Top 10 Best Finishes - 1996-2001 CART Seasons

The glory years of IndyCar is a debate that is as old as time. For me, it began somewhere around 1990 or 1991 and ended with the 2001 CART Season. Some of the most competitive and wildest racing we got occurred after the split in CART between 1996 and 2001

Among these wild races included some of the most insane, dramatic finishes we have ever seen. Here is my 10 best CART 96-01 finishes in order

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Timestamps (spoilers) below with additional context

0:00 10) 1997 Gateway
1:41 9) 2001 Michigan
3:28 8) 2001 Rockingham
5:17 7) 1999 Michigan
6:40 6) 1996 Road America
8:56 5) 1998 Rio de Janeiro
10:10 4) 2000 Michigan
13:47 3) 1997 Portland
16:07 2) 1997 Belle Isle
18:20 1) 1996 Laguna Seca

Context

10) The inaugural Gateway race had an epic finish, as Paul Tracy hunted down Patrick Carpentier to win the race

9) The final Michigan 500 did not disappoint, as we were treated to another Hanford era masterclass. With a large group together in the final stint, it came down to Team Player's Forsythe (Alex Tagliani and Patrick Carpentier), Team Green (Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy), and Michel Jourdain Jr. Ultimately, it was a 1-2 finish for the Forsythe guys, with Carpentier getting his first career win

8) The first race after the tragic Alex Zanardi accident was a bit of a snoozer. A flat-out layout with a poor racing package made for a snooze fest, but the finish was absolutely brilliant. Kenny Brack would pass Gil de Ferran in brave fashion, and the race looked over. However, de Ferran clawed his way back and passed Brack in the final corner to win

7) Max Papis was on his way to his first career win after a brilliant strategy call, only to run out of fuel half-a-lap before the finish. Tony Kanaan stormed past but Juan Pablo Montoya was also lurking, and Kanaan barely beat Montoya at the line to win his first career race

6) A relatively tame final stint turned into chaos on the final lap. Al Unser Jr. was on his way to hold off Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi. Further back in the field, Paul Tracy tried a move on Parker Johnstone into T1 that resulted in contact. Johnstone dug into the grass and rolled his car. Meanwhile, approaching Canada Corner, Little Al suffered an engine failure just a few turns from the finish, giving the win to Andretti

5) A brilliant display of brave overtaking and defending between Alex Zanardi and Greg Moore, with a little Arnd Meier thrown in, is a great recipe for a thrilling finish

4) One of the best duals of all-time was between two of the best to ever do it - Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Andretti. Just epic

3) A crazy last stint on a wet-to-drying Portland made for a mix of strategy, plenty of overtaking, and a lot of driver skills. We saw a rare three-wide photo finish on a road course, with Mark Blundell holding off Gil de Ferran and Raul Boesel

2) From elation to disaster for PacWest Racing, who were running 1-2 on the final lap of the race, before both ran out of fuel, giving the win to Greg Moore

1) The Pass. Alex Zanardi pulls of a crazy overtake to secure the win, which was no longer allowed once the 1997 season came around

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