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Link: http://www.sportingn...ic.php?t=131246
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ELKHART LAKE, Wis. -- A French driver clinching the Champ Car Series title on American soil?
Sacre bleu!
A.J. Allmendinger let his inner ugly American run wild on Sunday, winning the Road America Grand Prix -- and having a little fun with the fact that Sebastien Bourdais' third straight championship celebration will have to wait at least one more race.
"I'm not letting a French guy clinch on American soil," Allmendinger declared in victory lane, after becoming the first American to win a Champ Car race at Road America since Michael Andretti in 1996.
Allmendinger is the only American driver in the series.
"Yeah, I can't let that happen," Allmendinger said later. "I had to try like crazy. All I read the whole time was, you know, it would be great (publicity) for Sebastien to clinch on American soil for Champ Car. Wasn't great for me. I didn't like that idea."
Bourdais, who was sitting next to Allmendinger in the postrace news conference, simply shook his head. Asked for a response, the 27-year-old French driver said, "My English is not good enough."
Still, Allmendinger knew his victory was more based on luck than driver skill.
"I still think I (stink) here," Allmendinger said. "I think I got fortunate. (I) can't say I honestly got around this place in any lap today and thought, 'Oh, that's a lap there, that's magical.' But it's a tough place."
Rookie driver Katherine Legge found that out the hard way. Legge was involved in a harrowing crash that brought the race to a temporary halt four laps from the finish.
Legge's car lost its wing and veered out of control, slamming into a fence at speeds approaching 180 mph. The car burst into pieces, sending the c#ckpit portion tumbling down the track. But Legge was fully conscious and was able to walk into the infield medical care facility on her own.
"(I'm) a bit shaken, but I'm OK, as you can see," the 26-year-old rookie from England said in a television interview. "All my bits are intact."
The race was red-flagged to allow track safety workers time to clean up debris and fix a portion of the fence that was destroyed by the accident.
Allmendinger said it wasn't hard for drivers to get back into their cars to finish the race after the accident, because they were told right away that Legge didn't have any serious injuries.
"Thank God she's OK," Allmendinger said.
After a 42-minute delay, the race ended in a two-lap green flag dash to the finish. Allmendinger darted away at the start and drove unchallenged to the checkered flag.
Bruno Junqueira recovered from a crash in the first turn of the first lap to finish second.
"I'm quite happy with the result, especially after Turn 1," Junqueira said.
Bourdais finished third, expressing frustration that another driver, rookie Juan Carceres, held him up at a critical point in the race.
"It was a frustrating day," Bourdais said. "When you've got that dominant a car, it just seems unrealistic you could actually lose it."
Oriol Servia finished fourth, followed by Justin Wilson.
Bourdais took the lead from rookie Charles Zwolsman on lap 5 and dominated the early stages of the race, only to lose his lead during a round of pit stops near the race's midpoint.
Bourdais' first pit stop took slightly longer than some of his rivals', as his crew took extra time to put more fuel in his tank.
The pit strategy allowed Bourdais to retake the lead with 10 laps to go as other leaders were running out of fuel and had to come back into the pits.
But Bourdais still needed to make one last quick pit stop with seven laps to go. He was driving his car hard to try to build as big a lead as possible before pitting, but said he was held up by Caceres.
Bourdais got out of the pits ahead of Allmendinger and Junqueira, but both drivers passed him later that lap.
With two races remaining, Bourdais holds a commanding 58-point lead over Allmendinger and 67-point advantage over Wilson.
Bourdais can clinch with a finish of ninth or better in the Oct. 22 race in Surfers Paradise, Australia.
"It's still pretty much wrapped up," Bourdais said. "We'll have to delay a little bit the (celebration)."
Allmendinger conceded that he doesn't have much of a chance of beating Bourdais for the title.
"It's still going to be tough to really come back and get him," Allmendinger said.
But considering the fact that Allmendinger was fired by the RuSport team in midseason, only to sign with the Forsythe team and win three straight races, he isn't complaining.
"If we come up short in the championship and finish second, it's still been a great year," Allmendinger said.
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Allmendinger's got the American spirit.
We should have him instead of Surfer Speed in F1 
