Fernandez takes win at Fontana

He was followed by Max Papis, Christian Fittipaldi, Juan Montoya and Jimmy Vasser.

The race for the championship could not have been more tense as it ended up in a points tie between Juan Montoya and Darion Franchitti.

Both drivers finished with 212 points but by virtue of his seven victories, he wins the championship.

It should have been a weekend of great celebration but 24-year-old driver Greg Moore was killed in a single-car accident in the early stages of the race.

Polesitter Scott Pruett never had a chance as Max Papis shot past him at the beginning of the race.

Just as quickly, Michael Andretti took over the lead. An early spin by Richie Hearn brought out the first caution of the day.

And just a few unfortunate moments later, Moore lost control of the car which simply disintegrated as it became airborne and hit the retaining wall.

There was little left intact except the tub of the car. Moore was airlifted to nearby Loma Linda Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:21p.m. local time.

After the clean-up of Moore's accident had been completed, the race went green again for only a few laps before Alex Barron hit the wall.

An extended green flag period found Michael Andretti back in the lead. He was on his way to opening up a lead of more than eight seconds on the two-mile oval.

Behind Andretti, Paul Tracy, Max Papis, Juan Montoya and Helio Castro-Neves were involved in a great battle.

A round of green flag pit stops that began on lap 71 may well have eliminated any hope for Franchitti to win the championship.

A problem with mounting the right rear tyre, he was held up in the pits for what seemed an eternity. This pushed the Scot down to 15th place.

That round of stops was the end of the day for race leader Andretti as a small oil fire broke out at the rear of the car while he was in thepits.

Papis emerged from that round in the lead. Another caution period and another round of ensuing pit stops found Paul Tracy in the lead, but he was quickly passed by Montoya.

Christian Fittipaldi, having started the race in ninth place, had worked his way to the front of the field and suddenly challenged Montoya for the lead, grabbing it away on lap 132.

The KMart car was strong for thirty laps.

Another caution period and Papis got past Fittipaldi for the lead again. He led the next 33 laps before relinquishing the lead at pit stop time.

Fittipaldi, then Gugelmin each had the lead for a moment before pitting.

When this round of stops was complete it was Papis once again in the lead. Papis lead the next 31 laps and it looked, for all intents and purposes, as if he might finally get his first win.

But reminiscent of his near win in Michigan earlier this season, Papis needed one more stop for fuel.

Unlike Michigan, he made the stop this time but it put him back in second place. Adrian Fernandez operating with a slightly different pit strategy, inherited the lead on lap 241 and that was how it finished.

Montoya was quite the record breaker this season. He started by taking rookie of the year honors, he is only the second driver in series history to win the championship in his rookie year.

He scored the most wins, poles and laps led by a rookie driver. He is the seventh driver to score more than 200 points in a single season.

Montoya was the key to the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team winning an unprecedented four back-to-back championships.

Despite seemingly losing the championship to a pitstop, Team KOOL Green owner Barry Green was quick to say: 'Remember this though, the same crew that made the mistake in the pits today was the same team tha got us to second in the championship.'