26 Chevys Among 33 Qualifiers -Indy 500 Field

INDIANAPOLIS, May 19, 2002 -- Chevy Indy V8 engines powered eight of the
nine Bump Day qualifiers today for the Indianapolis 500, increasing the
ranks of the Bowtie brigade to 26 of the 33 drivers for next Sunday's
Indianapolis 500. The field is the fastest in the history of the
Indianapolis 500 with an average speed of 228.648 mph, a 5.345 mph increase
over last year's field average. Chevrolet has become the overwhelming
choice of Indy car drivers since the Division's return to open-wheel
competition this season with the new Chevy Indy V8 engine.

For the second straight year, Billy Boat was the man on the bubble
when qualifying concluded. Boat, the slowest qualifier last weekend at
226.589 mph, crashed his backup car in morning practice, then had to wait
while his Curb-Agajanian crew rebuilt the damaged Chevrolet Dallara in
preparation for another run. Eleven drivers completed qualifying runs
today, but Boat was still afloat when rain ended qualifications one hour
and nine minutes before the scheduled 6 p.m. conclusion.

"We got lucky today," said Boat, whose qualifying speed was faster than
Scott Sharp's pole-winning speed last year. "Mother Nature and the good
Lord played into our hands. We took a gamble on Pole Day to take that
speed. It was tight, but we held out."

With storm clouds gathering, teams were under pressure to secure a
starting spot as quickly as possible. Two-time Indy 500 winner Arie
Luyendyk was the first driver to qualify today, and his Treadway Racing
Chevrolet G-Force set the pace with a 228.848 mph average speed for four
laps around the 2.5-mile speedway. Michael Andretti withdrew the car he
qualified last weekend, then requalified with Team Green's backup
Chevy-powered Motorola Dallara at 228.713 mph. Indy 500 rookie Alex Barron
was third on today's time sheet in Blair Racing's Rayovac Chevy Dallara at
228.580 mph.

"I was nervous, but after this morning's practice I felt a lot better,"
said Luyendyk, who won the Indy 500 in 1990 and 1997 with General Motors
engines. "The car can go quicker but we didn't tune it to win the pole. We
just wanted to put it in the show."

Luyendyk's qualifying speed would have put him in the middle of the fifth
row if he had qualified on Pole Day. Instead, under the race's unique
qualifying format, he will start on the eighth row.

Andretti was the fastest of the three Team Green drivers who qualified
today in Chevrolet Dallaras, and he credited his teammates Paul Tracy and
Dario Franchitti for his increased speed this weekend.

"We worked on the car and setup all week," said Andretti, third-place
finisher in last year's Indy 500. "Paul, Dario and I all contributed to the
speed of the three cars.

"I had confidence in the team that they were going to give me the car to
run four fast laps, and they did," he continued. "We had to requalify with
the backup car; we were too vulnerable with the last week's time. I thought
it was the right thing to do, and it turned out to be."

"We knew qualifying would be a bit of a struggle, but not this
much," Franchitti said with a laugh after qualifying for his first Indy
500. "This is a great feeling -- definitely a better feeling than two days
ago. It's been a frustrating time but we're quite happy with our qualifying
run. We decided to go what we know; my guys are experienced engineers and
we're experienced drivers. The guys at Speedway Engines certainly helped us
with the Chevy engines."

Alex Barron brought a historic name back to the speedway when he
qualified Blair Racing's Chevrolet Dallara using a Chevy Indy V8 prepared
by McLaren Engines.

"The McLaren guys have been working hard, and it showed today that their
hard work has paid off," said Barron, who rebounded from a crash in
practice. "I ran faster on Bump Day than we have all month. We owe a lot to
McLaren."

Four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt put a pair of Chevrolet Dallaras in
the show, with drivers Airton Dare (227.760 mph) and Greg Ray (227.155
mph).

"I really didn't have doubts," declared Ray, who will start on the last
row this year after four consecutive front-row starts. "I actually thought
I'd be a little quicker. I was flat-out right from the pits and that was
all it had. We had some big exit speeds at 228, 229 mph, but we weren't
making speed down the straights. I think we taped off the radiators too
much and got the motor really hot. We were going to change to a qualifying
engine, but we weren't running for the front row so we used a practice
motor. We just wanted to be in the show."

Dare explained that he had taken a similar approach: "We were
very conservative with the car. We ran a bit more downforce than we should
have, and probably could have run faster if we had trimmed the car out
more. We weren't going to gain ten positions. We're in and that's what's
important. The car will be really good in the race."

George Mack became the second African-American to qualify for the Indy
500. His 310 Racing G-Force turned a four-lap average 227.150 mph to claim
the 32nd starting spot with a Menard-prepared Chevy Indy V8.

"Considering all the problems we've had, I'm happy with that," said Mack.
"The engine did its job."

Chevrolet returned in strength to the famed Speedway where Chevy
engines scored six consecutive victories in 1988-93.

"The Bowtie is definitely back in open-wheel racing," said Glenn Tayler,
GM Racing IRL marketing manager. "Our goal was to make the new Chevy Indy
V8 the engine of choice at the Indy 500, and with 26 of the 33 drivers
using Chevrolet engines we have achieved that objective. Chevrolet has a
great tradition at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that began with company
co-founder Louis Chevrolet and continued with the first-generation Chevy
Indy V8. We look forward to writing the next chapter in Chevrolet's
motorsports history next weekend when the 50th Anniversary Corvette Pace
Car leads the field to the green flag."

The 86th running of the Indianapolis 500 will begin at 12 noon EDT (11
a.m. local time) on Sunday, May 26. The 200-lap, 500-mile race will be
televised live on ABC and broadcast live on the IMS Radio Network.

INDIANAPOLIS 500 QUALIFIERS
Pos./Driver/Engine/Speed
Row 1
1. Bruno Junqueira, Chevrolet, 231.342 mph
2. Robbie Buhl, Infiniti, 231.033 mph
3. Raul Boesel, Chevrolet, 230.613
Row 2
4. Felipe Giaffone, Chevrolet, 230.326
5. Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 230.253
6. Eddie Cheever Jr., Infiniti, 229.786
Row 3
7. Sam Hornish Jr., Chevrolet, 229.585
8. Scott Sharp, Chevrolet, 229.486
9. Sarah Fisher, Infiniti, 229.439
Row 4
10. Tomas Scheckter, Infiniti, 229.210
11. Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 229.127
12. Al Unser Jr., Chevrolet, 229.058
Row 5
13. Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 229.052
14. Gil de Ferran, Chevrolet, 228.671
15. Jeff Ward, Chevrolet, 228.557
Row 6
16. Laurent Redon, Infiniti, 228.106
17. Rick Treadway, Chevrolet, 228.039
18. Max Papis, Infiniti, 227.941
Row 7
19. Jimmy Vasser, Chevrolet, 227.743
20. Buddy Lazier, Chevrolet, 227.495
21. Kenny Brack, Chevrolet, 227.240
Row 8
22. Richie Hearn, Chevrolet, 227.233
23. Billy Boat, Chevrolet, 226.589
24. Arie Luyendyk, Chevrolet, 228.848
Row 9
25. Michael Andretti, Chevrolet, 228.713
26. Alex Barron, Chevrolet, 228.580
27. Shigeaki Hattori, Infiniti, 228.192
Row 10
28. Dario Franchitti, Chevrolet, 228.177
29. Paul Tracy, Chevrolet, 228.006
30. Airton Dare, Chevrolet, 227.760
Row 11
31. Greg Ray, Chevrolet, 227.155
32. George Mack, Chevrolet, 227.150
33. Mark Dismore, Chevrolet, 227.096


  E-mail from: Rick Voegelin, 19-May-2002