Fittipaldi takes podium on comeback

Fittipaldi was knocked unconscious in a violent Friday practice accident in Chicago. He missed the race and then was still feeling too ill to complete last week's Elkhart Lake test. He admitted that he had found the first day at Lexington tough too, but said that he now felt fine.

"I was very bad on Friday morning," he said, "but after that it just got better and better."

The Newman-Haas driver spent most of the race struggling to pass Team Rahal's Kenny Brack. When he finally passed the Swede during the second round of pit stops he was able to pull away and chase the dominant Penskes, putting second-placed Gil de Ferran under heavy pressure in the closing stages.

However, he denied that he could have battled for victory with the Marlboro cars had he not been delayed by Brack.

"There was no way to match those two red and white cars but we won the race for the rest," he said. "I'm happy with that. Now we just have to work on catching them before next time."