Dominguez splashes to win shorten Honda Indy

By Flagworld (Auto123.com),

Monday, October 28, 2002

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Dominguez wins the craziest race...

source: CART.com - Robyn Miller

SURFERS PARADISE, Australia - Mario Dominguez started Sunday in the middle of a nine-car pileup and ended up in victory lane. That's how crazy Sunday's Honda Indy 300 turned out to be. In one of the wettest, most treacherous and confounding races in CART history, Dominguez was out in front when the red flag fell on Lap 40 and scored a very improbable win.

Strong, steady downpours (the first rain here in several months) forced the yellow flag to wave for 34 of the 40 laps--including the last 31--as most of the crowd of 103,351 was long gone by the time Dominguez took his initial checkered flag in near-darkness.

"Obviously, this isn't the best way to win but a win is a win and you take it no matter what," said the 26-year-old Mexican rookie who also gave the Herdez Competition team its first Champ Car triumph.

"I feel like the luckiest man in the world at the moment, but I had great strategy from my team and they really deserve this."

The race began in a driving rainstorm, which directly contributed to the massive accident involving Tora Takagi, Adrian Fernandez, Jimmy Vasser, Christian Fittipaldi, Michael Andretti, Michel Jourdain, Patrick Carpentier, Alex Tagliani and Dominguez. Takagi flipped wildly and landed upside down, suffering two minor fractures in his pelvis while Fernandez sustained small fractures in his neck and was released from Gold Coast Hospital wearing a cervical collar.