Lynx - Pre Trois Rivieres

GOING FOR FOUR AT TROIS RIVIERES
        Canadian driver David Rutledge has won three races from the pole
with Lynx Racing so far this season, and he'll be going for four at this
weekend's Grand Prix du Trois Rivieres.  He won the season-opener at Long
Beach, repeated his 2000 win from the pole at Montreal, and dominated
through the streets of Toronto.  
        "Trois Rivieres is the very heart of Atlantic racing, and I'm glad
to be back here with a team capable of winning the race," says Rutledge,
23, of Vancouver, B.C.  "This is a highly technical race track that
provides a major challenge for both drivers and engineers.  And every hot
young Canadian driver will be here this weekend, so if you do well in this
race, you know you've achieved something."
                     Rutledge will be joined on the grid by rookie Michael
Valiante, his Atlantic teammate and fellow Canadian.  Valiante's record so
far this season is quite impressive, with a 4th-place finish in his
first-ever Atlantic race at Long Beach, and a front-row start and
second-place finish at Montreal.  His Toronto race was derailed when he was
punted off course while challenging for third, but he managed to keep going
and, even with a badly damaged car, finished 7th.
                     "I haven't raced here before, but I've studied the
track so much through videos of past races that I can see it in my sleep,"
says Valiante, also of Vancouver, who will be driving the #95 Lynx Racing /
Italian Motors / Newlife Development / Copart Auto Auctions Swift 008.a. 
"It's generally quite a handicap not to have raced at a track before, but
the Lynx team has given me such consistently excellent cars that I'm
confident I can contribute to David's battle for the Atlantic
championship."
                     Lynx Racing's history at this track includes a pair of
victories from the pole in 1996 with Patrick Carpentier, now driving for
Player's/Forsythe in CART.  In 1998, Memo Gidley, now driving for Target
Chip Ganassi, started and finished fourth.  And in 1999, Buddy Rice, now
under contract to Team Rahal, was leading the race when he slid wide in a
turn and contacted the barrier.                        Rutledge was on the
way to a podium finish in this event last year when a braking problem
forced him to go down the escape road and by the time he got turned around
and back on track he finished 13th.  This will be Valiante's first race at
Trois Rivieres.
                     On-track activities begin on Friday, August 3, at 9:40
am with an Atlantic practice session.  Final qualifying takes place at 1:00
pm on Saturday, August 4, with the 45 lap / 68.43 mile Atlantic race
scheduled to take the green flag at 1:40 pm Sunday, August 5.  
        2001 marks the 11th anniversary of Lynx Racing, one of the most
unique organizations in auto racing today.  Created and owned by two women,
Peggy Haas and Jackie Doty, Lynx is both a championship-winning racing team
and a uniquely successful driver development program that focuses on a
driver's mental, psychological and spiritual in addition to their on-track
skills. 
                    The Lynx mission is to seek out young drivers with the
desire and potential to become champions at the highest levels of the sport
and provide them with the funding, equipment and training to take the last
step toward realizing that potential, a process the team calls 'Destiny by
Design.'  Lynx alumni include CART FedEx drivers Patrick Carpentier, Alex
Barron and Memo Gidley.
        On-track activities for both the CART Toyota Atlantic and Barber
Dodge Pro Series begin with a test day on Thursday, July 26.  The 45-minute
BDPS race takes the green flag at 3:15 pm on Saturday, July 28, while the
65-lap Atlantic race is scheduled to start at 12 noon on Sunday, July 29.  
                     The Atlantic race will air on ESPN2 Saturday, August 4
at 5:30 pm EST.  The Barber Dodge Pro Series event broadcast on ESPN2 is at
5:30 pm EST, Monday, August 20.
_______________________

For further information on Lynx Racing and its drivers, please contact the
team's public relations manager, Peter Frey, at (818) 906-6997.  The team
also has a web site at www.LynxRacing.com.  For more information about the
CART Toyota Atlantic series, visit www.ToyotaAtlantic.com, and the Barber
Dodge Pro Series web site is located at www.BarberDodge.com
_______________________

David Rutledge has a personal sponsorship from The Keg Steakhouse & Bar, a
group of 82 casual, contemporary steakhouses spanning from Victoria across
to Halifax in Canada, and into the United States in Washington, Oregon and
Texas. Further information can be found at www.kegsteakhouse.com.


August 3, 2001