Today’s 50-lap race on the 1.4 – mile modified oval at Homestead Speedway in Homestead, Florida, did not turn out the way rookie Pete Mercier and World Speed Motorsports had envisioned. The track went green today at 4:45 p.m. Eastern, when the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship series, was underway with Round 1 of the 2000 season opener. Mercier, the driver for the #14 World Speed – SpeedWerx/Walker Racing Swift 008.a, was speedy out of the box, starting in the 16th position, after Friday’s qualifying session. With only two laps down, Mercier moved up to the 13th position right before the track went yellow. “I felt really good on the start, the car was great,” said Mercier.
However, after the track went green again luck was not on World Speeds’ side. Mercier was knocked out of the race on lap 26 when he was hit from behind. The hit loosened the car and Mercier hit the wall coming out of Turn 4. “These things happen with racing and unfortunately it had to happen to us during our first race. This weekend there have been a lot of ups and downs, but the guys gave me a great car set-up. I appreciate all of their hard work,” said Mercier.
The second race of the double-header weekend at Miami – Homestead Speedway, will begin at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, Sunday, March 26, after a morning warm-up session at 8:45 a.m. ESPN2 and ESPN International will broadcast Saturday’s Round 1 race on Saturday, April 1, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Sunday’s Round 2 will be televised on ESPN2 on Saturday, April 8, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
Round three of the 12-race CART Toyota Atlantic Championship season takes place at the Toyota Atlantic Championship season takes place at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday, April 15, on the streets of Long Beach.