Papis unhappy about race reduction

In particular, he was upset that CART twice reduced the race distance in order to get it completed by sunset, which comes at around 17:00 local time in Southern California at this time of year. The final 18-lap shoot-out was set up by fuel strategy and by CART's on-the-fly decision to twice reduce the length of the race due to impending darkness.

That proved to be a disadvantage to a group of drivers including Papis, who all pitted under yellow on Lap 191. They not only lost track position, they were forced to run with a heavier fuel load to the end than the drivers in front of them, who now were also able to run full rich to the finish.

"I still question cutting the race distance," said Papis. "It's hard to adapt your strategy when what you have on your plate is constantly changing. I'd like to see some more consistency on CART's part.

"It's unfortunate that the yellow came out but it was a great race and I accept the results. I drove very nicely and I'm proud of what we did. This is motor racing and you cannot win all the time. Most of the race was a non-race, running 205mph when you could be running 228mph. But at the end, we went from 10th to the front," he added.

Winner da Matta said of the decision: "It can benefit you or it can cost you a lot. For Max, it was a bad thing because he stopped for more fuel. When they shortened the race, it was very good news to me. But then again, when the shortened the race at Laguna Seca, Max won."