#55 Kanaan Laguna Seca Sunday Race Notes/Quotes

Tony Kanaan

#55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard
Honda Grand Prix of Monterey - Race Notes/Quotes - Sunday, Oct. 14, 2001
Laguna Seca Raceway - Monterey, Calif. - 2.238-Mile Road Course
Round 19 of 21 on the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series

Tony Kanaan and the #55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard finished
eighth in today's Honda Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca Raceway.  He
started sixth, grabbed two spots on the opening lap, and settled into fourth
position for the first 18 laps.  Kanaan moved into third when
then-second-place Helio Castroneves pitted out of sequence, and remained
there until the leaders began their first round of pit stops under green on
Lap 33.  He re-emerged in ninth position with several cars ahead of him out
of sequence.  Kanaan pitted a second and final time under yellow on Lap 49
and held onto ninth place. By Lap 60, he picked up one last position and
brought his car home in eighth.  There were several caution periods during
the race, originally scheduled for 83 laps.  It ended on Lap 76 under CART's
two-hour time limit.  Kanaan slipped to 10th place in the driver points
standings with 83.  Max Papis won today for the second time this season and
passed Kanaan in the standings. Kanaan also clocked today's fourth-fastest
race lap at 1 minute, 12.237 seconds around the 2.238-mile road course.

Kanaan's teammate Casey Mears and the #66 Pioneer-WorldCom/Mo Nunn Racing
Honda-Reynard finished 11th after starting 18th.  It was only the second Mo
Nunn Racing start for Mears, only his third-ever Champ Car start, and his
first point-paying result with the team since replacing the injured Alex
Zanardi.  Memo Gidley finished second today, followed by defending series
champion and current points leader Gil de Ferran in third.  Honda clinched
the series manufacturers championship with two races to go.

The next stop on the tour is in two weeks for the Honda Indy 300 at Surfers
Paradise, Australia, Round 20 of 21 on the 2001 CART FedEx Championship
Series.

TONY KANAAN

"It was another tough result for a driver and team that did everything that
was asked of it.  The next time out in Australia, I think I should try
something different:  I'll start dead last, pit seven times and win the
race!  It's all about strategy.  Strategy, strategy, strategy.  I don't mean
to take anything away from Max (Papis, who started 25th and pitted five
times today).  I'm really happy for Max, because he deserves another chance
to make people notice and appreciate what he does out there.  Actually, we
did what we could.  We had pretty good pit stops.  The car ran great.  It
wasn't a race-winning car today, but it should have been at least in the top
four.  Sometimes, it just doesn't matter that you don't have the best car
out there, and the cleanest pit stops.  It's all about strategy.  It's that
competitive out there.  Hey, I also want to say that I'm happy for my new
teammate, Casey.  He ran a smart race for the second time in a row and
scored some points for us.  That's just great for him and the
Pioneer-WorldCom team."