Sunday, Oct. 29, 2000 | 4:50 a.m.
FONTANA, Calif. -- Steady rain forced the postponement of Sunday's CART Marlboro 500 at California Speedway after 33 laps, delaying the CART championship battle for another day.
The race, scheduled for 500 miles (250 laps) will be resumed Monday morning at 10 a.m. (PDT) and will be televised live by ESPN.
Series leader Gil de Ferran and Penske Racing teammate Helio Castroneves swapped the lead several times during the first 23 laps until the first caution came out on lap 23.
Paul Tracy blew an engine and the debris collected on Cristiano da Matta, sending him hard into the turn-4 wall. Da Matta was unhurt in the accident.
All 21 cars running on the lead lap at the time came into the pits under the caution and Juan Montoya won the race out of the pits. During the caution period, rain began falling and on lap 33, the field was given the red flag.
Following a delay of nearly three hours, CART officials announced that the race would be resumed on Monday.
The race will resume with Montoya leading, Dario Franchitti in second and Michael Andretti in third.
De Ferran holds a narrow 6-point lead over Adrian Fernandez in the battle for the championship. De Ferran was running fourth and Fernandez ninth when the race was halted.
Kenny Brack is the only other driver still in the championship hunt, looming 20 points behind de Ferran. Brack was in sixth place when the race was red flagged.
Tracy was eliminated from the championship battle when his engine expired.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at 259-4089 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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