laps to go, Blundell had caught up to de Ferran and Fittipaldi, but was carefully trying to maneuver around traffic and stay on course. Blundell passed Fittipaldi for second in turn ten. Meanwhile, Raul Boesel was closing in on the leaders as well. The white flag was raised by Gil de Ferran as Mark Blundell pursued him. On the last lap, de Ferran struggled mightily to keep Blundell at bay as they were nose-to-tail and side by side. Boesel slipped by Fittipaldi for third place in turn nine, and quickly closed in behind the two leaders. Coming off the final turn of the final lap, the finish became a three-wide drag race between de Ferran, Blundell, and Boesel. Mark Blundell nosed ahead at the finish line and beat Gil de Ferran by 0.027 seconds. Boesel crossed the finish line third, only 0.055 seconds behind. it was Blundell's first CART series victory, and first professional win since the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans. 1998: At the start, Greg Moore's car veered to the inside, then wildly hopped the curbing going into the Festival Curves. Moore crashed out himself along with Paul Tracy and Christian Fittipaldi. At least four other cars were involved, including Michael Andretti who was hit and stalled in the gravel trap. Polesitter Bryan Herta led the first 13 laps, but his Team Rahal crew decided to pit during a caution on lap 14 and make it a three-stop race. The pit strategy backfired, however, and Herta spent most of the day trying to catch back up to the lead. Alex Zanardi, utilizing a two-stop strategy, was leading the race when Dario Franchitti had a frightening crash on lap 73. Franchitti clipped wheels with P. J. Jones, and slammed into the outside barrier near turn ten. Herta immediately ducked into the pits during the resulting caution, and bunched up behind Zanardi for the subsequent restart. Zanardi got the jump on the restart, while Herta was held up behind the lapped car Richie Hearn. Gil de Ferran pounced on Herta, but the two cars tangled in the Festival Curves. Scott Pruett slipped by to take second, while Zanardi went on to win. Herta recovered to finish third. 1999: With most teams employing a two-stop, fuel conservation strategy, Gil de Ferran of Walker Racing decided to scuttle the fuel conservation and drive all-out for the lead. He would need three