Junqueira Wins Shell Grand Prix

DENVER (AP) _ Bruno Junqueira is doing his best to turn the CART championship into a battle, though it may be too late. <br><br>The Brazilian started from the pole and led every lap in winning the inaugural

Monday, September 2nd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DENVER (AP) _ Bruno Junqueira is doing his best to turn the CART championship into a battle, though it may be too late.

The Brazilian started from the pole and led every lap in winning the inaugural Shell Grand Prix of Denver on Sunday, moving past Dario Franchitti into second place in the standings.

Junqueira still trails countryman Cristiano da Matta by 52 points with only five races left. With a maximum of 23 points at each event, da Matta could take a two-race vacation and still be ahead.

Da Matta finished a distant third and Junqueira gained only seven points.

``I see on Cristiano's pit board that he was seventh and I thought, `OK, that's good.' Then, later, I see he is third. `Come on, give me a break,''' Junqueira said, turning to his boyhood friend and smiling.

Junqueira built a big lead then held off Target/Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon the last seven laps after the day's only caution flag.

Junqueira was nearly 12 seconds ahead of Dixon before two lapped cars crashed, bringing the yellow on the 89th of 100 laps.

That set up a seven-lap shootout between the two Toyota-powered Lolas that Junqueira won by 0.282 seconds _ about three car-lengths.

``On the first lap after the restart I was pushing hard,'' the winner said.

Junqueira was flying on the next lap when he got a little off line and into what racers call marbles _ small pieces of tire rubber that make cars slide.

``I made only one mistake and I almost crashed,'' said Junqueira, whose second victory of the year and third of his Champ car career put him in second place in the standings. ``I said, `I'm not going to push any more.' I drove careful to the end.''

Asked if team owner Chip Ganassi ordered Dixon to stay behind his teammate, Junqueira said: ``In CART, there are no team orders.''

Dixon thought he had the car to win but did not take reckless chances.

``Bruno is in a lot better situation than I am in the championship,'' Dixon said. ``So there is no point in me trying to pass him for the win and in some way maybe cause an incident and both of us not get points.''

Ganassi complained during the race to CART officials about Junqueira and Dixon being blocked. He was angry that Adrian Fernandez, who started ahead of Dixon and was having brake problems, appeared to hold up Dixon midway through the race.

``We got stuck behind Adrian forever,'' Dixon said.

Dixon finally got past him and into second when Fernandez pitted on lap 62. Fernandez wound up fourth. Ganassi's third driver, Kenny Brack, finished seventh.

The prerace talk concerned slick, bumpy conditions on the new 1.647-mile, nine-turn temporary street circuit circling the downtown Pepsi Center. But it was an amazingly clean event, with 14 of 18 starters running at the end.

Da Matta has finished first, second and third in his last three races. He has six poles and six victories in 14 starts. He never challenged on Sunday and denied driving conservatively to assure himself points.

``I just didn't have enough performance to really attack anybody,'' he said.

The caution flag that set up the late battle at the front came when Tora Takagi tried to pass, causing him and Mario Dominguez to crash.

Franchitti, who won in Montreal and entered the race in second place, didn't finish a lap, thanks to Team Kool Green teammate Paul Tracy.

As they approached the fifth turn, Tracy slid into Oriol Servia and Franchitti. Tracy's car launched over Franchitti's left front tire and flew over Servia's car.

``As usual, Paul gets behind the wheel and goes crazy,'' Franchitti said. ``The championship is gone for me. Time is getting too short.''

Tracy, who finished eighth, said he couldn't avoid hitting him.

``The track was slick, but nobody else out there hit their own teammate,'' he said. ``I drove the whole race with a broken heart.''

The only other mishap came on lap 62 when Patrick Carpentier and Michael Andretti collided, knocking Carpentier out of the race