No final win for Team KOOL Green.

Team KOOL Green's final CART race ended in disappointment as Dario Franchitti lost out on a potential victory and the runner-up spot in the points chase and Paul Tracy spun at the very first turn then later retired with mechanical problems.

Team KOOL Green's five year partnership came to an end on Sunday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City with Dario Franchitti coming home fifth in the inaugural Gran Premio Telmex/Gigante and Paul Tracy retiring with 12 laps to go.

In his last race before transferring to the Indy Racing League Franchitti claimed fourth place in the 2002 CART FedEx Championship Series final standings; his third top-five points finish in his five years with TKG.

Things looked promising for Franchitti to pick up his fourth win of the year, after excellent pit strategy put him in first place following the second round of pit stops on lap 40 of the 73-lap event. He stayed at the head of the field for 12 laps and built up a lead of over six seconds, until Michael Andretti's hard turn 13 crash brought out a full-course caution and bunched the field up for the final round of stops on lap 53.

Despite entering pit road at the head of the queue, a slight mistake entering his pit stall dropped Dario to fifth and cost him his share of what have been a $500,000 prize had they finished second in the Championship. During Franchitti's tenure in the lead he actually held second place in the standings on a tie-breaker with Junqueira due to his greater number of outright victories.

"We had a six-second lead before the yellow, but I overshot the pits on my last stop," said Franchitti. "I didn't know by how much, but it was enough to slow the stop down. I thought we might get passed by Christian (Fittipaldi) but when I saw the other guys going by I thought how the heck did they get past me. I guess it was a case of Team KOOL Green being quick on the track today but not as quick in the pits.

"It's been a weekend of mixed emotions, for sure, and I am going to miss a lot of things about CART. I think Christian summed it up best when he came up to me and said, 'It's been a pleasure racing against you.' I feel the same way about every guy out there."

"When everybody comes in the pits together, if the stop goes perfect you're OK," added Team KOOL Green's Team Manager Kyle Moyer. "If it doesn't, you have a problem because everybody's within a half-second of each other coming into the pits. We didn't need the yellow. I think maybe it's just our luck. Last race Michael (Andretti) didn't need it, this week we didn't need it, that's just the way it goes with our luck this year.

"It looked like our strategy was going to work. We took a full load of fuel on the first stop and then we were only going to have to change tires on the rest. That's what put us up front but it just wasn't meant for us to stay there."

Franchitti's TKG teammate Paul Tracy didn't fare as well. Tracy fell one lap down after a first-turn incident on the start when he punted Jimmy Vasser off the track, spun and damaged his nosecone. With the race only interrupted by a single caution period once the first turn debris was cleared, Tracy had no opportunity to make up his lost lap despite setting the best laps of the day right until he retired on lap 62 with an engine problem. The Canadian driver ends his five year stay at TKG a lowly 11th in the final standings.

"I don't know what went wrong with the car but it was something in the rear suspension," said Tracy, who has been linked with Team Player's next year. "The KOOL car was bouncing up and down off the ground. I kept catching (Michel) Jourdain but the car kept bouncing. It's a tough way to end the season and my run with Team KOOL Green.

"It was a bad way to start the race. I'm sorry for Jimmy (Vasser). I locked my brakes and that was it. I'm a little sad today. My crew really works hard for me and I'm going to miss that. "

"There have been a lot of dramas and a lot of frustrations for Team KOOL Green this weekend," said TKG race-consultant John Anderson. "Paul was running some amazing laps out there, every lap was a bloody fast one. After losing a lap early you just hope to catch the yellows right. Then something went wrong with the back of the car and that was all she wrote."

Kenny Brack picked up his first winner's trophy of the year, followed by 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta and Bruno Junqueira. TKG technical partner Michael Andretti's day came to an abrupt end when he made contact with the wall on lap 51, and he ends the year ninth in the championship.

Today's race marked the end of an era, as it signalled the last event for Team KOOL Green, a mainstay on the CART circuit since being formed by Barry Green in 1997. Franchitti and Tracy have combined for 16 wins, including five 1-2 finishes, and their five years together as teammates is one of the longest and most successful driver pairings in CART history.