BRAZILIAN SURVIVORS FITTIPALDI WINS RACE, DE FERRAN THE SERIES.

Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer

FONTANA - Christian Fittipaldi and Gil de Ferran are now ready for the talk-show circuit. Both survived the smoke-filled island Monday known as California Speedway to win $1 million each.

Fittipaldi weaved his way through an engine-blowing, dicing second day of racing to win the CART Marlboro 500 and his $1 million. De Ferran - holding back in the pack despite a superior car - won his first driver's title for the other $1 million.

With a sparse crowd of about 20,000 in attendance on a cloudy, but rain- free day, only six cars finished the race that ran 33 laps on Sunday before rain washed out the day.

It was CART's first midrace postponement in 14 years. Those in attendance witnessed an exciting back-and-forth race in which cars sometimes ran four wide and there were 59 lead changes, the most since the 1998 U.S. 500 at Michigan Speedway.

``The whole day, I was just biding my time,'' said de Ferran, who was close to bursting into tears after the race. ``It felt difficult for me because we could get ahead. But we decided to stay back and try to stay out of trouble.''

Oh, did both Fittipaldi and de Ferran find that difficult to do.

Of the 20 cars that retired in the race, 17 were because of blown engines, and all five accidents could be contributed to those mishaps.

Tony Kanaan took the lead on lap 88 and immediately left a trail of smoke in which no driver could see. Michael Andretti tried to go high and ran right into Oriol Servia.

``I was seeing Michael nose to nose,'' de Ferran said. ``I turned down and the car obeyed.''

In similar smoke-filled styles, Max Papis, Michel Jourdain Jr. and Helio Castroneves each blew engines while in the lead.

Perhaps it was appropriate that the race finished on a yellow flag when Alex Tagliani blew an engine with two laps to go. Castroneves and Tagliani both hit the Turn 1 wall when their engines let loose. Both were taken to Loma Linda Medical Center for observation, Castroneves with a vertebrae injury and ankle pain and Tagliani complaining of mid-back and abdominal pain.

``I just wanted to stay conservative,'' said Fittipaldi, who won his first 500-mile race and his second CART race.

Fittipaldi is the 11th different winner this year, a series record. He was well ahead of second-place finisher Roberto Moreno when the final yellow flag flew.

``I knew I was a lot quicker and could get right back up front,'' Fittipaldi said of Moreno.

De Ferran, who set a track qualifying record Saturday, said the race was difficult because the speeds were too slow.

``Running very slow was difficult,'' he said. ``I thought we were going really slow. But I did not want anything to happen to me.''

De Ferran went into the series' final race with a six-point lead over Adrian Fernandez, who finished fifth and 19-point lead over Kenny Brack, who had turbocharger problems on lap 167 and finished 13th.

Brack needed to lead the most laps in the race and hope de Ferran dropped out. He just needed to finish higher than Fernandez.

``Fernandez had a difficult time because his car wasn't right,'' de Ferran said.

``It was ugly,'' Fernandez said of his car, which had handling problems.

The title completed a satisfying first season for de Ferran and his Roger Penske team. It took three years for the team to win its 100th race - which de Ferran did at Nazareth, Pa., in May - and six years for the team to win its eighth series title.

``I felt when I joined Roger, it would hopefully go well. So, I feel very, very satisfying.''

With six cars remaining and 20 laps to go, Penske said that he figured he had his championship, something he could not have envisioned just last year.

``We were hitting off the first tee with a sand iron,'' he said of his last three years in the series. ``We knew we had to make wholesale changes. I knew if we were given the right tools, we would be right back there.''

So when the final yellow flag flew with two laps to go, Penske congratulated de Ferran on the radio.

``I got real silent,'' de Ferran said. ``Then I said, 'We're not across the (checkered) flag yet.' ''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) Christian Fittipaldi celebrates in victory lane after winning the Marlboro 500 at California Speedway on Monday.

Associated Press

(2 -- color) Gil de Ferran's performance was good enough to wrap up the CART series championship Monday.

Associated Press

(3 -- color) Christian Fittipaldi, foreground, beats the field to the finish line.

Michael Caulfield/Associated Press