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Monday, August 5 Updated: August 21, 7:00 PM ET  Important stretch for CART teams By Michael Andretti Special to ESPN.com
A month of races in a row truly is a test of the team. It's a test of your equipment, your focus and your drive. If you have a bad weekend, you can't let that carry over into the next race weekend because there's no time to reflect. You have to be ready to go out and fight for the win five days later despite the previous weekend's finish.
When we leave Road America we head north to Montreal, Canada. CART is going to be racing on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the Formula One track, which is the first time we'll be racing on the same circuit as Formula One in the same season. Our times won't be as quick as the Formula One times but this is still going to be a great event. Every time we go to Canada, the events are just awesome. The Canadian fans are really into racing and the whole city gets behind the event. I drove on this race circuit in the '80s when I was racing Formula Ford and then in 1993 when I was driving for McLaren Formula One. I don't think the fact I raced there before is going to make a big difference because besides the fact it's been a long time since I ran this circuit the equipment is totally different. It's always interesting when you run a circuit for the first time but again, if we have the basics right the speed should follow.
Our final stint in the four race marathon is another new event on the streets of Denver, Colo. I am really looking forwarding to racing in Denver again. CART raced in Denver in the early '90s and we always had great crowds and a lot of enthusiasm for this event. I'm sure we'll have to make some adjustments for the high altitude racing and that means the race will be a bit more physically demanding on the drivers since most of us aren't used to working in that climate but I am looking forward to this race. Our car has been much better on the street circuits and we should have even more baseline data to work with by the time we get to Denver so I'm think we'll be in decent shape when we start the weekend. The one thing we've got to strive to do over the course of the month is to finish races. You don't earn any championship points if the car is parked so we'll do whatever it takes to stay in the hunt, collect points and finish races. It's an interesting month and like I said earlier, the teams that stay solid over the four weeks are the ones that you will see at the top of the championship standings come November. Talk to you soon, Michael Michael Andretti, the driver of the No. 39 Motorola for Team Green, is providing a diary to ESPN.com throughout the CART season.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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