source: champcarworldseries.com

Defending race winner Patrick Carpentier (#7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) took charge at the end of the race re-taking the lead on lap 41 to be the first to see the checkered flag wave on lap 79 and earn his first win of the season by 5.395 seconds over Bruno Junqueira (#6 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone).

Carpentier now sits fourth and only one point behind Forsythe Championship Racing teammate Paul Tracy in the Championship points standings.

Junqueira finishes second for the second consecutive time here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. He closes the gap in the Championship points standings by finishing second this afternoon. His Newman/Haas Racing teammate and current points leader, Sebastien Bourdais (#2 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) finished 8th, which narrows the battle down to 24 points.

Oriol Servia (#11 yokeTV.com Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) finished the day third marking not only his best finish of the season, but also his team, Dale Coyne Racing's best finish since 1996. He climbs to 9th in the points standings.

Stay tuned for a complete report on today's Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey.