Bourdais takes flag in Long Beach
Sebastien Bourdais was amazed when he drove past Paul Tracy for the lead with relative ease in Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (Calif.).
Bourdais, coming out of the pits two laps after Tracy’s first stop, noted that passing Tracy anytime is “usually a handful,” but on the streets of Long Beach, where Tracy had won the last two races and four overall, “it’s really tough.
“My crew was surprised I was able to get by PT like that and I was, too. I came on the radio and said, ‘How about that!’ It was really surprising.”
Tracy, who finished second, shrugged off Bourdais’ strong move on the 38th of 81 laps, saying, “As you can image, my reaction was the opposite.”
But Tracy pointed out he was just going along with the new Champ Car edict prohibiting blocking.
“The rules are very clear on blocking,” Tracy said. “In the past you’d see guys weaving and moving and, if you tried to pass for the lead, you’d wind up crashing. Today, we had three clean passes for the lead and that’s good for the sport.”
Johnson oldest to win drag race
Warren Johnson became the oldest driver to win a pro drag race, and Tony Schumacher raced to his 23rd career Top Fuel victory at the O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.
The 61-year-old Johnson took the Pro Stock race, finishing in 6.714 seconds at 205.01 mph for his 93rd career win. He beat Jason Line, who clocked in at 6.735 at 204.29.
Schumacher won for the second time this year, beating Cory McClenathan in the final in a record speed of 335.32 mph.
Drivers loving Long Beach
Within moments of the end of the 31st Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the drivers were already thinking about next year, hoping they will be at the 32nd edition of the downtown street race.
Race officials said they will make a decision within 30 to 60 days on the future of the event, whether the Champ Car World Series will return for its 23rd consecutive year since replacing Formula One here, or if it will be replaced by the rival Indy Racing League.