Championship Contenders Pruett and Miller Take Cleveland Front Row

July 3, 2003

CLEVELAND ‹ Scott Pruett¹s and Johnny Miller¹s quest for the 2003 Trans-Am
Series for the BFGoodrich® Tires Cup Drivers¹ Championship continued on
Thursday at Burke Lakefront Airport as they earned the top-two starting
positions for Friday¹s Trans-Am on the Tarmac race. For Pruett, the
one-minute, and 13.145-second effort earned the driver of the No. 7 Jaguar R
Performance XKR his fifth pole this season. Miller, driver of the No. 64
Eaton Cutler-Hammer Jaguar XKR, qualified second, his third top-three
qualifying performance this season. Pruett leads Miller by just 19 points
going into Friday¹s race.

For his efforts, Pruett won the Jaguar Pole Award, a performance-based
initiative that rewards drivers who earn the pole at each of the Trans-Am
Series¹ events this season. Polesitters will receive a key‹regardless of
what type of car they race‹which, at the culmination of the season, they
will use to attempt to open the door to a 2004 Jaguar XK8, during a formal
ceremony. The driver whose key opens the vehicle will win a one-year lease
on the car.

Stu Hayner (No. 2 Trenton Forging/GMAC Commercial Finance Chevrolet
Corvette) was third quickest, ahead of Michael Lewis (No. 12 Westward
Tools/The Crank Jaguar XKR) and Paul Gentilozzi (No. 3 Jaguar R Performance
XKR).

³This track has always been good to me,² said Pruett who also earned two
bonus Championship Points for the pole. ³It¹s one of those tracks you can be
aggressive with. You can take chances. You can make those big, bold moves
and slide off the race track and continue. That breeds just an awesome race.

³The fireworks are going to fly on the Fourth of July,² added Pruett, who
also earned his 25th career pole, tying Scott Sharp for third on the
all-time fast qualifying list. ³I¹ve been here so many times. You think and
plan how you¹re going to handle turn one, and when the green flag waves,
that all goes out the window. It is what it is. You go into turn one. If
it¹s a cat fight down there, then we¹ll get in there and fight. You just
never know what to expect. Some guys are going to try to make some moves,
and that could be a problem.²

Miller, who¹s sponsor Eaton Corporation makes its home in Cleveland, hopes
his second-fastest effort will translate into a victory on Friday.

³The car wasn¹t perfect by any means, so that¹s kind of a good thing,² said
Miller. ³When you string it out there, your car is perfect and you¹re not on
the pole, you really start asking questions. It gives you a little more
confidence to make some changes. We¹re going to go some different directions
in the morning. We should have a good car at the end of the race.

³We have 130 people from Eaton Corp. here today,² added Miller. ³Eaton¹s
boardroom overlooks the track, so we have a lot of folks coming and we want
to make them happy.²

Hayner hopes his third-fast effort will continue a string of successes he¹s
seen here.

³We tried some different things this year, that we haven¹t tried in previous
years, and it seemed to work,² said Hayner. ³All in all, I think we have a
good car. I¹m normally pretty green after a qualifying run, but this one
wasn¹t too bad. We¹re praying for rain. I love Cleveland. I¹ve been here
three times, I¹ve been on podium twice and had a dead battery the third
time. I love this track.

³We have about 80 people from GMAC Commercial Finance here this weekend, so
we¹re looking to put on a good show on Friday.²

The Trans-Am on the Tarmac, part of the U.S. Bank Presents Cleveland Grand
Prix, is scheduled to start at 5:40 p.m., prior to Champ Car World Series
practice on Friday, July 4. The race will air on a tape-delayed basis on
SPEED Channel, on Sunday, July 6 at 3:30 p.m. The Trans-Am Series is
America¹s oldest continuously running road racing series and is celebrating
its 38th anniversary this year.