Although the entire event would have to be described as a definite success both in terms of attendance and the television show, the one word that best describes Saturday night's Centennial 250 Champ Car race at the Milwaukee Mile would be "freezing!"

The day started off gorgeous - the sun was shining and there was no chance of rain in the forecast for the entire day, which was a very positive bit of news considering how disappointed the fans were with the rainout of Friday night qualifying. The fans did get their money's worth on Saturday, though, as they were treated to three separate shows between the Barber-Dodge, Toyota Atlantic and Champ Car races.

On Saturday, I was one of the few people in Milwaukee who was wearing just a t-shirt throughout most of the day, but the 50-degree weather at the track has been warm compared to what we have had in Ohio for the past month! By the time the sun went down prior to the race, however, even I had to put on a sweatshirt. I sat in the Players/Forsythe pits for most of the race, along with some of Paul Tracy's relatives including his mother Vivian. The fact that you could see your breath gives you an idea of just how cold it actually was.

Yet for the 30,000-plus fans who came and braved these horribly cold conditions for two hours on Saturday night, the race was a very positive
showing for both Champ Car and the city of Milwaukee. Although watching the race on a 10-inch screen in the pit box of Players/Forsythe may not have provided the best television experience, it looked as though the race was enjoyable for the television viewers as well as the fans at the track.

The amount of yellows during the race was a shame - in all, 78 laps were wasted for the fans with the cars simply driving around at 80 mph under caution. It was also a shame that a 10-lap hunt for a tire off of Paul Tracy's car may have ruined the ending of the race, because Oriol Servia's car got really quick at the end of his runs. At the time of Tracy's incident, pit stops had just been completed and there were 36 laps
remaining, which would have left a 36-lap shootout between Michel Jourdain and Servia. Oh well - that's racing!

We must encourage any fan who gave any thought to coming out to Milwaukee this year to be there next year. Not only is Milwaukee a fan friendly track, but this race also provides the only opportunity of the entire season to see the Champ Cars run on a short oval.

Although it was a great event, I personally think that the Champ Cars are too fast for Milwaukee's short one mile distance. The idea of going to a high downforce package this year was to allow the cars to begin drafting thevehicle in front at the exit of the turn for a pass down the straight.

However, what happened was that the cars were not slow enough in the turns and could not create a large enough speed differential between car A and car B. Therefore, by the time car B felt the effect of the draft, they already had to turn left again, which disrupted the air and cancelled the draft effect.

In my mind, the best way to make the current Champ Cars put on a "show" for the fans is to make the cars brake. There needs to be a zone during which a driver must decide to brake early and carry more speed at the exit, or brake late and go further into the turn. Right now, the Champ Cars are too equally matched and the speeds are too similar to allow effective passing on a one-mile oval.

Comparisons of driving techniques for Champ Cars to NASCAR are not effective, either, because they are two totally different beasts. A NASCAR
driver has the ability to bump and rub a car in front of him in order to make the pass on a short oval. Champ Cars do not have that luxury. However, as we have seen at Fontana and other longer tracks were the draft can be used much more effectively, when the Champ Cars race on large ovals they put on a great show.