#21 Giaffone IRL Texas Friday Practice

Giaffone 10th Overall in Friday Practice for Sunday's Chevy 500

FORT WORTH, Texas (Friday, Sept. 13, 2002) -- Felipe Giaffone and the #21 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Chevrolet G-Force had the eighth-fastest lap during today's afternoon practice session and the 10th-fastest lap of the day in preparation for Sunday's Chevy 500 Indy Racing League season finale at Texas Motor Speedway.  Giaffone finished the day with a fast lap of 23.8345 seconds (219.765 mph) over the 1.5-mile high-banked tri-oval.  He got off to a rather slow start in this morning's opening session with a lap of 24.0303 seconds (217.975 mph) that was 18th in the session.  Giaffone has already locked up fourth place in the IRL championship and has a shot at picking up a spot in the standings Sunday if he can finish sixth or better in the race. 
Vitor Meira was fastest overall on the day with his morning practice lap of 23.6524  seconds (221.457 mph), followed by Eddie Cheever, Jr.'s morning time of 23.6800 seconds (221.199 mph).  Scott Sharp's afternoon time of 23.7193 seconds (220.833 mph) was fastest for that session and third-fastest on the day.  Points leader Sam Hornish, Jr., was just 11th-fastest overall while Helio Castroneves, second in the points and the only other driver capable of capturing the season championship this weekend, was sixth-fastest overall.


Practice resumes Saturday morning with qualifying set for 1 p.m. local time (2 p.m. EDT).  Race time Sunday is 2 p.m. local time (3 p.m. EDT) with a live broadcast set for ABC-TV. 

FELIPE GIAFFONE


"It was a day of ups and downs.  Our car was not good in the morning practice. We just couldn't find the best setup for this track.  The car was quick but did not work well in traffic.  We finished the first practice in 18th position.  In the afternoon, things got better.  We went back to the setup we used in the race here last June, when I finished fifth.  We changed the suspension and it worked perfectly in the draft and in traffic.  We were eighth in the afternoon and 10th overall.  So here we are again with a good car for the race, but not so good for the qualifying session.  It's okay.  What I really want is to win the race and finish third in the points in the first year for the Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Team in the IRL."