Hornish Top Chevy Qualifier at MIS

Contact: Rick Voegelin
rickvoegelin@compuserve.com
GM Racing Communications
(831) 761-2201


Hornish Leads Chevy Contingent in Michigan IRL Qualifying

BROOKLYN, Mich., July 27, 2002 -- Sam Hornish Jr. was the top Chevrolet
driver in qualifying for Sunday's Michigan Indy 400 the inaugural Indy
Racing League event at Michigan International Speedway. Hornish lapped the
2-mile track at 219.580 mph to post the fourth fastest speed. Hornish will
start on the outside of the second row, the same starting position from
which he won at California Speedway, a twin to the Michigan track.
Chevrolet's undefeated Chevy Indy V8 engine took six of the top 10 starting
spots.

"We surprised ourselves and ran faster with our Chevrolet than we
expected," Hornish said. "We didn't know what was going to happen in
qualifying because there were so many guys running in the draft in
practice. Tomorrow we find out what everyone can do in the race.

"We don't get caught up in qualifying, and that's helped Panther Racing
excel over the years," Hornish explained. "It's all about what the car is
going to do in the race. Andy Brown (team engineer) is very meticulous
about that instead of worrying about qualifying. That usually works to our
advantage. I think we'll see a lot of three and four-wide racing -- and I
hope I'm ahead of it."

Mark Dismore turned in his best qualifying performance of the season, and
will start Team Menard's Chevrolet Dallara from fifth on the grid after
qualifying the Johns Manville entry at 219.634 mph.

"I'm really happy," said the veteran driver. "Butch Meyer and the
Menard Engine Group gave me a strong Chevy engine. We just keep making
progress. Yesterday we were having a hard time with the chassis and made
some huge changes. We went out this morning and the car was better, but not
as good as it needed to be. We hit it pretty close for qualifying. That was
about all there was, and the car was running very free. I think we have a
good chance."

Alex Barron, winner of the preceding race in Nashville, continued
Blair Racing's momentum and earned the seventh starting position for the
Rayovac Chevrolet Dallara at 218.634 mph.

"Going into qualifying I knew we had a good balance and we had taken a lot
of drag out of the car," Barron explained. "In practice everyone is running
in the draft so there's an unknown element. The race is really long;
unless you're going for the pole, you want to work on race setups. With
what Chevrolet has done for us, I think we're going to be a contender."

A.J. Foyt Racing returned in strength after all three of A.J.'s entries
were damaged in Nashville. Eliseo Salazar was the fastest of the Foyt trio,
putting the Harrah's Chevrolet Dallara ninth on the grid.

"After Nashville, coming to Michigan is a stroll in the park,"
Salazar laughed. "A.J. always has good strategies and I feel our car is
going to be good in traffic. I believe we can win the race."

Buddy Lazier's travails continued today. After running near the front
in practice, he qualified Hemelgarn Racing's Chevrolet Dallara a
disappointing 15th.

"We want to do well for (team owner) Ron Hemelgarn at his home track, but
we also want to do well for ourselves," Lazier said. "We're racing to win,
and that's why we go racing. That's as fast as the car would go, just flat
out. We need to make some changes. Handling is going to come into it; this
is a flatter race track than many we run on, and you're going to need a car
that handles well at the end of the race."

The Michigan Indy 400 will start at 3:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 28.
The 400-mile, 200-lap race will be televised live on ABC and broadcast live
on the IMS Radio Network.

TOP TEN QUALIFIERS
Pos./Driver/Engine/Speed
1. Tomas Scheckter, Infiniti, 221.868 mph
2. Buddy Rice, Infiniti, 221.831
3. Eddie Cheever Jr., Infiniti, 220.328
4. Sam Hornish Jr., Chevrolet, 219.580
5. Mark Dismore, Chevrolet, 219.295
6. Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 219.091
7. Alex Barron, Chevrolet, 218.634
8. Sarah Fisher, Infiniti, 218.618
9. Eliseo Salazar, Chevrolet, 218.602
10. Tony Renna, Chevrolet, 218.561

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  E-mail from: Rick Voegelin, 27-Jul-2002