Preview: Marlboro 500.

Although the 2001 FedEx Championship Series champion has finally been decided, more than $1million of unfinished business remains as the CART campaign prepares to conclude 2001 with this weekend's Marlboro 500 presented by Toyota at California Speedway.

A winner's prize of $1million awaits the driver who claims Sunday's season-ending event, which will bring the curtain down on one of the most competitive campaigns in FedEx Championship Series history. The series has already tied its record of eleven different race winners in a single season and established a new standard with 19 different podium finishers. It is entirely possible that both totals could grow this weekend, given that none of CART's past three winners on the two-mile California Speedway oval has yet claimed a victory this year.

Among those drivers who have reached victory circle is Gil de Ferran of Marlboro Team Penske, who clinched his own $1million payday by wrapping up a second consecutive FedEx Championship Series championship last weekend. de Ferran's fourth-place finish at Australia brought Team Penske a record ninth CART championship, its tenth Champcar title overall, and made de Ferran one of only four drivers ever to earn back-to-back series crowns.

The Brazilian comes to California with fond memories of last year's event, when he established a world closed-course speed record of 241.428mph (30.255secs) while winning he pole, then finished third in the race to clinch his first series championship. de Ferran arrives this year as the hottest driver in the championship, having finished fifth or better in eight of his last nine starts, with victories in England and at Houston. With 191 championship points, he could post only the eighth 200-point season since CART's current scoring system took effect in 1983 with a finish of fifth or better this weekend.

The runner-up spot in this year's championship, and the $500,000 payout that accompanies it, has also been wrapped up by Kenny Brack of Team Rahal. The Swede has been the most successful oval driver in the series this season, with victories at Motegi, Milwaukee, Chicago and the Lausitzring, and runner-up finishes at Nazareth and Rockingham. Of his series-leading 621 laps led, 581 have come on ovals, more than three times the total of his next closest pursuer.

Reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Team Penske) and CART career victory leader Michael Andretti (Team Motorola) are tied for third with 141 points, while Cristiano da Matta (Newman-Haas Racing) stands fifth at 120 points following last Sunday's victory in Australia.

A considerable amount of jockeying remains as drivers finishing from third through tenth in the championship will collect bonus monies of between $300,000 and $100,000 from the season-ending FedEx Championship Series point fund.

da Matta's Newman-Haas team-mate Christian Fittipaldi is the defending Marlboro 500 champion, but will be looking for his first victory of the 2001 season with a repeat performance. Remarkably, the Brazilian is the only regular in the field not to have posted a top five finish this year.

Other past winners at California Speedway, both of whom are looking to get into the victory column for the first time this season, are 1999 champion Adrian Fernandez, now running his own team, and 1998 winner Jimmy Vasser (Patrick Racing). Both have run well on occasion this year, only to be robbed by mechanical problems, incidents with backmarkers or bad luck with yellow flags.

Alex Tagliani is another driver pushing to get onto the list of winners, having finished third last time out in Australia. The Canadian was instrumental in helping Players team-mate Patrick Carpentier open his CART account, and will hope for payback this weekend.

Roberto Moreno, too, could have tasted the champagne in Surfers Paradise, and looked set for his second street course win of the year until gearbox problems intervened. The Brazilian will want to stamp his mark on the Patrick team before the arrival of rookie Townsend Bell in 2002.

Scott Dixon arrives at Fontana having clinched the Rookie of the Year crown, but will want to claim another race victory to overcome recent misfortune and prove that Nazareth was no fluke.

Further down the field, the two Team Green drivers will be looking to end a tumultuous season with at least a podium, although Paul Tracy continues to race under the cloud of probation following his altercation with Castroneves at Laguna Seca. Max Papis will aim to cement a seat somewhere for next year with his third win of the year, while Memo Gidley, Bruno Junqueira and, if rumours are to be believed, Tony Kanaan will all be out to impress Chip Ganassi in the race for the second seat at Team Target for 2002.

At the back, although hopefully not for long, Alex Barron continues his return with the Arciero-Blair team, hoping to avoid the ignominy of being relegated to last place on the grid as happened in Australia. The American joins compatriots Bryan Herta and Casey Mears in hoping to make a good impression in California.

Twelve months ago, Christian Fittipaldi and Newman-Haas Racing stole some of Gil de Ferran's thunder by coming out on top at Fontana, but both came away the big winners when the rain-delayed 2000 Marlboro 500 concluded with Brazilian success.

Fittipaldi took the $1million winner's prize by winning the race, the second victory of his FedEx Championship Series career. He led the final 29 laps, the longest stint on the lead for any driver all day, and finished 0.194secs ahead of runner-up Roberto Moreno, who logged his sixth podium finish of the season and a career-best in a 500-mile event.

de Ferran's third-place finish clinched Marlboro Team Penske's first FedEx Championship Series championship since 1994 and its eighth overall. Like Fittipaldi, de Ferran, who established a world closed-course speed record in qualifying, earned $1million for his championship effort.

de Ferran finished the season with 168 championship points, followed by Adrian Fernandez, then with Patrick Racing, who clinched second place in the championship with 158 points following a fifth-place finish. Moreno's runner-up result was good for a career-best third place result in the title chase, with 147 points.

For the second consecutive year, the season-ending Marlboro 500 will pay tribute to 'The Legends', a group of drivers, active and retired, who have played a major role in shaping the heritage of Champcar racing. Among the names expected to participate in a variety of fan-focused activities throughout the weekend are Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Rick Mears, Bobby Rahal, Emerson
Fittipaldi, Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney, Jim McElreath, Danny Sullivan, Wally Dallenbach and Tom Sneva. Current FedEx Championship Series competitors and champions Michael Andretti, Gil de Ferran and Jimmy Vasser will also participate in the programme.

Marlboro 500 race history
(Four events - race winner/pole winner)

1997 Mark Blundell Mauricio Gugelmin
1998 Jimmy Vasser Scott Pruett
1999 Adrian Fernandez Scott Pruett
2000 Christian Fittipaldi Gil de Ferran