wins for first time in 15 years
By MIKE HARRIS
AP Motorsports Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- John Paul Jr. put an unhappy past
firmly behind him Sunday, looking only to the future after winning
the inaugural Indy Racing League Lone Star 500.
The 38-year-old driver, who spent a little over two years in
federal prison for drug trafficking, made his difficult comeback
complete by avoiding the trouble that found so many others in
the attrition-filled race.
Paul gave up track position when he made a strategic pit stop
on lap 163 of the 208-lap event at Texas Motor Speedway. But he
steadily moved toward the front as other drivers who had stayed
on the track had to pit for fuel.
Paul took the lead on lap 192 and held off a late challenge
from rookie Robby Unser, crossing the finish line about 10 car-lengths
(1.577 seconds) ahead. It was his first win since he took the
1983 Michigan 500 in the rival CART series.
"It's been a long 15 years," said an emotional Paul,
who spent 28 months in a federal prison from 1986-88 after pleading
guilty to a charge of racketeering for the unloading of a boat
containing marijuana and helping in preparations to use the boat
to haul marijuana from Colombia to Louisiana.
People who knew Paul placed the blame on his father, John Paul
Sr., a two-time world endurance driving champion currently serving
a 25-year term for drug trafficking and attempted murder of a
witness in a federal drug case.
Asked if he ever thought this day would come, Paul said, "All
those things are in the past and I've just been looking forward
to this day and to the future."
It took years after being released for Paul to get his racing
career back in sync, and he finally got his chance when the IRL
was formed in 1996.
"Today was just awesome," Paul said. "We couldn't
do anything wrong. I'm just as fresh as a daisy. I'm ready to
go another 300 laps around this place."
That was the probably the euphoria of the moment speaking since
air temperatures in the mid 90s and track temperatures over 140
caused considerable discomfort for the drivers and a big problem
for some of the teams racing on Goodyear tires.
The race, which was interrupted by eight cautions, was marred
by a series of crashes resulting from tires apparently coming
apart in the intense heat. Among the drivers who either spun or
hit the wall after having tires blown were pole-winner Billy Boat
and rookie David Steele. Paul's winning car was on Firestone tires.
Jonathan Byrd, co-owner of the team with Clayton Cunningham,
said, "The Firestone tires were incredible. We didn't have
a single blister or any other problem. We finished with enough
tires left to run another race."
Goodyear spokesman Todd Carpenter said, "Obviously, we're
disappointed with the performance today. Some teams had continuing
problems and others did well throughout the day. Coming into this
race, Goodyear had been the winning tire in seven of nine races,
and eight of the top 10 in the IRL points were on our tires. Today
was just not our day."
Between yellow flags the race was as hot as the day, getting
the crowd estimated at 81,000 on its feet and cheering a number
of times over the 500-kilometer (312-mile) distance.
Jeff Ward and Roberto Guerrero, who both had to pit late in
the race, got back on the lead lap near the end and finished third
and fourth. Guerrero, who had the only car in the 28-car lineup
powered by Nissan's Infiniti engine became the first driver to
lead a race with that motor, leading three times for a total of
24 laps.
Kenny Brack, who saw his record three-race winning string end,
finished a lap down in fifth and padded his series points lead.
Going into the season-finale on Oct. 10 at Las Vegas, Brack will
carry a lead of 31 points over Davey Hamilton and 43 over defending
series champion Tony Stewart.
That gives both a mathematical chance at the title -- with
a maximum of 55 points available. But Brack, from Sweden, can
shut them out by finishing seventh or better.
Hamilton, who had tire problems and lost a lap in the early
going, finished ninth on Sunday, while Stewart, who led early
in the race, wound up 20th after blowing his engine on lap 80.
The most serious accident of the afternoon came on lap 134
when rookie Donnie Beechler and Marco Greco tangled between turns
one and two. The accident also caught up rookie Steve Knapp and
Raul Boesel.
Greco was awake and alert after being removed from his car
by safety personnel, but was flown by helicopter to a Dallas hospital
for a precautionary CAT scan, which came back negative. He was
held overnight for observation.
Stephan Gregoire, who brought out the first yellow with a crash
on lap 20, was treated and released from the infield medical center
with a bruised right knee.
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