MIAMI -- Cristiano da Matta clinched the CART series championship Sunday, winning the Grand Prix of the Americas in the slowest race in the circuit's history.
Da Matta held off his Newman/Haas teammate Christian Fittipaldi by 0.734 seconds, winning for the seventh time this season and the 11th time in his career.
In a race slowed by six yellow flags, Da Matta's average speed on the 1.387-mile, 16-turn temporary road course was 68.723 mph, slower than the 69.576 mph average by Al Unser Jr. in Denver in 1991.
Da Matta extended his lead to an insurmountable 69 points over Bruno Junqueira, who finished fifth. No driver can win more than 68 points in the three remaining races.
"I think there isn't a better way to clinch the championship than with a victory," said da Matta, who collected a $1 million title bonus. "If you clinch in fifth place, everybody forgets pretty quickly that you've won many other races before. When you clinch it with a win, it's pretty obvious that you were there the whole year."
The 29-year-old da Matta became the quickest to earn the series championship since 1998, when Alex Zanardi wrapped up the crown with four races remaining.
Junqueira needed to finish at least fourth to maintain any chance of winning the championship.
"Cristiano won the championship. He deserves it," Junqueira said. "Even if I finished fourth, the championship was almost gone. Cristiano did a very good job."
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| Cristiano da Matta celebrates the victory and the points championship Sunday.(AP) |
Dixon was attempting to slide past Kanaan on the inside, but Kanaan dropped low and pushed Dixon's car into the concrete wall. Dixon spun wildly and was out of the race. Kanaan was able to retain the lead briefly, before race officials issued the blocking penalty and sent him to the back of the pack.
"We had a good run on him and got practically beside him," Dixon said. "He just turned right and the corner was another 50 yards away. It's just so obvious and pretty blatant."
Kanaan finished ninth.
The only time da Matta relinquished the lead during the final 80 laps was on pit stops.
When Paul Tracy went to the pits on the 88th lap, da Matta -- who lost the lead to Tracy during a pit stop four laps earlier -- reclaimed the lead for good.
It is the fourth time that a driver from the Newman/Haas team has won the CART title. Da Matta joins Mario Andretti (1984), Michael Andretti (1991) and Nigel Mansell (1993) on the list.
"This team deserves this title more than anybody," da Matta said. "They did a great job for me all year."
In the post-race news conference, Fittipaldi said he wished his teammate well "in his next venture," which was a reference to the rumors that da Matta will drive for Toyota on the Formula One circuit next year.
Later, da Matta did his best to deny the speculation.
"Nothing is done," da Matta said. "I know a lot of people think they'll hear the announcement this week. I don't think they will."
Da Matta becomes the third straight Brazilian-born driver to win the CART series and the fourth overall. Gil de Ferran won the CART title in 2000 and 2001, and Emerson Fittipaldi was the series champion in 1989.
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