Cristiano da Matta continued to dominate the CART series Aug. 18 at Road America, taking his sixth win of the season at the Motorola 220.

Da Matta avoided the errors in pit strategy that plagued his competitors and notched his first career win at the Elkhart Lake, Wis., track. Alex Tagliani finished second, followed by polesitter Bruno Junqueira in third.

Paul Tracy led from the first lap, but questionable fuel strategy moved him down to third after the second round of pit stops. On lap 39, Kenny Brack tried an overly ambitious move down the inside of Canada corner, spinning himself and Tracy into the gravel trap.

“When we were walking back, I asked [Brack], ‘What was up with that?’ and he kept saying he was sorry,” Tracy said. “Sorry doesn’t get me any points, and it doesn’t get him any points.”

The final shuffling of the top three came when Tagliani exited ahead of Junqueira after their final pit stops. Da Matta, who the week before had thrown away a second-place finish at Mid-Ohio by spinning unassisted, cruised to a .805-second victory over Tagliani.

“The car was consistent, and we didn’t want to repeat what happened in Mid-Ohio last weekend,” da Matta said. “I got a little bit concerned the last two laps and was driving about 99 percent.”

Da Matta has been courted by Toyota’s Formula One team for a drive in 2003 and appears to be on track to win the CART championship. With six races left in the season, he has a 55-point lead over second-place Dario Franchitti. Patrick Carpentier and Junqueira are close behind Franchitti, tied for third.