CART Clothing issue tied to outcome

Qualifying at Mid-Ohio takes place today and Saturday for Sunday's race.
LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) -- Patrick Carpentier says that if he wins again at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, he might go a step beyond the striptease he performed last year.
"Maybe I'll climb the podium wearing nothing but the checkered flag," he said. "I'd certainly like to get the chance."
Carpentier's performance after the Champ Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio in 2002 got more attention than his dominance of the event itself.
Before the race, he told reporters that he'd run around the racetrack naked if he won.
Backed off
He then proceeded to post an impressive victory, losing the lead only for three laps on pit stops.
He politely declined to back up his boast immediately after the victory, but about three hours later, with nearly all the fans gone, he somewhat sheepishly returned to the track clad only in a pair of checkered-flag boxers and posed for cameras.
One of the videotapes made it to national television, where it received more attention than Carpentier's triumph on the track.
"I'm amazed how many people have come up to me in the last year and said they saw me in my underwear," he said. "But it was all good fun and I wouldn't mind doing it again.
"I certainly could use another victory, since I've won only once this year and it's been a rough year for our side of the Player's-Forsythe team. PT's been having a fantastic year, but we've been struggling with consistency."
Carpentier was referring to his teammate and fellow Canadian, Paul Tracy, who will be going for his sixth victory of the CART season Sunday. Qualifying takes place today and Saturday for the race on the 2.26-mile, 13-turn track in the hills of north-central Ohio.
Doing well
Tracy has won five races and has 161 points, equaling his best season totals in both categories.
He's finished second in four of his 10 appearances here but hasn't won, so he's eager to take the final step up the podium.
"Something always seems to happen here to keep me from winning, so I know I have to have everything working well to have a good shot, but I'm feeling pretty good about the weekend," Tracy said.
Tracy has led the driver point standings for most of the season, but fell to second, three points behind leader Bruno Junqueira, after crashing early last Sunday at Road America.
Junqueira, who had come close to winning on several occasions, earned the maximum 23 points last weekend by winning the race, leading the most laps and being the top Friday and Saturday qualifier.
"I had a really good feeling about last week because we tested well at Road America and I really like that track, and I feel the same way about Mid-Ohio," the Newman-Haas Racing driver said.
"I was the fastest there one day and Paul was first the other day when we tested there, so I know we have a car that's set up pretty good for the track and it's one of the places where I feel most comfortable."
Weather factor
One thing the drivers are hoping for is improved weather after rain shortened last week's race. It started under a yellow caution flag, was delayed twice because of rain and ended with 34 laps being run instead of the scheduled 60.
However, intermittent rain is forecast throughout the weekend.
"The last race was about as bad as I've seen in terms of weather," said Junqueira's teammate, rookie Sebastien Bourdais.