Tagliani

Patrick Carpentier and a blown engine ended Cristiano da Matta's winning streak two weeks ago at Cleveland and now Alex Tagliani feels like it's his turn to shine in the CART FedEx Championship.

As the champ cars head into the second of three Canadian races in 2002, Tagliani has a score to settle with the streets of Vancouver.

A year ago, Tag was cruising toward his first CART victory when his gearbox failed and that disappointment still lingers.

"I tried to sleep in the last couple of days, but I was up a couple of times in the middle of the night thinking of this race," said the 29-year-old Canadian who won the pole and led 68 laps in his Player's Ford-Reynard. "I was very, very, very sad and very disappointed last year because, like you saw many times, we were in position to win races. But last year that race in Vancouver was the one that hurt.

"We dominated every session qualifying and in the race, and everything was right, even pit stop strategy, and I guess the only factor that we did not have on our side was luck. We had a mechanical failure on the car and we didn't win. So, it was very tough."

Now in his third season in CART, Tagliani is growing restless to find victory lane. He was long gone at Brazil as a rookie before spinning out with eight laps left. In 2000, he had everyone covered at Elkhart Lake before mechanical failure struck. He ran out of fuel in Australia while leading. Last year, in addition to Vancouver, he had the strongest car at Toronto but wound up finishing second.

"Well, I've been very close many times. At Elkhart Lake I broke a CV joint with 10 laps to go. In Australia, I ran out of fuel, and in Brazil -- it happens a lot of times. Even last year in Toronto, coming out of the pit, Michael beat me by half a second to finish second.

"I guess I can say that the street course in Vancouver is where I've had one of my biggest thrills since I've been in the CART series and also one of my biggest letdowns. When our gearbox gave out after leading through the halfway point of the race, it was such a devastating blow. It took me a long time to recover my emotions. I figure that I still have some unfinished business in Vancouver and I'd like to complete that business by winning this year's race."

The Canadian crowds are always CART's most passionate and Tagliani and Carpentier carry the spirit of the late Greg Moore, who lived in a suburb of Vancouver.

"We saw a couple of the flags with Greg Moore and number 99, but we saw a lot of flags for Pat and myself. The fact that there's that pole award from Rick Moore, Greg's dad, was special. It was special because you can give it to anybody else, but if you give it to someone that is in the Player's team were Greg raced his whole career, and we can could do that for the fans, it's a little bit more special.

"Winning the pole last year, having an all Team Player's front row on the grid and receiving such a tremendous response from the crowd is something that I'll always fondly remember. You want to do well in every race but there's even more incentive when you're competing in front of a home crowd."

Andretti, a nine-time winner in CART's Canadian swing through his 19-year career, will be making his 300th start on Sunday afternoon and is coming off a second place at Cleveland.

"I guess it's an honor to have 300 race starts, but a big part of me just feels old when I hear that statistic," said the veteran who has 42 CART wins. "It makes me realize that I've been around racing for a long time!

"What strikes me the most is how much things have changed since I made my first start in Vegas in 1983 to now, making my 300th start. Man, are things different."

While Andretti adds to his CART record for starts, Oriol Servia will be making his third start of 2002 -- replacing rookie Townsend Bell for the next five races in the Patrick Racing Reynard/Toyota.

"This is a great team but I would have preferred to join the team under different circumstances. I know from experience how hard it is to work your way into this series, and I certainly didn't want to take someone's ride," said Servia, who began the season with PWR Racing before it closed its doors.

"But when this opportunity became available it was obvious that it was the best situation for my career."

Despite his first DNF in three months, da Matta increased his point lead to 50 by setting fast time both days of qualifying at Cleveland. His Havoline/Chevron Lola/Toyota has been virtually untouchable for two months and the 29-year-old Brazilian has excelled on road and street courses -- in addition to ovals.

"I can't tell you exactly why we're so strong, it's a combination of things," said da Matta, who captured Japan, Laguna Seca, Portland and Chicago in a row. "What we can't do is let up because we've still got 10 races left."