Luis Diaz WINS POLE at Monterrey

         MONTERREY, Mexico (March 9) - - Luis Diaz, of Mexico City, proved
to be the fastest driver for the opening round of the 12-race Toyota
Atlantic Championship at Monterrey, Mexico, by winning the pole position
outright for today's race. Diaz set another track record with a blistering
lap of 1:27.089 (86.973 mph) around the 12-turn, 2.104-mile Fundidora Park
to capture his first career pole position in a major international racing
series. Diaz's record time broke the existing track record he set yesterday
of 1:28.568 (85.521 mph).

        The 32 lap/67.2 mile opening round of the 2002 Toyota Atlantic
Championship is set to drop the green flag today at 3:00 p.m. (CT). It is
the featured support race for tomorrow's CART FedEx Championship Series
Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix.

        New CART mandated qualifying enhancements provided Diaz with one
bonus point for his provisional pole on Friday. Because he was fastest in
second round qualifying, he earned another bonus point. Joey Hand, of
Sacramento, Calif., will start on the outside pole with a time of 1:27.515
(86.550 mph).

        "My car kept getting faster but that's about my crew's hard work
and my engineer, Gerald Tyler," said Diaz. "Gerald is an amazing engineer.
He made the car go faster. I didn't change anything. He just tuned the car
a bit more and that was all it needed. I expected to go faster this morning
but not this much faster. I figured two-tenths of a second at best from
yesterday. I think a one-half second gain is a lot for this track."

        Teammate Alex Gurney, of Newport Beach, Calif., was Diaz's closest
challenger on Friday with the second fastest time. After a slow start,
Gurney kicked it up a notch and finished third fastest overall at 1:27.643
(86.423 mph). This was a significant improvement from his best lap of
1:28.771 (85.325 mph) in provisional qualifying.

        "We were experimenting in the first part of the session," said
Gurney. "I started on the same tires as yesterday. It didn't feel right. We
ended up changing tires and settings in the middle of qualifying but lost
around 15 minutes of track time. When I went back, my radio was bugging me
with a loud beeping noise. It wouldn't go away so I was trying to yank it
out for a couple of laps. I had a few clear laps at the end and a couple of
'ok' ones. We still have same space before catching Luis."

        Jon Fogarty, of Portola Valley, Calif., entered qualifying as
arguably the fastest driver for Dorricott Racing but his car was sidelined
most of provisional qualifying with a broken gearbox. Fogarty's crew pulled
a virtual "all-nighter" to repair his motor and the results were self
evident. Fogarty ran in the front of the 23-car field for most of final
qualifying but chose not to chance a late session red-flag. He exited
qualifying with three minutes remaining. His Thomas Fogarty Winery and
Vineyards Swift 014.a qualified  fourth overall with a time of 1:27.703
(86.364 mph). This was a major leap from Friday's slower time of 1:29.194
(84.921 mph).

        "We obviously corrected yesterday's gearbox problem," said Fogarty.
"Regardless, I don't think we could have run a time to beat Luis but had we
stayed out, maybe we would have had the time to stay second place. The new
set of tires we used didn't give us what we needed. Perhaps we changed
tires a little late when the track was going away. The track wasn't as good
in the second half of the session. People were dropping wheels and getting
dirt and grass all over it. At least we're better than we were yesterday."

        Speed Channel will provide a same-day delayed telecast of the
Monterrey Toyota Atlantic Championship race from 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET
(6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PT), Saturday, March 9. 

        Dorricott Racing is a year-round professional motorsports
organization with its race shop located in Bakersfield, Calif. Detailed
race results, team, and sponsor information are available on Dorricott
Racing's official web site, http://www.dorricottracing.com.