![]() “Those guys had a friendship like you see with teammates, only they all drove for different teams,” said Penske Racing president Tim Cindric, who had just joined Roger Penske's operation when it signed Moore to a contract in the summer of '99 that would have seen him move to the team in 2000. “People loved Greg Moore, and more important, the fans loved Greg Moore.”įranchitti said Moore was the “best friend I ever had.” “Look at the photos in that book, and look at the way people looked at him, and the way he looked at them,” 1996 CART champion Jimmy Vasser points out. ![]() To many, Moore was their best friend, the leader of the “Brat Pack” along with Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Max Papis. Moore's rivals on the track did not learn of his death until after the race, and most of them were devastated. The accident led to a key safety initiative: Today, the infield area off many high-banked corners at Daytona, California, Talladega, Michigan and other tracks are paved to help cars stay on their wheels. The car's “black box” data recorder registered 154 g's. His car skipped sideways through the grass, caught its wheels and tripped sideways into the air, sending its driver helmet-first into a concrete barrier. CART officials reported that Moore brushed the wall on that restart and lost control in turn two. Wearing a protective brace on his hand, Moore-who was particularly skilled on ovals-zoomed around a handful of cars at the start, and he got another chance to pass more on the restart following Richie Hearn's lap-four accident. The driver of a passenger car, who blamed the setting sun, collided with the racer on an infield road, causing the injury. Moore started at the rear of the 27-car field because he missed qualifying because of a scooter accident that broke a bone in his right hand. Moore's fatal crash at what was then known as California Speedway in Fontana has not been forgotten. In fact, Franchitti met his wife, Ashley Judd, as a result of his friendship with Moore, who knew the actress through his friendship with actor and fellow Canadian Jason Priestley. “We had the party to end all parties after that one,” recalled CART driver and good friend Dario Franchitti. Moore's final victory came at Homestead to open the 1999 season. Many hailed him as “the next Villeneuve.” Moore became CART's youngest-ever winner at the time that day. Moore's first win, at Milwaukee in 1997, came as a result of holding off the track's master, Michael Andretti. As was written, he didn't lose he ran out of laps. ![]() Moore finished seventh with the fastest car. In his first race, at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he was penalized for passing Juan Manuel Fangio II during a caution, but he recovered to pass all of the lead-lap cars to get back in the fight. Moore went on to amazing heights in CART despite winning just five races. (Pedro Chaves punted Moore off the track in Vancouver, yet the Canadian still finished fifth.) He scored 242 points that season, winning by 102. He so dominated the 1995 season for the Player's/Forsythe Racing team that he won 10 of 12 races and was beaten only once, by Robbie Buhl in Detroit. The trophies in the Moore home accumulated quickly, but the real attention came when he arrived in Indy Lights. Moore's career blossomed from there, and as the 99th member of the Westwood Kart Track, he adopted the number he would forever be associated with. At age six, he drove a go-kart with a minivan body around the parking lot of his father's Chrysler dealership. As a Canadian, he was, of course, attracted to hockey, and his first racing helmet was, in effect, a hockey mask. Moore grew up in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Written shortly after the tragic death of the 24-year-old CART driver on Halloween in 1999, the book by Dan Proudfoot and Gordon Kirby tells the story of a driver shaping up to become one of auto racing's great success stories. Recommendation of the Week: Spend a few days with the book Greg Moore: A Legacy of Spirit.
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