LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) Since replacing Michael Andretti at Newman-Haas Racing, Cristiano da Matta has won seven races, enabling him to put his own stamp on CART's longest-running team.

Da Matta holds a 38-point lead over second-place Dario Franchitti in the CART driver standings heading into the Mid-Ohio Grand Prix. He will remain atop the list no matter what happens in Friday and Saturday's qualifying or Sunday's race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

A year ago, the 28-year-old Brazilian felt he still was in Andretti's shadow and crew members still were trying to adjust to him after working with Andretti for 10 of the previous 12 years.

It took six more races for da Matta to post a victory, but he's been CART's dominant force since then, winning last year's final two races, capturing this year's opener at Monterey, then taking successive victories later in the season at Laguna Seca, Portland, Chicago and Toronto.

"Now nobody on the team ever talks about how things were in the past or how Michael did things," da Matta said. "Our second year together has been a huge difference. We really worked hard during the off-season concentrating on our weaknesses, and it's much easier now that I know everybody better."

Mechanical problems knocked da Matta out of the series' last two races, at Cleveland and Vancouver, and he's never finished higher than ninth in three previous starts at Mid-Ohio.

"It's still too early to think much about the championship," he said. "It's nice to have the lead, but we've just passed the midpoint of the season and things are beginning to heat up."

He's optimistic about his chances for the weekend because of his three road course victories this year.

"We've had so much speed and so much success at these types of tracks this year, so I believe that the car will be running good," he said. "We had a good test at Mid-Ohio, too, so everything indicates that we are going to have a good race. ... I expect to have a good weekend and be in the top five every session."

Franchitti has been successful in qualifying, which starts Friday, but not in the race itself. He was the polesitter in 1998 and 1999 and qualified third in 2000, but his third-place finish in 1999 is the only time he has ended the race higher than eleventh.

Andretti, who won back-to-back races in 1990 and 1991, is the only previous winner returning to the 2¼-mile, 13-turn road course in the hills of north central Ohio.

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