Chevy on Front Row in Fontana

FONTANA, Calif., March 23, 2002 -- On a brisk and blustery day at
California Speedway, General Motors' 53-race, 62-month streak of
consecutive pole starts in Indy Racing League competition finally came to
an end. Jaques Lazier was the fastest Chevy driver today, qualifying on the
outside of the front row at 220.909 mph for Sunday's Yamaha Indy 400.

    "Butch Meyer (team manager) has our Chevrolet engine program
running extremely strong right now," said Lazier. "We're making good power
and the aerodynamics are working well. We're starting to come into our own
as a team."

    Chevy Indy V8 engines powered six of the top ten qualifiers. IRL
points leader Sam Hornish Jr. was fourth fastest at 219.410 mph in Pennzoil
Panther Racing's Chevrolet Dallara. Jaques' older brother Buddy turned the
seventh quickest lap at 218.656 mph in Hemelgarn Racing's Chevrolet
Dallara. Jeff Ward had the fastest Chevy-powered G-Force chassis at 218.241
mph, and Chevy stalwarts Al Unser Jr. and Felipe Giaffone rounded out the
top ten with Dallara chassis.

    Gusty winds that followed early morning showers challenged the IRL
teams who were making their first appearance on the 2.0-mile superspeedway.

    "We had a little push coming out of the corner," said Jaques. "If we
could have freed up the car and trimmed it out a little more, I think we
might have been a little faster -- but I'm very happy with our overall
result."

    Chevy Indy V8 engines won the pole in the first two IRL races of
the season in Miami and Phoenix. Today Eddie Cheever Jr. edged Lazier by
0.513 mph to claim Infiniti's first pole since the IRL introduced its
naturally aspirated engine formula in January 1997.

    "Infiniti has been running fast speeds at this track for some time
now, and we knew that eventually they would win a pole," said GM Racing
Group Manager Joe Negri. "This is the third event for the new Chevy Indy V8
engine package, and the first race on a superspeedway. The closeness of
the qualifying speeds is a good indication of the horsepower level that we
have achieved in a very short development cycle with the Chevy Indy V8. We
are continuing to develop this new package rapidly, and we're not done yet.
We are working on a new engine specification with the goal of putting a
Chevrolet driver on the pole for the Indianapolis 500."

    The Yamaha Indy 400 is the longest event before the Indy 500, and
several drivers predicted that it would become a race of attrition.

    "This race isn't about who's on the pole," said Hornish. "You saw
the competition we had on the short tracks, and when you get to a longer
track like this there are going to be even more cars running at the front.
If you lose the draft and have to lift off the throttle, you're going to go
toward the back. It's been a good year for me so far thanks to Chevrolet
and Speedway Engines, and I hope it continues tomorrow."

    Buddy Lazier agreed: "It's a long race and I don't think you need to
lead the first laps to be successful at the end of the day," said the 1996
Indy 500 winner. "I anticipate 400 miles of flat-out racing. Traffic will
upset the cars a little, but most everyone will be wide open. The winner
won't be determined until the very end."

    "Tomorrow is going to be a drafting game and we should be able to
run through the corners two or three abreast," predicted Al Unser Jr., who
will start ninth on the grid in Kelley Racing's Corteco Chevrolet Dallara.
"The lead will change two or three times a lap.

    "I had a good qualifying run, and I didn't really expect a 218,"
Unser noted. "It was a good run, and that's all she had."

TOP TEN QUALIFIERS
Pos./Driver/Engine/Speed
1. Eddie Cheever Jr., Infiniti, 221.422 mph
2. Jaques Lazier, Chevrolet, 220.909
3. Tomas Scheckter, Infiniti, 219.661
4. Sam Hornish Jr., Chevrolet, 219.410
5. Robbie Buhl, Infiniti, 219.268
6. Laurent Redon, Infiniti, 219.011
7. Buddy Lazier, Chevrolet, 218.656
8. Jeff Ward, Chevrolet, 218.241
9. Al Unser Jr., Chevrolet, 218.208
10. Felipe Giaffone, Chevrolet, 218.182

SCHEDULE
The Yamaha Indy 400 will start at 12:30 p.m. PST on Sunday, March 24.
The 200-lap, 400-mile race will be televised live on ESPN and broadcast
live on the IMS Radio Network.