Bell Wins BIG at Fontana !

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                       

Contact:        James Hyneman
        jhyneman@compuserve.com


                TOWNSEND BELL FINISHES INDY LIGHTS CAREER IN STYLE BY
WINNING
                        THE FINAL ROUND IN SERIES HISTORY AT FONTANA
                Damien Faulkner Finishes Third Place in the Indy Lights
Championship

        FONTANA, Calif. (Nov. 5, 2001) - - A more noble champion may be
hard to define when drawing comparisons between Townsend Bell and the
previous 15 champions of the Dayton Indy Lights Championship. 

        Bell won the final race in 16-year history of the Indy Lights
Championship, Sunday, Nov. 4, at California Speedway. He closed an era of
one of motorsports greatest major-league support series in a style and
dignity befitting a worthy champion itself - the Dayton Indy Lights
Championship.  

        Bell, of San Luis Obispo, Calif., made it look literally easy in
cruising to his sixth victory of 2001 simply because it was for him. He
started from the pole led every lap, and again was unchallenged. He
completed the rain-delayed 44-lap (89.276 miles) race in 29:22.667 minutes
at an average speed of 182.334 mph around the 2.029-mile oval. The only
driver to nearly compete with Bell was race runner-up Dan Wheldon, of
England. Despite Wheldon's efforts on the final lap, he never really had a
chance albeit he finished 0.051-seconds behind Bell at the checkered flag.

        "I figured we had a good shot at winning again," said a jubilant
Bell. "We had an excellent car. My engineer, Gerald Tyler, again created a
perfect set-up. He had it fast and dialed in from the get-go as evidenced
in qualifying. We were the last to qualify and the track was warming but
the car ran well anyway. This was a great way to finish my Indy Lights
career. We won poles and races, led a lot of laps, and had fun doing so."

        Bell had wrapped up the Dayton Indy Lights Championship one race
ago at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. He started from the pole (186.823 mph)
for his eighth time in the last nine Indy Lights races and controlled the
entire race pace. Only Wheldon was capable of sneaking behind Bell's
gearbox on the race start and stay the duration. 

        "I took Dan (Wheldon) for a guided tour of the high-line with a few
laps to go," teased Bell. "It kept it interesting. Seriously, we both had
great cars. When you're running first and second and nobody else is in
sight behind Dan, it became a bit testy when he popped out and hit the air
without any help from behind. It was tough to get a run around the outside.
That would have required longer driving radius more distance to cover on an
already speedy track." 

        It was his sixth victory in 2001 and eighth career Indy Lights race
win over his 24-race Indy Lights career. Bell's other wins came at Mid-Ohio
and St. Louis in 2000; and Long Beach, Milwaukee, Toronto, Mid-Ohio, and
Laguna Seca this year. California Speedway also marked the fifth time in
2001 that he scored a 22-point race win sweep.

        The race's only yellow flag was on its start when CART officials
waved it off for an uneven alignment exiting turn four. The majority of the
"racing" was in the remaining "pack" of cars behind Bell and Wheldon. The
top-two eventually built more than a 17-second lead over all others.

        "It's likely I'll end up in CART next year but we're still working
on some things," Bell shared in a post race interview. "I sure hope I'm
racing in that series. That has been my goal from the start dating back to
when I began racing in the Barber Dodge Pro Series five years ago. It's
neat to be knocking on the door of realizing that dream. I hope to have
things finalized soon and begin the business of preparing for next year."

        It was a disappointing race for Dorricott Racing's rookie Damien
Faulkner, of Moville, Ireland. Faulkner started sixth and needed to finish
ahead of Wheldon to secure Rookie of the Year honors. Faulkner, however,
became entangled by the "pack" at the race start. He was forced to run a
high line to avoid contact with slower cars, but in doing so was forced
away from reasonable "drafting" partners. His seventh place race finish
handed him a Championship Third Place with 141 points. His season included
two victories at Portland and Texas Motor Speedway.
        
        The race was originally scheduled for 50-laps, but was shortened
six laps due to an early morning rain delay. There was an "upside" to the
delay. It set the race schedules back such that "live" telecast time on
ESPN became available for the Indy Lights race. It was a measure of respect
that CART officials decided to provide a live telecast of the series final
race on ESPN2. 

        Bonus awards to Dorricott Racing include a pair of Dayton Daytona
racing tires for Bell being the top qualifier. Bell also claimed the Racing
For Kids Driver Performance Award of $500. An additional $1,500 will be
presented to the Loma Linda Children's Hospital, in Loma Linda, Calif., on
behalf of Bell and Racing For Kids.

        Jon Fogarty, of Portola Valley, Calif., finished the Indy Lights
season in 11th place overall with 48 points. Substitute driver Geoff Boss,
of Narragansett, R.I., finished 13th with 11 points and two races completed
at Toronto and Mid-Ohio.

        Bell led the most Indy Lights laps in 2001 with 385, and completed
the most laps of the season with 597 out of a possible race 609. Bell
completed every lap run on road courses with 251 as well as leading 144
road course laps. He also logged a total of 1,003.814 miles out a possible
1,019.478 race miles. Faulkner completed the third most laps of the season
with 565 laps.

        The United States captured the prestigious Nations Cup with 193
points behind the results of Bell and fellow U.S. Indy Lights drivers Jon
Fogarty (Dorricott Racing), Cory Witherill, Geoff Boss (Dorricott Racing),
and Larry Mason. The Nation's Cup recognizes the country whose drivers earn
the most combined points in the Dayton Indy Lights Championship. 

        Bell is the 16th different Dayton Indy Lights champion since the
series inception in 1986 and the first American to win the championship
since current CART FedEx star Bryan Herta in 1993. Bell's victory at
California Speedway moved him into a fourth-place tie with Herta in overall
wins for the Dayton Indy Lights Championship with eight.
 
        2001 was the 10th year of competition in the Dayton Indy Lights
Championship for team-owner Bob Dorricott. California Speedway was his 16th
victory 230 Indy Lights starts. It propelled Dorricott Racing into the
registry of Indy Lights' most elite teams alongside legendary performers
Tasman Motorsports and Player's/Forsythe Racing.

        Detailed race results, team, and sponsor information are available
on Dorricott Racing's official web site, http://www.dorricottracing.com.

        An encore telecast of the final race in Dayton Indy Lights
Championship history is scheduled on ESPN2 for Thursday, Nov. 8, at 4:30
a.m. ET (3:30 a.m. CT; 1:30 a.m. PT). All times are subject to change.

                                        #     #     #