Leinenkugel's 400 - Sanibel Speedway

April 1, 1999

Round 15 of 16

KAMIKAWA QUIETLY IMPRESSIVE IN LEINIE'S 400 WIN

-Flag-to-flag victory second of the season-

wauwatosa, WI (Apr. 1, 1999) - Not too many people were paying much attention to driver Ev Kamikawa and the struggling Ferrari team here last Thursday night, until he ended up in victory lane in the Leinenkugel's 400 race on Sanibel Speedway. After qualifying fourth and wrapping up the "Marcus Quick Qualifier" award for the season, Kamikawa went on to streak away to the win, never bested during the entire race. The Red Dog Ferrari car sat in the winner's circle for the first time since the Deercross Indy Challenge in October.

"Talk about ecstasy, I can't believe it. This is great to be a winner again. The car felt great tonight. l have to thank God, my parents and my crew," he said. The win keeps him solidly in fourth place in the SlotCART championship.

Speaking of the championship, with one race to go this season, Jim Kaehny emerges from the race as the points leader by four notches over Phil Cianciola. Both men broke the track record in qualifying, but had to settle for second and third respectively because Dan Margetta grabbed his second pole of the season with a blistering track record of 133 laps.

But during the race Margetta could come no closer than 10 laps in the end to Kamikawa, admitting afterward, "We had a fast car tonight, but we didn't have enough to catch Kamikawa here." Margetta remains third in the standings and keeps his team's streak of nine straight races of being first or second alive.

Kaehny broke the points standings tie when he won a heat race, after Cianciola failed to do the same. Then neither driver was ever a serious threat to the leaders during the Final. At one point in the race, Kaehny had a nasty moment as a lane jump sent his Frugal Homebrewer Swift Ford into the air, flying over the waters of Lake Murex and landing on its side in the sand next to a nude beach.

As for the defending series champion, it was a lack of Mercedes horsepower that did in the Marlboro car. Cianciola, who was easily passed along the long Gulf Drive straight, said, "We ran the down force, backup car tonight and it was clear we had handling but not enough speed to contend tonight."

Tony Perkins placed the Player's car in fifth after also qualifying fifth, one of his best performances of the season. "There was some great dicing out there today," he said. "This is the best I've felt all year. Finishing fifth makes the long drive back to Indy tonight a lot better."

Tom Spehert moved up from eighth on the grid to take sixth place in the race. "I couldn't figure out why the handling just went away at one point," he said. Rookie Larry Rotter placed seventh, after also qualifying there. He too had some handling problems holding him back. Rotter said, "I was hitting a bump in Blue Lane in Tarpon Bay Turnaround and that threw everything off."

Rounding out the field it was Phil Marich in eighth, after a promising start in his heat race. But on lap 67 Marich lost control of his Swift Ford and crashed his Frugal Homebrewer car. The uninjured Marich explained afterward, "Everybody was just so fast out there tonight so I had to really push the car to keep up and it just got away from me."

The mighty struggle that has been John Baas' season continued, as he had to watch from the paddock after failing to grid. He did however pick up points for ninth place and a Consi round win. Pat Jarvis also failed to grid with only 84 laps in qualifying. Baas scored 107 laps. The 84 laps by Jarvis led to further speculation about his future with the Penske H.O. team.

The season finale H.O. U.S. Indy 500 will be held at high noon on Saturday, April 17th, when the 1998-1999 SlotCART champion will be determined. Carburetion night is Thursday, April 15th at the Edge track in New Berlin, WI. Kaehny is the defending pole sitter and race winner.

RACE PREVIEW: THE LEINENKUGEL'S 400

0    WHAT: The 6th-annual Leinenkugel's 400

0     WHERE: Sanibel Speedway     Wauwatosa, WI

0    WHEN: Thursday, Apr. 1st 6:30 p.m.

0    DEFENDING CHAMPION:  Chad Sorce

0  DEFENDING POLESITTER: Phil Cianciola

0    TRACK LAYOUT: Island road course

0  RACE LENGTH: 400 laps

0    RACE RECORDS: Qualifying- 122 laps, Phil Cianciola, 1998

Race- 400 laps/25.46, Chad Sorce, 1998

0  RACE#: 15 of 16

0    NEXT EVENT: The H.0. U.S. Indy 500

Saturday, Apr. 17th The Edge

0    INSTANT REPLAY

A lengthy pit stop could have easily been a killer for Chad Sorce, losing ground to race leader Phil Cianciola at the halfway point. It wasn't. Sorce battled back to take the lead and the win, with his partner Dan Margetta getting by Cianciola as well for second place. Sorce set a race record and by finishing third Cianciola remained the points leader with one event left in the season.

THE LEINENKUGEL'S 400 HISTORY

Year

Race Winner

Pole Winner

1994

PAT JARVIS

PHIL CIANCIOLA

1 995

JIM KAEHNY

JIM KAEHNY

1996

JOHN SHEA

PHIL CIANCIOLA

1997

RICK OSTERBRINK

PHIL CIANCIOLA

1998

CHAD SORCE

PHIL CIANCIOLA

Things to watch for this year...

What a wild mix of previous race winners. No one has ever been able to repeat here. And perennial powerhouses Cianciola, Austin and Kamikawa don't show up on the winner's list either. In other words, anything can happen this Thursday, but if there is a chance at a first-time repeat winner, Kaehny's chances look good.