Allmendinger thanks new team

The American, who just 10 days ago was booted out of RuSPORT after just four rounds of the 2006 Champ Car season, had a mountain to climb in Portland, and certainly didn't head into the weekend expecting to win, and was more concerned with gelling with his new crew at Forsythe.

In the event he led 100 of the 105 laps at Portland without a hint of an error, and finally got his maiden win in the series. Afterwards, the scenes were hugely emotional, but the 24-year-old had regained his composure to pay tribute to the Forsythe team.

He said: "This is absolutely amazing. I still don't think I really understand it and believe that it happened. I can't thank Forsythe and the whole team enough for everything they've done for me this weekend. Before the weekend even started, just stuff like travel and stuff that happen doesn't seem that big of a deal that sometimes can be trouble, they made so easy.

"Once I was here, the guys were absolutely fantastic. I can't thank them enough for how welcome they made me feel when I got here and how comfortable I was to get in the car, out of the car, how much fun they made this weekend go. And their pitstops were absolutely fantastic."

Allmendinger admitted the enormity of his impending achievement started getting to him in the car. "I just can't thank the whole team enough. With like seven or eight laps to go, I started tearing up. I told myself to stop being a sissy and finish the race because I hadn't won anything yet."

Teammate Paul Tracy was swift to congratulate AJ, commenting: "He drove a hell of a race."

However, the Canadian was very disappointed with his own car's performance throughout the weekend, and after grabbing fifth place into Turn 1 from his 10th place starting position, he never looked a podium contender.

Said Tracy: "We were just out there trying to stay consistent and just racing for points basically. We didn't have the speed, the balance just wasn't there. Our fuel mileage wasn't very good either: it's very difficult to save fuel when you are struggling with the setup of the car, so we had to pit earlier than the guys around me and that sent us back a few positions."