Andretti Repeats His Grand Prix Of Miami Victory

Auto racing

Michael Andretti proved his victory last year in the Grand Prix of Miami was no fluke when he held off pole winner Greg Moore on the final lap Sunday at Homestead, Fla.

Andretti, the leading active driver with 37 CART FedEx Championship Series victories, passed defending series champion Alex Zanardi for the lead 43 laps from the end of the 150-lap race at Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex. He stayed in front the rest of the way in the 225-mile event.

Moore, more than 2 mph faster than anyone else in qualifying, came back from a jack failure that nearly knocked him out of contention. The 22-year-old Canadian passed Zanardi for second place on lap 145, then began to stalk Andretti’s Ford-powered Swift.

The 36-year-old Andretti was able to hold his advantage at about a second and a half until the final two laps, when the margin suddenly began to shrink. On the last trip around the 1-mile oval, Andretti got behind the lapped car of P.J. Jones and waited for an opportunity to pass him on the inside. That pause was just enough to give Moore one last shot at the leader.

“The last five laps, I played it real conservative,” Andretti said. “I was almost too conservative. But I think I still had something left there if we need it.”

The encounter with Jones caused him some anxious moments.

“I was a little afraid to pass him on the outside there because I didn’t know if there were marbles (pieces of tire rubber) out there,” Andretti said. “I wanted to pass him on the inside, and I had to wait for the right moment.

“Greg had been using that outside lane, and he didn’t back off. That’s when it got interesting. If I had to, though, I would have gone quicker. Maybe it looked a little closer than it was.”

McLaughlin gets break

Mike McLaughlin, getting a break when race leader Robert Pressley hit a backmarker with eight laps remaining, drove to victory in the BellSouth Mobility/Opryland 320 at Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway USA.

Pressley got caught up behind the lapped cars of Mark Green and Ed Berrier as they entered the third turn, and clipped the rear of Green’s Chevrolet. That started the mishap that also involved Berrier, Glenn Allen and Elliott Sadler.

McLaughlin, running right behind Pressley when the accident happened, darted to the inside and cruised to the fourth win of his NASCAR Busch Series career in a race that finished under caution.

“There was nowhere either one of us could go,” said McLaughlin, who hinted that Pressley might have pressed the issue a little too hard. “Pretty much, the lapped cars had to play out what lane went where.

“I was sideways quite a few times out there, so I knew something was going happen. As soon as I saw the contact, I just dove to the bottom.”

Pressley was livid, blaming Berrier for blocking the racing groove.