New CART rule helps Vasser to late victory

He shot past Michael Andretti on a restart two laps from the end of the Toyoto 500.
FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- A caution flag last November wound up helping Jimmy Vasser win Sunday at California Speedway.
Vasser shot past Michael Andretti on a restart two laps from the end of the Toyota 500 and cruised to a win that looked hopeless only minutes before.
A year ago, after a breathtaking race that included on-track battles at 225 mph and a CART-record 73 lead changes, winner Cristiano da Matta cruised slowly across the finish line, winning under a caution flag.
That prompted CART to change the rulebook, allowing its race officials to stop a race if a yellow flag comes out in the final 10 laps, making sure the fans see a green-flag finish.
That's exactly what happened Sunday, costing Andretti an almost certain victory and making Vasser a winner for the first time since a race in Houston in October of 2000.
Second time for new rule
CART, using the new rule for the second time this season, stopped the race for 9 minutes after Dario Franchitti, Andretti's teammate, brought out a caution with four of 250 laps remaining.
"The guy leading in that situation is like a sitting duck out there," said Vasser, who had lost the lead to Andretti the same way on a restart only nine laps from the end. "It would have been difficult to catch Michael under race conditions."
Officials gave the drivers two warmup laps before turning them loose on lap 248. Vasser's Ford-power Team Rahal Lola shot past Andretti's Lola-Honda as they dove into Turn One.
Andretti was unable to mount a challenge before finishing 0.400-seconds -- about 10 car-lengths -- behind on the 2.029-mile oval.
"I knew if I could make the pass going through [turns] one and two, I'd have a good chance at winning the race," Vasser said. "Everything went our way."
It was Vasser's first win since the Houston street race in October 2000.