#17 Kanaan Indy 500 May 10 Practice

Tony Kanaan

#17 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Chevrolet G-Force
86th Indianapolis 500 - Practice Notes/Quotes - Friday, May 10, 2002
Indianapolis Motor Speedway - 2.5-Mile Oval
Round 5 of 15 on the 2002 Indy Racing League

Tony Kanaan wrapped up his first week of practice for the 86th Indianapolis
500 today with his fastest laps of the week.  First, Kanaan put his #17
Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Chevrolet G-Force through the paces for 20 laps
early in today's seven-hour practice session, the final full day of practice
before Pole Day qualifying on Saturday.  He reached 228.702 mph on his
fastest lap around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, the
20th-fastest lap among the 48 cars that took to the track today, and then
parked the car for the rest of the afternoon.  Kanaan then wrapped up the
day in the #21T Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Chevrolet G-Force back-up car and
broke the 230-mph barrier during a series a mock four-lap qualifying runs.
His lap of 230.410 mph was the ninth-fastest lap of the day overall.  Kanaan
completed 14 laps in the 21T Hollywood car and 20 laps in his #17 Hollywood
car.

Kanaan's teammate Felipe Giaffone and the #21 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing
Chevrolet G-Force had mechanical problems early in the day that sent the car
back to the garage for most of the afternoon after completing just 10 laps.
Repairs were completed shortly after the 5 o'clock hour began and Giaffone
was quickly up to speed, clocking a fast lap of 230.965 mph just four laps
after taking the track.  He completed a total of 22 laps today.  Nunn drew
the third spot in the qualifying order for Giaffone.  The 21T back-up car is
in the 74th spot in the qualifying order.

Defending race-winner Helio Castroneves turned the fastest lap of the day at
232.087 mph, followed by Robbie Buhl at 231.603 mph, and Tomas Scheckter at
231.600 mph.

Teams take to the track for final practice prior to qualifying beginning at
8 a.m. Saturday.  Pole Day qualifying begins at 11 a.m. local time (noon
EDT).  Live television coverage begins on ESPN at noon EDT, and then on ABC
beginning at 1 p.m. EDT.

Team owner Morris Nunn drew the numbers for all three Hollywood cars during
tonight's qualifying draw.  He pulled the third spot in the qualifying order
for Giaffone's primary #21 Hollywood car, the 25th spot for Kanaan's #17
Hollywood car, and the 74th spot for the #21T Hollywood back-up car.

TONY KANAAN

"I'm very satisfied with my entire day today.  Our goal was not to leave
here with the fastest lap of the day.  We want that tomorrow.  My car did
everything I asked it to do.  It's as close to perfect as you can get.  We
were out there on old tires and I was consistently in the mid-228s during
the hottest part of the day.  And then we got the back-up car set up well,
too.  Felipe had some problems in the morning, but it was good to see the
crew did an excellent job getting his car ready for a final run this
afternoon.  So we're in pretty good shape for tomorrow as a team.  This will
be my first time doing the Pole Day routine.  I don't know how much
experience counts on Pole Day, because I don't know what to expect.  But I
know I'm in the capable hands of people who have been here a lot and really
know the ropes.  We're definitely going for the pole tomorrow."

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