TRACK: Somebody said they changed the track to offer more passing opportunities. Hmmm, could have fooled me. Some of them did occur off camera, especially for positions three and back, but there was still far too little passing. Well, maybe it was just this one race.

RACE: Maybe it was all the oval races, but I enjoyed watching the cars turn left and right, so I was able to partly dismiss the lack of passing in this race despite various drivers hounding those in front of them. At least there were only two full course yellows. Heck, the Formula One guys up in Montreal put on a much more exciting race -- that was one of the wildest Grands Prix I ever saw.

ZANARDI/MOORE: There is no question that these two drivers are the two best pilots this season, race after race.

ZANARDI: Will the driver capable of beating Alex Zanardi this year please stand up. Didn't think so. Start buying stock in Dunkin' Donuts.

MOORE: Greg Moore seems to be what Paul Tracy was supposed to be -- tons of potential, tons of talent, tons of speed, tons of excitement. But Moore has something Tracy does not seem to have -- tons of brains.

HEARN: Every driver has to get past various humps in his career as he goes from one performance level to the next. Based on Richie Hearn's performance the past two races, before mechanical problems, he just might have gotten over one of those hurdles. We may start to see some wonderful drives from him.

FIRESTONE: Notice how Hearn was the fastest Swift. Notice how the only difference from Della Penna, besides being much less funded and much less experienced, than the Newman-Haas team is Della Penna has Firestone tires. Notice how far back the first Goodyear shod car was in qualifying (ninth). Notice how many Goodyear cars finished in the top nine (one). I thought Goodyear was back in it this year...

DE FERRAN: There he goes again. Quietly and methodically working his way to another podium finish.

FERNANDEZ: Count me as one of those who never expected Adrian to outperform his teammate, Scott Pruett, on a consistent basis.

JOURDAIN: The type of performance we expected from Michel after last year's late run. Perhaps he's just more comfortable on the road circuits.

HERTA: Did his engine see Zanardi coming...?

TRACY: Does he put little Christian Fittipaldi stickers on the side of his car like fighter pilots do after a hit?

PACWEST: I was going to say the PacWest team has been the most massive disappointment of the 1998 season, but then you would all call me an idiot for stating such an obvious thought.

ESPN: Last week we blasted them for the silly pop-up video stuff. This week we'll praise them for the presentation of the starting lineup with the mini-videos of the respective cars in action. I liked it.

SCHEDULE: Whew! I don't know about you guys, but I need a break. One week off works out just fine, and then it's Portland where based on history it will rain -- and it will be an action packed event.

Deep Throttle

Copyright © 1998 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.