Fernandez on top of the world in Portland.

Adrian Fernandez claimed his eighth, but perhaps most emotional Champ Car career win on Sunday with a victory in the G.I. Joe's 200 at Portland International Raceway, closing the book on a tough two years marked by personal injuries and collective teething troubles.

Fernandez, who started third for the 100-lap race, passed fellow Champ Car veteran Paul Tracy for the lead on lap 85 and never looked back, setting his fastest lap and the second-fastest lap of the race overall with only five tours remaining around the 1.969-mile road course before the chequered flag fell.

Sunday's win is the first for Fernandez Racing, which was formed in the autumn of 2000 by Fernandez and Tom Anderson, Co-Owner and Managing Director. Fernandez is the only active owner/driver in the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford and becomes first first owner/driver winner since Bobby Rahal at Nazareth in 1992. With the win Fernandez moved into fifth position in the championship standings.

"I am just so proud of the team," said Fernandez. "We put it all together this weekend. The car was really fast after our final pit stop. We made a small adjustment to the tires pressures and that was the key. The Bridgestone tires were fantastic. I managed to push pretty hard and Paul [Tracy] made a mistake coming into the last corner. I wasn't as close as I wanted but I wasn't going to give up - whenever he brakes, I am going to brake later. It was a great feeling to take the chequered flag first today.

"This is the first win for Fernandez Racing and I am very happy. We have been trying to do this for a long time and finally everything came together. This means a lot to me. This is one of the most important wins of my career for sure. We had a great car and great pit stops. I am just very happy. Tecate was a sponsor here so it is great to be on the podium for them and for Quaker State and Telmex. It is tough to win in this series as a driver because it is so competitive, and to do so as an owner/driver really means a lot."

"The emotion is extremely high as everyone would expect," said Anderson, who took time out from his commitments with the Super Aguri Fernandez Racing IRL team to witness Sunday's race. "You can't say enough or give enough credit to Adrian for all that he has been through with a new team. I want to thank Tecate, Quaker State and Telmex for the confidence that they have shown to stay with us for these years. We delivered what we promised at our first meeting back in Mexico City in November of 2000. We talked about winning then and today we finally backed it up. We just have to thank our sponsors for being with us on this deal and we have to thank Bridgestone and the Ford Motor Company for their support. We just can't say enough thanks to everyone."

Fernandez' current CART team manager, Gustavo del Campo was understandably overjoyed at his countryman's success. "It was a beautiful weekend for Fernandez Racing," he beamed. "After two-and-a-half years [since forming the team], this was a great result for everyone - the sponsors, the crew. Everything was perfect today. We had a very good car and we had an excellent driver."