The constant precipitation on Saturday had cleared up in time for the race as
air temperatures rose to and a brisk wind gusted over the circuit at . An estimated 90,000 people attended the event. During the
pace laps, the rear of Vasser's car began trailing smoke, though it quickly dissipated, The race began at 1:12 PM and Castroneves quickly pulled ahead of Bräck in the first turn to maintain his pole position advantage. Andretti's car suddenly experienced a terminal engine issue on lap 3 and he resultantly became the first retiree of the race. Castroneves held a 1.1-second lead over Bräck before the first
full-course caution flag was issued on the tenth lap when Garcia Jr. slid into the tire barriers in turn eight and sustained moderate damage to the nose of his car.
(pictured in 2018) led every lap from the
pole position and won the race, his fourth win in CART. The top-13 drivers chose not to make a pit stop and Castroneves led the
field on the
restart at lap 13. De Ferran overtook Kanaan for the fourth position three laps later. As Bräck defended the second position from Fittipaldi, Zanardi's suspension and cooling system were damaged after Junqueira hit the back end of his car and he retired on lap 28, while Fittipaldi experienced mechanical issues of his own—falling from 12th to 16th six laps earlier—and pitted that same lap to change his steering wheel in hopes that it would alleviate his issues. On lap 30, Takagi was spun from behind by Gugelmin at the ninth turn, necessitating the second caution flag. The top 11 drivers made pit stops under the caution period. On the 55th lap, Carpentier hit the back of Papis' car, destroying Papis' rear wing and momentarily launching Carpentier into the air in turn five. The race resumed on lap 63, with Castroneves leading ahead of da Matta and de Ferran. Tracy quickly overtook Vasser for the fourth position in the first corner. Over the next twelve laps, da Matta made several attempts to pass Castroneves and remained within half a second of him, but Castroneves continued defending the first position. None of the leaders made stops and the green flag was issued again on lap 78. Da Matta finished 0.534 seconds behind Castroneves in second; de Ferran took third, Tracy fourth, and Vasser fifth. There were four cautions and no lead changes during the course of the race, meaning that Castroneves had led all 82 laps.
Post-race The top-three drivers appeared on the
podium to collect their trophies, with Castroneves earning $100,000 for the win. Second-place finisher da Matta was content with his final result and complimented Castroneves' driving style: "It was a great finish for
Texaco/
Havoline and
Toyota in a race they sponsor. The weekend got better and better since Friday but I didn't have anything left for Hélio today. He drove well and he deserved the win. I don't think he blocked me, any driver would have done the same." He was evaluated by CART's orthopedic consultant Dr. Terry Trammell in
Indianapolis,
Indiana on Monday and underwent surgery on Tuesday. Despite the injury, Carpentier was permitted to compete in the forthcoming
Firestone Firehawk 600 at
Texas Motor Speedway. He said of his crash: "I was convinced that he was in some kind of trouble, so I went to pass him on the inside. That's when he cut me off. I tried to avoid him but I hit the speed bump and that launched me into the air and into the back of Max (Papis') car." Gugelmin expressed annoyance over the incident, although he praised
track marshals for moving several walls in the fourth and sixth corners and adding new
catch fences to the circuit. The race result meant that da Matta maintained his lead in the Drivers' Championship with 37 points, while de Ferran stood in second place on 30, three points ahead of teammate Castroneves and four ahead of Tracy. Vasser rounded out the top-five with 18 points.
Race classification ; Notes • – Includes two bonus points for leading the most laps and being the fastest qualifier. ==Standings after the race==