#17 Kanaan Indy 500 Race Notes/Quotes

Tony Kanaan

#17 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Chevrolet G-Force
86th Indianapolis 500 - Race Notes/Quotes - Sunday, May 26, 2002
Indianapolis Motor Speedway - 2.5-Mile Oval
Round 5 of 15 of the 2002 Indy Racing League

Tony Kanaan and the #17 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Chevrolet G-Force took
control of today's 86th Indianapolis 500 from the opening laps, but the
27-year-old Brazilian's bid to be the third consecutive rookie race winner
here came to an end just 89 laps into the 200-lap event when he spun in
another car's oil and made contact with the outside wall at Turn Three.  The
fastest rookie qualifier in the 33-car field, and the fastest car during
final Carburetion Day practice on Thursday, Kanaan started fifth and
gradually worked his way into the lead by Lap 64.  He led twice for a total
of 23 laps and was in the lead when the car of Bruno Junqueira had motor
trouble and subsequently spewed oil onto the track at Turn Three.  Kanaan
spun in the oil when he arrived in Turn Three, hit the wall and damaged the
car beyond repair.  He was not hurt in the accident.  Kanaan, who placed
27th, clocked the third-fastest lap of the race at 226.123 mph.

Meanwhile, Felipe Giaffone and the #21 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Chevrolet
G-Force also made a valiant bid for the win today before settling for a
third-place finish.  Giaffone started fourth and also ran with the leaders
throughout the day.  He led four times for a total of 11 laps, the last
three from Lap 174-176 before pitting a final time for a splash of fuel
under yellow.  He resumed in third place but chased down Paul Tracy for
second place and was about to pass Helio Castroneves for the lead on Lap 197
when he was held up by the lapped car of Dario Franchitti, Tracy's teammate.
Giaffone lost momentum at that point and Tracy regained second place.  The
race ended under caution after an accident involving Buddy Lazier and
Laurent Redon on the very next lap, just a lap-and-a-half from the checkered
flag.  Castroneves went on to win for the second year in a row with Tracy
second, just ahead of Giaffone.

Kanaan and his #10 Pioneer-WorldCom/Mo Nunn Racing Honda return to the 2002
CART FedEx Championship Series next weekend for Round Four, the Miller Lite
225 at Milwaukee.

TONY KANAAN

"It was a real shame.  I had a great, great car today after just awesome
work all month long by my team.  I feel really bad that it happened, and I
feel really bad for the guys because they gave me the best car on the
racetrack today.  I was very comfortable from the very beginning and we made
hardly any changes to the car all day.  All I know is, I spun in somebody's
oil and that was it.  I guess that's the price you pay for being in first
place ... you get to the oil slick first.  But I had a blast.  At least I
can say I led the Indy 500 my very first time out.  This is what racing is
all about.  The people here are great.  I'm really thankful to Hollywood and
WorldCom for giving me this opportunity.  At least I leave here in one
piece.  Unfortunately, the car isn't."

MORRIS NUNN

"Well, considering this is our first Indy 500 as a team, I guess it's nice
to leave here with a third-place finish.  We definitely expected to run as
strongly as we did, especially after the first week of practice here and our
qualifying effort.  It's a pity what happened to Tony.  But that's racing.
Everybody did such a great job and I'm sure Tony's feeling bad about what
happened.  But I hope someday soon this all becomes a positive memory for
him.  As for Felipe, he's disappointed, too, that he didn't get the win.
But we got third place and we have to accept that graciously.  After that
first week of practice, we knew we would have competitive cars and that both
drivers had a good chance to win the race.  Hey, we're newcomers to the IRL
and we had a strong showing.  There were maybe a couple of question marks
that we erased today, and I know a year from now we're going to be that much
stronger and that much more confident here."