#21 Giaffone IRL Kansas Saturday Qualifying

Felipe Giaffone

#21 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Chevrolet G-Force
Ameristar Casino Indy 200 - Saturday, July 6, 2002 - Qualifying Notes/Quotes
Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, Kan. - 1.5-Mile Oval
Round 9 of 15 on the 2002 Indy Racing League

Felipe Giaffone and the #21 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Chevrolet G-Force will
start Sunday's Ameristar Casino Indy 200 Indy Racing League event at Kansas
Speedway from the inside of the 10th row.  Giaffone turned a fast qualifying
lap of 25.7460 seconds (212.538 mph) around the 1.5-mile high-banked oval on
his second of two qualifying laps during pole qualifying today.  Earlier
today, Giaffone had the 10th-fastest time in practice at 25.2207 seconds
(216.965 mph).

Rookie Tomas Scheckter earned the pole with a fast lap of 25.0381 seconds
(218.547 mph).  He'll be joined on the front row by defending series
champion Sam Hornish, Jr., who recorded a fast lap of 25.1305 seconds
(217.743 mph).  Defending race-winner Eddie Cheever, Jr., Scheckter's
teammate, qualified third with a lap of 25.1414 seconds (217.649 mph).

Final practice is set for 9:30 a.m. EDT Sunday with race time set for 1 p.m.
EDT.  ABC-TV will broadcast the event live.

FELIPE GIAFFONE

"I'm not 100 percent sure what happened during my qualifying run.  It was
very strange.  My warm-up laps were very good - even better than my
qualifying laps.  Except for when I got to the very end of my last warm-up
lap.  I had a big push, and I had to lift, so that took away the momentum I
needed for my first flying lap.  I tried to make some adjustments for my
second lap, but they just didn't turn out to be enough.  I'm not happy about
starting 19th.  That's my worst qualifying position of the season.  But back
at Texas, where the track is like this one, I started 18th and made up many
positions during the race and finished fifth.  So it's possible, I think.
We have a good race car.  I'm sure of that.  Race days have always been our
best days all year.  We know what adjustments we have to make after that
qualifying run.  It's going to be a hot day, so we are ready for a good
fight."