GRAND PRIX NOTEBOOK: FELLOWS CATCHES UP, WINS.

Byline: Daily News

LONG BEACH - Ron Fellows spent the last two-thirds of Sundays Speed World Challenge GT Championship at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach chasing Mike McCann.

Fellows finally caught, and passed, McCann on Turn 9 of the final lap to win RoundThree of the series in thrilling fashion.

"It was a last-ditch effort," said Fellows, 46, of Canada, who drove a Cadillac CTS-V.

McCann ended up finishing third, as he was also passed by pole-sitter Tommy Archer, who took second.

"I tried to go as fast as I could, but it wasn't fast enough," McCann said. "I can't think of being passed by two better guys. I learned. They took me to school."

Fellows had earlier tried to pass McCann by going to the inside, even slightly bumping him, but it didnt work. Once Fellows executed the pass on Turn 9 that earned him the victory, Archer then passed McCann on the final hairpin turn.

"My car was working pretty well through there," Fellows said. "There was a lot of rubber down. It was slick earlier because somebody had dumped something a few laps earlier."

Fellows said once he saw there were no yellow flags, he went for broke.

"It just didn seem like there was any option but to give it a try," Fellows said. "And it worked."

McCann said once Fellows passed him, he reached for the wrong gear, giving Archer his opportunity to take second place, which he did.

McCann was coming off his first SWC victory, having won the Mobil I March 17 in Sebring, Fla., in the season opener. But he did not fare well in Round Two at the Honda Grand Prix of St.Petersburg, Fla. That said, being overtaken on the final lap Sunday hurt a little less knowing he nevertheless took over the points lead.

- Robert Morales

--Wirth the wait: Most race aficionados consider Andreas Wirth the best thing that the Champ Car Atlantic Championship has to offer - other than maybe the $2million bonus going to the series winner. He was second in points on the series last year, but suffered fractured vertebrae with tworaces to go and was sidelined for three months.

In his first Atlantic race since the injury, Wirth had the pole position and showed that the aficionados just might be right about him. The 21- year-old German led the entire race Sunday and held off rookie Raphael Matos to win the opening race of the 12-event series.

Last year, Wirth had one victory, taking the Denver race. But in the race after that, he endured his injury at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Sunday, he was giddy to bounce back and be on top.

"It's just awesome," Wirth said. "I can't tell you how good I feel. At the end, I didn't want to push it really hard because I didn't want to hit a wall and I trusted my car enough to bring it home."

The Atlantic series is a steppingstone to Champ Car, so the drivers are less experienced and prone to more mistakes.

- Joe Stevens