Indy champ de Ferran is 'Mr. Consistency'

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F1: Canadian GP dropped from 2004 schedule
LONDON (AP) - The Canadian Grand Prix will not be on 2004 Formula One schedule, series head Bernie Ecclestone confirmed Thursday. Race organizers last week said Ecclestone told them in a letter the race was to be dropped because of a ban on tobacco advertising in Canada that goes into effect in October.

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IRL: Castroneves returns to victory lane
MADISON, Ill. (AP) - Helio Castroneves did it the old-fashioned way Sunday: He drove without any cockpit electronics to win the Emerson Indy 250 and end his 20-race winless streak. Castroneves, who came within a few feet of at least two other wins since taking the checkered flag at the 2002 Indianapolis 500, got a big break this time when dominating Scott Dixon dropped out with a gearbox problem while leading with 43 of 200 laps remaining at Gateway International Raceway.

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CART driver Junqueira lets car do the talking
LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) - Bruno Junqueira doesn't mind other CART drivers getting the headlines - as long as he keeps scoring points. Junqueira, driving for Newman-Haas Racing, is in second place in the CART driver standings despite winning only once this season.

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Report of CART sale appears premature
(AP) - It appears it will be business as usual for Championship Auto Racing Teams for at least a while longer. Teams were making plans for the next race, Aug. 24 in Montreal, and the CART offices in Indianapolis were quiet Tuesday despite a published report of an imminent buyout of the beleaguered Champ Car series.

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F1: Canada joins Quebec in effort to save Canadian Grand Prix
OTTAWA (AP) - The federal government will join a Quebec-led effort to save the Canadian Grand Prix, although Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Tuesday that Canada won't change a law banning tobacco advertising. Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Chretien said a deputy minister for regional development would be appointed to a committee to lobby Formula One teams and officials to keep the lucrative race in Montreal.

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CART: Tracy dominates at Mid-Ohio
LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) - Paul Tracy decisively ended his frustration at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Tracy dominated Sunday's Champ Car Grand Prix, losing the lead only on pit stops in winning his career-best sixth race of the year and first at Mid-Ohio, where he had finished second four times in 10 previous CART appearances.

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IRL NOTES: Rice struggled despite new engine
MADISON, Ill. (AP) - New engine or not, Sunday wasn't a good day for Buddy Rice. Rice and his Red Bull Cheever Racing team were the latest team to give Chevrolet's new engine a race trial. Two weeks earlier, the Gen IV Chevrolet Indy V8 helped Sam Hornish Jr. to a second-place finish at Michigan.

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IRL: Unser crewman injured in pit accident
MADISON, Ill. (AP) - A crewman for Al Unser Jr. was injured in a pit accident during the IRL's Emerson Indy 250 at Gateway International Raceway on Sunday. Anton Julian, Unser's left rear tire changer, was transported by helicopter to a hospital in St. Louis, where his condition was upgraded from serious to fair after several tests were completed. He was expected to be kept overnight for observation.

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CART: Valiante claims Mid-Ohio win
LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) - Michael Valiante took advantage of a bump with pole-sitter A.J. Allmendinger on the first green-flag lap to pick up his second CART Toyota Atlantic Championship victory of the season Sunday. The win at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was his fifth career triumph.

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CART: Tracy takes Mid-Ohio pole; rookie second
LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) - Pole winner Paul Tracy will have some unexpected company on the front row for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio. Rookie Ryan Hunter-Reay was the second-fastest qualifier Saturday, crossing the finish line on his fast lap just before the session ended two minutes early when Mario Dominguez went off the track.

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Castroneves leads record-breaking Gateway qualifying
MADISON, Ill. (AP) - Helio Castroneves led a record-breaking qualifying session on Saturday at Gateway International Raceway, grabbing the pole for the Emerson Indy 250. The Brazilian driver knocked former Indy Racing League champion Kenny Brack off the top qualifying spot with a lap of 175.965 mph on the 1.25-mile oval.

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Montoya poised to pass Schumacher in race for world title
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Juan Pablo Montoya is coming up fast in Michael Schumacher's rearview mirror. Just one month ago, the Formula One driver from Colombia was 17 points and in fourth place behind Schumacher in the drivers' standings after taking second in the French Grand Prix.

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Tracy takes provisional pole
LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) - Paul Tracy turned a fast early lap Friday to win the provisional pole CART Champ Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio and move within two points of series leader Bruno Junqueira. Regardless of what happens in qualifying Saturday, Tracy, who picked up a point in the standings, will start on the front row of Sunday's race. He picked up a point in the standings

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Ecclestone denies Montreal race is off
LONDON (AP) - Formula One head Bernie Ecclestone denied Friday that the Canadian Grand Prix was dropped from the 2004 calendar. Race organizer Normand Legault said Thursday he received a letter from Ecclestone's London-based management company saying the race would not be on next year's schedule because of tough anti-tobacco legislation in Canada.

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Montreal loses Formula One race
MONTREAL (AP) - The Canadian Grand Prix was dropped from the 2004 Formula One calendar Thursday because of anti-tobacco legislation. The decision leaves only one Formula One race in North America - the U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis.

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CART: Tracy eyes first Mid-Ohio victory
LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) - Paul Tracy has driven well at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for years. The only thing he hasn't done is win a race there. Tracy has finished second in four of his 10 CART races at the track. Now he hopes to reach the winner's platform at Sunday's Champ Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio.

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F1: Early wreck helps Montoya win German Grand Prix
HOCKENHEIM, Germany (AP) - Juan Pablo Montoya sped from a crash on a scorching day and won the German Grand Prix, which was all but settled in the opening seconds. Three top contenders - Kimi Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello - were gone before the first lap was completed Sunday, and season leader and five-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher finished seventh.

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Milwaukee adds IRL event for 2004
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) - The Indy Racing League added a race to next year's calendar on Wednesday - a 250-mile IndyCar series race at the Milwaukee Mile on July 25. CART's Champ Car World Series night race also is scheduled at the track for June 5.

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Top IRL drivers cautiously optimistic about Kentucky track surface
SPARTA, Ky. (AP) - Indy Racing League drivers testing their cars at Kentucky Speedway gave the track a thumbs-up Monday, six weeks after many of them complained about rough patches. Gil de Ferran, the 2003 Indianapolis 500 champion, and Kenny Brack said fixes made on the track have improved it.

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CART: Junqueira earns another pole at Road America
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (AP) - Bruno Junqueira earned his second straight pole at Road America on Saturday as he looks for his first race victory of the season. Junqueira won the second qualifying round ahead of Sunday's Mario Andretti Grand Prix with a lap time of 1 minute, 43:703 seconds. His Newman/Haas Racing teammate Sebastien Bourdais, a rookie, qualified second in 1:44.242.

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F1: Montoya takes pole position in Germany
HOCKENHEIM, Germany (AP) - Juan Pablo Montoya gained his first pole position of the season Saturday, leading a 1-2 finish for Williams-BMW in qualifying for the German Grand Prix. With track temperatures reaching 117 degrees, Montoya timed 1 minute, 15.167 seconds on the 2.84-mile Hockenheimring circuit, ahead of teammate Ralf Schumacher.

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F1: Ralf Schumacher sets pace in German GP pre-qualifying
HOCKENHEIM, Germany (AP) - Ralf Schumacher didn't go all out yet still led Williams-BMW into the top two spots Friday in pre-qualifying at the German Grand Prix. Brother Michael Schumacher, seeking an unprecedented sixth Formula One championship, was only ninth-fastest in a Ferrari.

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NOTES: Andretti says different tracks vital to CART's survival
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (AP) - The CART series must promote and nurture different types of race tracks it wants to survive, board member Mario Andretti said Friday. "I feel that CART can only stand out alone in a strong way if they stay and diversify the series," he said at Road America, site of Sunday's Mario Andretti Grand Prix.

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CART: Andretti's love for Elkhart Lake saves race
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Mario Andretti has been the hero at the Road America Grand Prix in Elkhart Lake before. But his three wins pale in comparison to what Andretti did this spring for the four-mile road race less than 60 miles north of Milwaukee - he kept it alive.

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