Blundell's View: Milwaukee CART.

The weekend after the Indianapolis 500 always used to mean a trip to Milwaukee and its famous Mile and, even though the 500 is no longer a part of the CART calendar, at least one part of the tradition still survives.

The heart of the Champcar season means a lot of back-to-back races, and having the postponed Nazareth round squeezed into the schedule on one of our weekends off only serves to keep us all on our toes. From Brazil and Japan to Pennsylvania and, now, Wisconsin this weekend, things have been quite hectic in recent times but, in motorsport, that is the nature of the beast.

Unfortunately for me, the accident I endured at Nazareth last Saturday has left me with another race to complete before I even touch down at Milwaukee. Although my injuries were thankfully slight, I am still various shades of blue in places, and taking a lot of headache tablets. My muscles still feel like bricks, but I am well on the road to recovery, and will be lining up at the Mile this weekend.

We were sitting pretty at Nazareth, because I was going to make the remaining distance on the fuel I had left. Many of the cars in front of me still had to pit for fuel, so I was looking good to be in the top eight at the finish, until I was punted by Castroneves.

I am upset about the accident because it was hard hit, and to try a move at a turn like that, on a track like that, at that speed, was crazy. Helio should know better. His remarks on TV basically accused me of shutting the door on him but, from my perspective, there was no door. He had no business being there and he knows it.

Despite Helio's part in ending my race, it was good to see the Penske team back on top. They have been one of the stalwarts of the series, but seem to have been perched on 99 wins for a very long time. Getting to that elusive century will do a lot for the team's morale. They did a great job at Nazareth - and they should because its their home track - but there is a lot to do yet if they are to dominate a championship, which is what they would like to do. It will be interesting now to see if they bounce back to the front and stay there.

As usual, the CART series is wide open, with almost half the field looking as though it could win a race. We have yet to have a double winner in 2000 which, by Formula One standards, would be inconceivable. Max Papis and Gil de Ferran could be considered slightly unexpected winners, with Paul Tracy, Michael Andretti and my old mate Adrian Fernandez less so, and it is interesting to try and pick the next name to head the result sheet.

Obviously, it would be nice if Mark Blundell were suddenly to start appearing in top spot but, failing that, my tips to join the winners' circle this year would be Christian Fittipaldi or Kenny Brack. Both have looked good at every race, and have come close to good results, so they must be knocking on the door.

Roberto Moreno is another man who could do the job. Again, his performances have shown him to be capable of running at the front, but he will have to be in the right place at the right time to get the win. He has shown that he can do this to pick up podiums and top five finishes, but for him to have to drive to the front and win is another matter. I am not sure whether this will happen, but I would be interested to see it if the opportunity turned up

Surprisingly, neither Juan Montoya nor Jimmy Vasser have stood on the top step this year, although the Ganassi crew has looked as strong as ever. They had the most hectic time of all last weekend, taking in the Indy 500 as well as Nazareth, and it will be interesting to see what state of mind Indy has left them in.

It is my guess that Montoya will be floating on air after the fantastic job he did at Indy. Well done to him and the team for getting one up for the CART series. They came and they conquered - at least that's how it looks from this side of the fence!

Jimmy will probably be little down, though, as he was so close to the win, but just missed out because of tactics which were not as sharp for him as they were for Juan.

On the whole, Indy was not that bad a race to watch, but you almost knew the result from around thirty laps or so. This was largely down to there being a great driver, and a team on top of its game, and that counts for a lot!

Another packed motorsport weekend sees our race in Milwaukee coincide with the grand prix from Monaco. I used to enjoy racing in the Principality in my F1 days, but given the choice today, I'd have to say I'd rather be racing on the Mile. F1 is a done deal for me and, besides, I can't afford the shopping in Monaco!

I hope I will be in reasonable shape for this weekend's event, but it will be tough after only a few days rest. I'm happy that my team-mate Mo Gugelmin got us a result last time out, and it shows what we have all been saying about getting back to the front. We need to do it now with consistency, and I need to be able to get a car that suits my style. Once my new engineers hit the sweet spot, I am sure we will be off and gone

In light of the ongoing struggle to fine-tune the Motorola PacWest Reynard Mercedes - and the fact that my bruises are sure to make things uncomfortable at Milwaukee - I will refrain from tipping myself for top spot.

Instead, Montoya will probably still be on a high after Indy and, when that happens, the momentum forms. He must be a good bet for a win this weekend. Behind him, it's anybody's guess as always but, following on from my earlier tips, let's see if Michael, Kenny, Christian, Jimmy and Adrian don't complete the top six.