View source for 1999 Michigan 500

{{American Championshp Car race report infobox|
Country       = United States|
Race          = Michigan 500|
Image         = Michigan International Speedway track map.png|
Caption       = Michigan International Speedway|
Date          = July 25|
Year          = 1999|
Official name = [[Michigan 500|1999 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota]]|
Race_No       = 12|
Season_No     = 20|
Series        = CART|
Location      = [[Michigan International Speedway]], [[Brooklyn, Michigan]], United States|
Course        = Permanent racing facility|
Course_mi     = 2.000|
Course_km     = 3.219|
Distance_laps = 250|
Distance_mi   = 500.000|
Distance_km   = 804.672|
Weather       = Dry|
Pole_Driver   = [[Jimmy Vasser]]|
Pole_Team     = [[Chip Ganassi Racing]]|
Pole_Time     = 31.358 (229.6 mph)|
Pole_Country  = USA|
Fast_Driver   = [[Jimmy Vasser]]|
Fast_Team     = [[Chip Ganassi Racing]]|
Fast_Time     = 31.778|
Fast_Lap      = 236|
Fast_Country  = USA|
First_Driver  = [[Tony Kanaan]]|
First_Team    = [[Forsythe Racing]]|
First_Country = Brazil|
Second_Driver = [[Juan Pablo Montoya]]|
Second_Team   = [[Chip Ganassi Racing]]|
Second_Country= Colombia|
Third_Driver  = [[Paul Tracy]]|
Third_Team    = [[Andretti Green Racing|Team KOOL Green]]|
Third_Country = Canada|
}}

The '''1999 Michigan 500''' was the twelfth round of the [[1999 CART season|1999 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season]], held on July 25, 1999 at the [[Michigan International Speedway]] in [[Brooklyn, Michigan]]. For sponsorship reasons, and in light of the continuing split in [[Championship Car]] racing, the race was branded as the '''1999 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota'''.

== Report ==

=== Race ===
The qualifying saw [[Jimmy Vasser]] take the pole with [[Adrián Fernández]] alongside, but at the second attempt to start (the first was called off due to field alignment issues), it was the second-row starters [[Juan Pablo Montoya]] and [[Michael Andretti]] who raced away into the first two spots. In the early stages, the duo exchanged the lead many times (most unofficial, though) before Andretti was able to build a lead. He led until the second round of pit stops when a caution due to [[Gil de Ferran]]'s crash bunched the field up, allowing second-placed Montoya to close and pass him on the restart. The duo again battled for the lead, but then [[Max Papis]] surged bast both of them and began to pull away. Papis led comfortably until a crash for [[P. J. Jones]] erased a nine-second lead and allowed Andretti to jump him in the pit stops. The restart saw Papis battle with Andretti and [[Dario Franchitti]] for a few laps before breaking away again, only for another caution caused by [[Scott Pruett]]'s crash to again bring the field closer to him. Once again Papis was able to pull away from his pursuers when the race went green, as an epic battle for second commenced between the [[Andretti Green Racing|Team Green]] duo of Franchitti and [[Paul Tracy]], and the [[Newman-Haas Racing|Newman-Haas]] duo of Andretti and [[Christian Fittipaldi]], which was later joined by Montoya and [[Tony Kanaan]] as well. After the final round of pit stops, Papis continued to lead, though Kanaan, on an alternate strategy was able to run 5-7 laps longer than other frontrunners and thus had a shorter stop and was up to second, only three seconds behind Papis, and well ahead of a battle between Andretti, Franchitti, and Tracy for third. Kanaan initially closed up on Papis, but Papis was able to pull away again, and, behind them, the [[Chip Ganassi Racing|Ganassi]] drivers, Montoya and Jimmy Vasser started to set a searing pace. Both passed Andretti, Franchitti, and Tracy and set off after Kanaan, lapping much quicker than anyone else. However, Vasser had to pit for more fuel after a problem with the fuel rig, and this also made Montoya's task harder as he now had to chase Kanaan on his own without his teammate's help. Papis continued to lead and was well set to take his first career win only for his car to run out of fuel midway through the last lap. Kanaan went by but Montoya was right with him and attempted to pass him at the line. Kanaan however, held on to beat Montoya by 0.032 seconds, with Tracy taking the final step of the podium after passing Andretti at the line.

== Classification ==

=== Race ===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Team !! Laps !! Time/Retired !! Grid !! Points
|-
! 1
| 44
| {{flagicon|BRA}} '''[[Tony Kanaan]]'''
| '''[[Forsythe Championship Racing|Forsythe Racing]]'''
| 250
| 2:41:12.632
| 11
| '''20'''
|-
! 2
| 4
| {{flagicon|COL}} '''[[Juan Pablo Montoya]]'''
| '''[[Chip Ganassi Racing]]'''
| 250
| +0.032
| 3
| '''16'''
|-
! 3
| 26
| {{flagicon|CAN}} '''[[Paul Tracy]]'''
| '''[[Andretti Green Racing|Team Green]]'''
| 250
| +8.453
| 8
| '''14'''
|-
! 4
| 6
| {{flagicon|USA}} '''[[Michael Andretti]]'''
| '''[[Newman-Haas Racing]]'''
| 250
| +8.506
| 4
| '''12'''
|-
! 5
| 27
| {{flagicon|GBR}} '''[[Dario Franchitti]]'''
| '''[[Andretti Green Racing|Team Green]]'''
| 250
| +9.137
| 9
| '''10'''
|-
! 6
| 40
| {{flagicon|MEX}} '''[[Adrián Fernández]]'''
| '''[[Patrick Racing]]'''
| 250
| +9.521
| 2
| '''8'''
|-
! 7
| 7
| {{flagicon|ITA}} '''[[Max Papis]]'''
| '''[[Team Rahal]]'''
| 250
| +10.343
| 6
| '''6+1'''
|-
! 8
| 11
| {{flagicon|BRA}} '''[[Christian Fittipaldi]]'''
| '''[[Newman-Haas Racing]]'''
| 250
| +15.410
| 16
| '''5'''
|-
! 9
| 12
| {{flagicon|USA}} '''[[Jimmy Vasser]]'''
| '''[[Chip Ganassi Racing]]'''
| 249
| +1 Lap
| 1
| '''4+1'''
|-
! 10
| 33
| {{flagicon|CAN}} '''[[Patrick Carpentier]]'''
| '''[[Forsythe Championship Racing|Forsythe Racing]]'''
| 248
| +2 Laps
| 12
| '''3'''
|-
! 11
| 34
| {{flagicon|USA}} '''[[Dennis Vitolo]]'''
| '''[[Dale Coyne Racing|Payton/Coyne Racing]]'''
| 232
| +18 Laps
| 23
| '''2'''
|-
! 12
| 10
| {{flagicon|USA}} '''[[Richie Hearn]]'''
| '''[[Della Penna Motorsports]]'''
| 207
| Electrical
| 20
| '''1'''
|-
! 13
| 2
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Al Unser Jr.]]
| [[Team Penske]]
| 206
| Engine
| 13
| 
|-
! 14
| 24
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Scott Pruett]]
| [[Arciero-Wells Racing]]
| 183
| Contact
| 5
| 
|-
! 15
| 36
| {{flagicon|BRA}} [[Gualter Salles]]
| [[All American Racers|All American Racing]]
| 146
| Engine
| 24
| 
|-
! 16
| 20
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[P. J. Jones]]
| [[Patrick Racing]]
| 132
| Contact
| 22
| 
|-
! 17
| 25
| {{flagicon|BRA}} [[Cristiano da Matta]]
| [[Arciero-Wells Racing]]
| 126
| Electrical
| 10
| 
|-
! 18
| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Alex Barron (racing driver)|Alex Barron]]
| [[Team Penske]]
| 120
| Engine
| 18
| 
|-
! 19
| 18
| {{flagicon|BRA}} [[Roberto Moreno]]
| [[PacWest Racing]]
| 113
| Handling
| 13
| 
|-
! 20
| 8
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Bryan Herta]]
| [[Team Rahal]]
| 92
| Suspension
| 7
| 
|-
! 21
| 19
| {{flagicon|MEX}} [[Michel Jourdain Jr.]]
| [[Dale Coyne Racing|Payton/Coyne Racing]]
| 80
| Driveshaft
| 26
| 
|-
! 22
| 17
| {{flagicon|BRA}} [[Maurício Gugelmin]]
| [[PacWest Racing]]
| 64
| Radiator
| 14
| 
|-
! 23
| 99
| {{flagicon|CAN}} [[Greg Moore (racing driver)|Greg Moore]]
| [[Forsythe Championship Racing|Forsythe Racing]]
| 63
| Transmission
| 21
| 
|-
! 24
| 5
| {{flagicon|BRA}} [[Gil de Ferran]]
| [[Walker Racing]]
| 59
| Contact
| 15
| 
|-
! 25
| 9
| {{flagicon|BRA}} [[Hélio Castroneves|Hélio Castro-Neves]]
| [[Hogan Racing]]
| 47
| Electrical
| 19
| 
|-
! 26
| 22
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Robby Gordon]]
| [[Robby Gordon Motorsports|Team Gordon]]
| 33
| Handling
| 25
| 
|}

== Caution flags ==
{| border=2 cellspacing=0
|-
!Laps !! Cause
|-
|1 || Field not aligned
|-
|61-71 || [[Gil de Ferran|de Ferran (5)]] contact
|-
|137-144 || [[P. J. Jones|Jones (20)]] contact
|-
|185-193 || [[Scott Pruett|Pruett (24)]] contact
|}

== Lap Leaders ==
{| 
|valign="top"|

{| border=2 cellspacing=0
|-
!Laps !! Leader
|-
|1 || [[Jimmy Vasser]] 
|-
|2-7 || [[Juan Pablo Montoya]] 
|-
|8 || [[Michael Andretti]] 
|-
|9-18 || [[Juan Pablo Montoya]] 
|-
|19-36 || [[Michael Andretti]] 
|-
|37-38 || [[Paul Tracy]] 
|-
|39-70 || [[Michael Andretti]] 
|-
|71-72 || [[Juan Pablo Montoya]] 
|-
|73 || [[Michael Andretti]] 
|-
|74 || [[Juan Pablo Montoya]] 
|-
|75 || [[Michael Andretti]] 
|-
|76-83 || [[Juan Pablo Montoya]] 
|-
|84-105 || [[Max Papis]] 
|-
|106-107 || [[Michael Andretti]] 
|-
|108-139 || [[Max Papis]] 
|-
|140-144 || [[Michael Andretti]] 
|-
|145-147 || [[Max Papis]] 
|-
|148 || [[Dario Franchitti]]
|-
|149-151 || [[Max Papis]] 
|-
|152 || [[Dario Franchitti]]
|-
|153 || [[Michael Andretti]] 
|-
|154-177 || [[Max Papis]] 
|-
|178 || [[Dario Franchitti]]
|-
|179-182 || [[Michael Andretti]] 
|-
|183-220 || [[Max Papis]] 
|-
|221 || [[Juan Pablo Montoya]] 
|-
|222 || [[Dario Franchitti]]
|-
|223-228 || [[Tony Kanaan]] 
|-
|229-249 || [[Max Papis]] 
|-
|250 || [[Tony Kanaan]] 
|}
|width="50"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|

{| border=2 cellspacing=0
|-
!Driver !! Laps led
|-
|[[Max Papis]] || 143
|-
|[[Michael Andretti]] || 65
|-
|[[Juan Pablo Montoya]] || 28
|-
|[[Tony Kanaan]] || 7
|-
|[[Dario Franchitti]] || 4
|-
|[[Paul Tracy]] || 2
|-
|[[Jimmy Vasser]] || 1
|}
|}

==Point standings after race==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
!Pos
!Driver
!Points
|-
| 1
| {{flagicon|COL}} [[Juan Pablo Montoya]]
| align="right"| 129
|-
| 2
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Dario Franchitti]]
| align="right"| 116
|-
| 3
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Michael Andretti]]
| align="right"| 107
|-
| 4
| {{flagicon|BRA}} [[Christian Fittipaldi]]
| align="right"| 101
|-
| 5
| {{flagicon|MEX}} [[Adrián Fernández]]
| align="right"| 95
|}

== References ==

[[Category:1999 in CART|U.S. 500]]
[[Category:Michigan Indy 400]]