Hornish and Chevy Fourth in Richmond IRL

    RICHMOND, Va., June 28, 2003 - If the measure of a racer is the ability
to overcome adversity, Chevrolet driver Sam Hornish Jr. again proved his
standing as an open-wheel master in tonight's SunTrust Indy Challenge at
Richmond International Raceway. Reprising his come-from-behind performance
in the preceding event in Colorado, Hornish overcame a pit lane collision,
a damaged front end and a power outage that temporarily darkened portions
of the challenging .75-mile oval. The one thing that Hornish and the
Pennzoil Panther team could not overcome was the rain that brought the race
to a premature conclusion. When the red and checkered flags flew after 206
of the 250 scheduled laps, Hornish was running in fourth place, posting his
and Chevrolet's best finish of the year. Scott Dixon scored his third
victory of the season in Ganassi Racing's Toyota G Force.

    "We would have liked to finish under green and see if we could have
caught him," said Hornish, last year's Richmond winner. "It was going to be
hard because Scott had a good car tonight, but I think maybe we had a
little bit for him."

    Hornish started third on the 22-car grid, moving up from his
fourth qualifying spot when No. 3 qualifier Tora Takagi started at the back
in his spare car. Hornish was running third when he made his first pit stop
on Lap 63 following a crash in Turn 2 by Vitor Meira. Contact with Felipe
Giaffone in the pit lane and several subsequent stops to inspect for damage
dropped Hornish to 14th, the last driver on the lead lap.

    "I couldn't see Giaffone until it was too late," Hornish explained. "I
hit the brakes, we bumped wheel to wheel and bent the right-front tie rod
and broke the wing. We figured we'd just go out there and keep pushing
hard. It took a little of the balance away, but we were still running fast.

    "We haven't had the best of luck in the pits this year, but the team
will keep rallying and keep trying to win races," Hornish noted. "Sooner or
later we're going to get to the winner's circle.

    Hornish was characteristically modest after his second
virtuoso performance in as many races.

    "I never thought I'd be able to race Indy cars," he revealed. "I
never thought that I had the talent or would get the opportunity to do it.
The fact that I get to do it, even if it's a bad day it's better than
working in a fast-food restaurant."

    Buddy Rice was the second Chevy driver to finish on the lead lap,
bringing Red Bull Cheever Racing's Chevrolet Dallara home in ninth place.
He notched his third top-10 finish of the season and maintained his perfect
finishing record in 2003.

    "It's too bad the race got stopped early because of the rain," said
Rice after his first race on the Richmond bullring. "You know it's a bad
sign when you see spray coming off the tires of the cars on an oval track.
If it hadn't started raining, I think we could have gained a couple more
positions."

    Quick pit stops by the Cheever Racing team gained valuable track
position for Rice. "The crew couldn't have been any better today," he
declared. "When we came in we picked up spots each time. The pit stops were
just superb, that's what helped us move up. We brought it home again in one
piece, so that's a big help."

    Sarah Fisher started her GMAC/AOL Dreyer & Reinbold Chevrolet Dallara
on the outside of the front row, but fell back with handling problems.

    "We are obviously disappointed with our performance tonight," Fisher
said. "Once the race started, our tire pressures went away, and it made the
car real loose. We chased it the whole race and just could not find the
solution. We've got to go back to the shop, evaluate it and see what
happened so next week we will be ready to race again."

    Vitor Meira's race ended early after a close encounter with the
concrete wall on Lap 56 in Team Menard's Chevrolet Dallara.

    "There was traffic inside of me, but it was my mistake," Meira
conceded. "This track is tough because it very intensive here."

    IRL teams will celebrate the Fourth of July weekend in Kansas City,
Kan., where they will contest the Kansas Indy 500 at the 1.5-mile Kansas
Speedway 1.5-mile oval on July 6. The race will be televised on ABC at 1
p.m. EDT.

RACE SUMMARY
Track: Richmond International Raceway, .75-mile oval
Winner: Scott Dixon/Target Ganassi Racing Toyota G Force
Margin of Victory: Under caution
Average Speed: 106.798 mph
Pole: Scott Dixon/Toyota, 168.138 mph
Fastest Lap: Tomas Scheckter/Toyota, 157.523 mph

RESULTS
Pos./Driver/Engine/Laps
1. Scott Dixon/Toyota, 206
2. Helio Castroneves/Toyota, 206
3. Gil de Ferran/Toyota, 206
4. Sam Hornish Jr./Chevrolet, 206
5. Tony Kanaan/Honda, 206

9. Buddy Rice/Chevrolet, 206
15. Robbie Buhl/Chevrolet, 205
19. Sarah Fisher/Chevrolet, 200
20. Buddy Lazier/Chevrolet, 200
22. Vitor Meira/Chevrolet, 54

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (after 7 of 16 events)
Driver/Engine/Points (victories in parentheses)

1. Tony Kanaan/Honda, 247 (1)
2. Scott Dixon/Toyota, 220 (3)
3. Helio Castroneves/Toyota, 207
4. Gil de Ferran/Toyota, 202 (1)
5. Al Unser Jr./Toyota, 187 (1)
   Kenny Brack/Honda, 187

Manufacturer/Points (victories in parentheses)
1. Toyota, 67 (6)
2. Honda, 50 (1)
3. Chevrolet, 37

NEXT EVENT
July 6, Kansas Indy 300, Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.
TV: ABC, 1 p.m. Eastern