FITTIPALDI FACES SIMILAR SCENARIO DRIVER COULD TAKE UNLIKELY WIN AGAIN.

Byline: Tim Haddock Staff Writer

FONTANA - Christian Fittipaldi may have been the least likely driver to win the CART FedEx Series Marlboro 500 at California Speedway last year.

He wasn't among the six drivers contending for the championship in the season finale last year at the Fontana superspeedway. And he wasn't one of the strongest drivers during the season, finishing 12th in points.

But that was all but forgotten after he won the $1 million first-place prize.

This year, Fittipaldi finds himself in a similar situation. He has not produced successful finishes and did not contend for the championship, sitting 14th in points.

But because of last year's success at California Speedway, and the success of his Newman-Haas teammate, Cristiano da Matta, Fittipaldi has to be considered a favorite for this year's Marlboro 500. And if he can defend his title Sunday, Fittipaldi can hang his racing helmet on another $1 million payday.

Fittipaldi said the $1 million he won in the Marlboro 500 last year made up for what some could call a disappointing year. This year has been much the same. Mechanical failures and collisions have taken Fittipaldi out of races all season long.

To make matters even more frustrating, his teammate da Matta has scored two wins, in Monterrey, Mexico, and last month in Australia, and sits fifth in points.

But Fittipaldi wouldn't switch places with his teammate if he could defend his title at Fontana. He might not even trade places with two-time series champion Gil de Ferran.

``A million dollars makes up for any situation,'' Fittipaldi said.

Unfortunately for the Brazilian, history is not on his side. Since 1997, no driver has repeated as Marlboro 500 champion. It's safe to say no driver has even come close.

The only driver to finish in the top five all four years has been Adrian Fernandez of Mexico, who won the 500-mile race in 1999. He became his own owner, as well as owning Shinji Nakano's team, after the 2000 season. After his first day of testing at California Speedway, Fernandez said he likes his chances of continuing his streak of good finishes.

``Both of our cars ran well this afternoon but it is hard to know where everybody is because of the draft,'' said Fernandez, who was 10th fastest in Friday's practice session. ``The race is going to be so close because everyone is towing each other and everyone seems pretty comfortable in the draft. For me, the main thing is to make it to the end and, if we can do that, I think we are going to be in good shape.''

Mark Blundell of England won the race in 1997, its inaugural year. Jimmy Vasser followed in 1998 after finishing second in 1997. He recorded a fifth-place finish in 1999, but was one of the many drivers who fell out of contention last year. He is the only other driver who has had any sort of consistent finishes at California Speedway.

But history is not what makes a successful driver, Fittipaldi said. He points to how his team performed at Michigan International Speedway earlier this year as an example of how strong his team can be on ovals. Even though he finished 18th and was taken out in a collision with about 50 laps to go, Fittipaldi said his team was competitive.

``What carries over,'' he said, ``is knowing you have a very strong car for those kind of tracks.'' It was apparent last year that he had the strongest car in a race that left only five cars on the lead lap.

It is also apparent that his teammate has had a strong car at times this season.

If only Fittipaldi can find the right combination, he could be the first repeat winner in a CART event at California Speedway. But history would dictate otherwise.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Christian Fittipaldi of Brazil is currently in 14th place in the CART standings.

Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press

(2 -- color) Christian Fittipaldi is the defending Marlboro 500 champion. The winner of Sunday's race in Fontana will again receive $1 million.

Alan Diaz/Associated Press