Since its inception in 1995, CART's Nation's Cup
has been the private property of the United States and Brazil -- each country
claiming four titles
source: cart.com But there's a new sheriff in town. No, actually it's a Mountie. Led by Paul Tracy's initial Champ Car crown, Canada captured the 2003 Nation's Cup and ended Brazil's four-year run. Tracy, Patrick Carpentier and Alex Tagliani amassed eight wins, nine pole positions and 298 points to edge Mexico by only 36 points in one of the closest competitions ever. Brazil wound up third, 70 points behind. Mexico had six drivers to Canada's trio but experience ruled and it's only fitting our neighbors to the north earned this honor since Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are three of CART's most popular and successful venues. "I think it's great because nobody gets behind Champ Car racing like the people of Canada," said Tracy, who bagged his first championship in 13 years on the strength of seven victories. "I was fortunate to win two of the three races up there this year and winning at Toronto was one of the highlights of my career." Carpentier wound up fifth in the standings after winning Laguna Seca, running second at Mid-Ohio and taking third in his hometown of Montreal. "We had some good runs and it was a great way to say thank you to Player's and Gerry Forsythe," he said. Driving for Paul Gentilozzi's first-year RocketSports team, Tagliani's 10th place in the final points didn't truly reflect how strong this Michigan-based operation performed. "Three podiums and one pole position says a lot about the people on this team and it was a very enjoyable season," said Tag, who led 52 laps at Montreal and had everyone covered only to fall to fourth because of fuel mileage issues. He also charged from 13th to third at Elkhart Lake. Player's, forced out of sponsorship by Canadian tobacco legislation after 41 years of supporting motorsports, received a nice going away present in the form of the Nation's Cup. Forsythe will defend his title with Tracy and Carpentier, while Tags will be back with RocketSports and Michael Valiante is hoping to hitch a ride with Derrick Walker and join his countrymen in 2004.
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