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CART: Mo Nunn Racing Notes and Quotes, Cleveland

1 July 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Bryan Herta

#55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Mercedes-Benz Reynard
Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland
Round 9 of 20 on the 2000 CART FedEx Championship Series
June 30, 2000 Friday Provisional Qualifying Notes/Quotes
At Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio

Bryan Herta and his #55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Mercedes-Benz Reynard turned a fast lap of 58.398 seconds (an average of 129.826 mph) over the Burke Lakefront Airport circuit in todays provisional qualifying session for Sundays Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland. That placed him 13th on the provisional starting grid with final qualifying set to begin at 1:45 p.m. EDT tomorrow. Dario Franchitti is on the provisional pole with a fast time of 57.961 seconds (130.805 mph).

BRYAN HERTA

"Wow, what a night-and-day difference from last Friday afternoon. I love the feeling of knowing I have a good race car. Last week, in a sense, was nothing more than a test for us, but, unfortunately, we had to do it right there for everybody to see. We were working on very basic things to try and get me comfortable in the car that we couldve taken care of with a day of testing. But with the scheduling the way it is, we didnt have that luxury. Fortunately, everything we learned last weekend carried over to today. Thats the way it should be. I was just starting to get into a groove at the tail end of the qualifying session, and I was on my best lap of the day, when I hit traffic, and the car sputtered and ran out of gas. Thats okay. Were in good shape for final qualifying. I was really shooting for the fast group tomorrow, because thats where you need to be if youre going to be on the pole, here."

TONY KANAAN UPDATE

After spending the week in Indianapolis to begin rehabilitation on the broken left forearm and four cracked ribs he sustained in a final qualifying accident at Detroit two weekends ago, Tony Kanaan arrived here today to see his teammates and fellow competitors in the CART paddock. He will return to Indianapolis Monday to continue his rehabilitation and has targeted the July 23 Michigan 500 for his return. He is the defending race-winner there.

TONY KANAAN

"Its so great to be back and to see everybody. But its absolutely awful to hear the cars going around the track knowing I cant drive for a while. My rehabilitation is going great. I have full motion back in my arm, and the ribs are healing very well. Im working harder than I have my entire life, I think, because I want to come back stronger than I was before. And I wasnt in that bad of shape to begin with! I really want to thank everyone for the e-mails and well wishes that have been coming in. Racing fans have got to be the best fans in the world. They really know how to make a guy in my situation feel really good about life. I cant wait to get back into the car and race."

Text provided by Laz Denes

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