Kanaan/Mears Fontana Pre-Race Notes/Quotes

MO NUNN RACING - PRE-RACE NOTES/QUOTES
The 500 - Nov. 2-4, 2001
California Speedway - Fontana, Calif. - 2-Mile Tri-Oval
Round 21 of 21 on the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series

TONY KANAAN - #55 HOLLYWOOD/MO NUNN RACING HONDA-REYNARD

**This weekend marks Kanaan's 74th career Champ Car start and his 35th with
Mo Nunn Racing.  In his Champ Car career, he has one win (1999 U.S. 500),
two poles (1999 at Long Beach, 2001 at Chicago), four podium finishes, 10
top-fives, and 37 top-10s.

**Kanaan stands 10th in the CART FedEx Championship Series driver
championship with 83 points after finishing 17th in Australia last weekend.
His streak of consecutive points-scoring finishes ended at eight races with
that 17th place in Australia.  Kanaan has scored in nine of the last 11
events and 13 of this season's 19 events contested thus far.

**Last year here at Fontana, Kanaan qualified 12th but saw his race day end
on Lap 88 of the 250-lap event with a mechanical failure while moving into
second place in the #55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Mercedes-Benz Reynard.  He
was 19th here during his Rookie of the Year season of 1998 with Tasman
Motorsports (later Forsythe Championship Racing).  He qualified 11th and
finished eighth with the Forsythe team in 1999.

**In 33 career starts on oval circuits, Kanaan has one win (1999 U.S. 500 at
Michigan), three top-fives, and 14 top-10s.  He started from the pole in
July's Target Grand Prix on the 1-mile oval in Chicago.   He went on to
finish eighth in that event.  Kanaan also was fastest in every practice
session at September oval races in Germany and England, but both events were
gridded according to championship points due to rainy conditions.  Earlier
this year, Kanaan qualified fourth at Japan's Twin Ring Motegi in May, where
he finished third for the team's first-ever podium, and he qualified fifth
at Michigan in July, where he retired with an alternator failure.

TONY KANAAN QUOTES

"Well, it all comes down to this weekend for our second season together as a
team.  I all but promised (injured teammate) Alex (Zanardi) I would win for
him in Australia last weekend and that didn't happen.  Now we're back on the
oval for one last shot at our first win.  We've been strong on the ovals all
year long.  For sure, we were the best team on the track at Germany and
England, and we were on the pole in Chicago, and in the top five at
Michigan.  In a 500-mile race, nothing is for certain.  But I have to like
our chances.  Hopefully the (alternator) problem we had at Michigan is
behind us.  The hot weather in Michigan had a lot to do with that, and that
shouldn't be a factor this weekend.  Otherwise, it'll be the same story as
always ... stay out of trouble and on the lead lap for the first 400 miles,
and then go racing to the finish with a big million-dollar prize waiting at
the end, and then send our trophy to Alex."

CASEY MEARS - #66 PIONEER-WORLDCOM/MO NUNN RACING HONDA-REYNARD

**Mears, the 23-year-old Mears, from Bakersfield, Calif., made his Champ Car
debut here at Fontana one year ago and drove a third Team Rahal entry,
sponsored by WorldCom, to a fourth-place finish.

**This weekend marks Mears' fifth career Champ Car start and his fourth with
Mo Nunn Racing.

**Mears made his debut with Mo Nunn Racing and only his second career Champ
Car start at the Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston the first weekend in
October.  He qualified 25th in the #66 Pioneer-WorldCom/Mo Nunn Racing
Honda-Reynard and brought it home in 17th, two laps down.  One week later,
at Laguna Seca, Mears qualified 18th and finished 12th to score his first
championship points for the team.

**Last weekend, on the streets of Surfers Paradise, Australia, Mears
qualified 24th but was forced to retire on Lap 1 when he made contact with
the Turn 1 wall.  He injured the index finger on his right hand in the
accident, but x-rays were negative.

**Mears stepped into the cockpit of the #66 Pioneer-WorldCom/Mo Nunn Racing
Honda-Reynard after this season's regular driver, Alex Zanardi, was involved
in a racing accident during the latter stages of the American Memorial 500
in Lausitz, Germany, on Sept. 15.

**For every lap that Mears completes during these final four races of the
season, his uncle, three-time CART champion Rick Mears, is donating $100 to
the Alex Zanardi Foundation.  He has completed 177 of 263 possible laps thus
far at Houston, Laguna Seca and Surfers Paradise.  This weekend's season
finale is 250 laps.

**On Oct. 20, Mears qualified 15th and finished ninth driving the TropArtic
Pontiac in an ARCA series event at Talladega, Ala.  He also is set to
participate in next weekend's NASCAR Busch Series finale at Homestead, Fla.

CASEY MEARS QUOTES

"I've been looking forward to this race since I got out of the car here last
year.  I had no idea if I would even have a ride, but I sure wanted another
chance to do it again.  It was a great day.  We just hung in there and
managed to not get caught up in all the incidents that were happening around
us, and it paid off with a fourth-place finish.  It sure would be nice to go
one better and land on the podium, but there are never any guarantees in
these long races.  Even for the veteran drivers.  I feel awful for making a
rookie mistake at Australia last weekend.  We were doing so well, staying
out of trouble in all of our practice sessions and our first two races.  And
then I go into the first corner just a little too hot.  I guarantee I won't
make that mistake again.  The good thing is, we are all working better and
better as we go along.  And I've been feeling more and more comfortable in
the Pioneer-WorldCom car.  Five hundred miles is a long time to get
comfortable.  Once again, it'll be a matter of being there at the end and
making sure you have a shot at the front of the pack."

MORRIS NUNN - TEAM OWNER

**Last year here at Fontana, Nunn saw his team team conclude its first
season with Tony Kanaan behind the wheel of the #55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing
Honda-Reynard.  Kanaan qualified 12th but retired on Lap 88 with mechanical
problems.

**As technical director at Target/Chip Ganassi Racing during four
consecutive CART championship seasons by Jimmy Vasser (1996), Alex Zanardi
(1997-98) and Juan Montoya (1999), Nunn won here with Vasser in 1998 and was
second with Vasser in 1997.

**Nunn was reunited with Zanardi this season as the venerable Italian driver
came on board to pilot the #66 Pioneer-WorldCom/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard
before suffering serious injuries during the latter stages of the American
Memorial 500 on Sept. 15 in Lausitz, Germany.  Zanardi lost both of his legs
in the accident, but has progressed well while recovering in a Berlin
Hospital, from where he was released on Tuesday of this week.

MORRIS NUNN

"Here we are at the last race of the season.  It's a long way to this point
in the season, but with all the travel, and all that has happened this year,
for some reason it seems like not too long ago we were (opening the season)
in Monterrey, Mexico.  I think the last race of the season carries a little
extra excitement with it, partly because it is just that ... the last race
of the season.  It's usually a good race, and it pays a million dollars to
the winner.  So everyone's hopeful when they arrive, including us.  Ovals
have been our strong suit all year long and I don't see why that should be
any different for us this weekend.  Tony definitely has been overdue for his
first victory, and Casey almost came away from here with a podium finish
last year.  So, confidence-wise, we're in good shape.  I'm looking forward
to it."