By Dustin Dow
Enquirer staff writer

SPARTA, Ky. - Six months ago in Phoenix, Adrian Fernandez sat in an Indy Racing League car for the first time and didn't know what he was looking at.

He was so unfamiliar with the car that Fernandez ended up breaking the gearbox and couldn't finish the race.

Adrian Fernandez celebrates his victory at the Belterra Casino Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway. (Enquirer photo/PATRICK REDDY)

The 41-year-old from Mexico demonstrated how much he has learned in that time span when he won the Belterra Casino Indy 300 Sunday at Kentucky Speedway.

In a race with Indy Racing League stalwarts Buddy Rice, Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon all vying for the win, it was the little-known Fernandez who crossed the finish line first after 200 laps.

As a veteran of IRL rival CART, Fernandez switched to IRL this season for financial reasons. He is an owner-driver of the team and had been operating an IRL team in 2003 while driving in CART. It just made more sense to have the entire team racing in one league, and the IRL was the more attractive option.

The only problem was that Fernandez didn't make the decision until March, missing the first race of the season and leaving him without any testing opportunities before he raced in Phoenix March 21. Fernandez couldn't learn much from the team's other driver, Kosuke Matsuura, because he was a rookie driving in just his second race.

"The first time I jumped in the car in Phoenix was the first time I heard the engine," Fernandez said. "(Sunday's win) validates what the team is all about. We had a team here and a team there. We were not getting anywhere. ... I think my move as a driver helped make the team stronger."

Fernandez gave his team its first IRL win Sunday, finishing ahead of Rice by .0581 seconds in front of a crowd of 61,885, the most ever to watch an IRL race at Kentucky Speedway. The margin of victory also set a series track record.

Matsuura, Fernandez's teammate, finished fourth, one spot behind Wheldon.

Before Sunday, Fernandez's best performance of the season was a fifth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway June 12.

"When I was running there, I was thinking, 'My goodness, this is crazy,' " Fernandez said. "We finished fifth, but I was still unfamiliar with everything."

In fourth place Sunday with 50 laps to go, Fernandez made a strong move, passing Wheldon, Kanaan and Rice on the back straightaway, taking over first place for good.

"We were very aggressive, because I didn't want to settle for second or third, and it paid off," Fernandez said. "

Rice tried to get around Fernandez in the final 10 laps but could get no closer than a car length at the end.

"It was difficult," Rice said. "He had the ideal line. I tried the high side a few times. We were evenly matched. So I knew it was going to be difficult to get around him."

Sunday's result pushed Fernandez to ninth in the overall series standings with 246 points.

As he has watched a battle between Rice and Kanaan play out for the points championship, Fernandez speculated that had he been properly prepared for this season, he could be contending for the title as well.

"I wanted to win bad and have been putting the pressure on the engineers," Fernandez said. "I think we would have been in better shape in the championship than right now."

---

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

Results: Indy Racing League

BELTERRA CASINO INDY 300

At Kentucky Speedway

Lap length: 1.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (4) Adrian Fernandez, Panoz G Force-Honda, 200 laps, 180.588 mph, $102,400.

2. (1) Buddy Rice, Panoz G Force-Honda, 200, $92,900.

3. (11) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 200, $69,600.

4. (10) Kosuke Matsuura, Panoz G Force-Honda, 200, $56,500.

5. (2) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 200, $69,100.

6. (5) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 200, $45,600.

7. (7) Vitor Meira, Panoz G Force-Honda, 200, $44,400.

8. (14) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, $45,300.

9. (21) Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda, 200, $43,300.

10. (8) Darren Manning, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 200, $42,000.

11. (17) Alex Barron, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, $40,800.

12. (6) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Toyota, 200, $39,600.

13. (9) Scott Dixon, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 200, $38,500.

14. (3) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Toyota, 199, $37,100.

15. (19) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Chevrolet, 199, $36,000.

16. (18) Felipe Giaffone, Dallara-Chevrolet, 199, $36,150.

17. (16) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Toyota, 199, $34,350.

18. (15) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Toyota, 199, $33,600.

19. (12) Mark Taylor, Panoz G Force-Honda, 199, $32,400.

20. (20) Tora Takagi, Dallara-Toyota, 198, $31,300.

21. (22) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Chevrolet, 157, accident, $31,300.

22. (13) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Chevrolet, 137, fuel fire, $31,300.

Time of race: 1 hour, 38 minutes, 20.7207 seconds.

Margin of victory: 0.0581 of a second.

Cautions: 3 for 22 laps.

Lead changes: 9 among 5 drivers.

Lap leaders: 1-89 Kanaan, 90 Fernandez, 91 Rice, 92 Fernandez, 93-127 Kanaan, 128-136 Scheckter, 137-142 Wheldon, 143-144 Kanaan, 145-151 Rice, 152-200 Fernandez.

Point standings: Kanaan 433, Rice 383, Wheldon 346, Castroneves 298, Hornish 283, Franchitti 266, Miera 256, Herta 249, Fernandez 246, Dixon 243.