#66 Mears Laguna Seca Friday Practice Notes/Quotes

Contact:   Laz Denes, 256-657-6190
                 ldenes@monunnracing.com
                 www.monunnracing.com

Casey Mears

#66 Pioneer-WorldCom/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard
Honda Grand Prix of Monterey - Practice Notes/Quotes - Friday, Oct. 12, 2001
Laguna Seca Raceway - Monterey, Calif. - 2.238-Mile Road Course
Round 19 of 21 on the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series

Casey Mears and the #66 Pioneer-WorldCom/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard had
the 19th-fastest time in practice this afternoon for Sunday's Honda Grand
Prix of Monterey.  Mears, the 23-year-old replacement for the injured Alex
Zanardxi, had a fast time this afternoon of 1 minute, 10.894 seconds (an
average of 113.646 mph) around the 2.238-mile Laguna Seca Raceway road
course.  It was the 23rd-best time of the day with today's morning and
afternoon sessions combined.

His teammate,Tony Kanaan and the #55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard,
clocked the 11th-fastest time this afternoon and the 13th-fastest combined
time of the day at 1:10.189 (114.787 mph).  Defending race winner Helio
Castroneves had the best lap of the day, by far, in this afternoon session
at 1:08.838 (117.040 mph).  His teammate, Gil de Ferran, was almost a
half-second behind but second overall at 1:09.345 (116.184 mph), while
Mauricio Gugelmin was third best on the day with his afternoon time of
1:09.514 (115.902 mph).

Practice resumes Saturday morning with qualifying set to begin at 1:45 p.m.
local time (4:45 p.m. EDT).  The CART qualifying show will be broadcast on
ESPN2 at 2 a.m. EDT Sunday.  Race time Sunday at 1 p.m. local time (4 p.m.
EDT) with a live broadcast set for ESPN.

CASEY MEARS

"This is just great.  I'm learning something every time around this track. I
love it.  We've definitely got a lot of work to do.  We put some new tires
on for the end of the (afternoon) session but it didn't help us because we
had a voltage problem.  But I think we've crutched our setup problems enough
to where we can put together a decent lap in qualifying tomorrow.  I'm
feeling more and more comfortable with the car and the crew.  Everyone's
been great.  It helps when you know the track, too.  I can't wait to get
back into the car tomorrow morning."

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