Chevy IRL Kansas Qualifying

    KANSAS CITY, Kan., July 5, 2003 - Vitor Meira was the fastest
Chevy qualifier for Sunday's Kansas Indy 300 in Team Menard's Johns
Manville Chevrolet Dallara with a speed of 211.619 mph. The racer from
Brasilia, Brazil, qualified 17th on a midsummer day at Kansas Speedway that
made even his home in Brasilia, Brazil, seem mild in comparison. The track
temperature was 124 degrees when qualifying began. Scott Dixon took the
pole in a Toyota G Force at 218.08 mph.

    "It's hot for everybody, even Brazilians," said Meira, who is racing
for the first time at Kansas Speedway. "It's been good here. We've been one
of the quickest Chevys. The Menard engine shop has gained some horsepower.
We couldn't show it at Richmond and Pikes Peak, which are not really
horsepower tracks. Here we will be able to show our progress."

    Meira anticipates that the hot conditions will affect the pace of
the 300-mile race on the low-banked asphalt oval.

    "It's going to be tricky," he predicted. "By ourselves we're flat easy,
no problem. But for the race the car is going to have to handle good. We're
going to have to work really hard on this in the last practice to see what
we do in traffic and try the second groove. Everytime there is heat, you
have to conserve everything - your tires, your engine, the electronics,
everything. Heat's not good for race cars."

    Sam Hornish Jr. will start Pennzoil Panther Racing's Chevrolet
Dallara from the 18th spot on the grid with a 210.22 mph qualifying lap.
His car is wearing special Terminator 3 graphics this weekend promoting
"The Rise of the Machines."

    "You really have to maintain your tires here and stay out of
trouble," said Hornish. "The race will depend on the wind and depend on the
heat. We'll just keep working away at it. We were a little off what we were
running in practice, but qualifying was pretty much what we expected."

    Red Bull Cheever Racing driver Buddy Rice was third fastest among
the Chevy contingent at 209.288 mph, placing him 19th on the grid.

    "We never even trimmed our car out until qualifying because we were
more concerned about our race setup," Rice reported. "This is a track
that's really hot and there have been tire issues at past races. We're
concentrating very hard on full-tank setups. We need to make sure that we
don't lose the lead pack and stay up there in the draft. We need to finish
on one of these big speedways in the top 10."

    Buddy Lazier was the third car out in the qualifying order, and the
change in track conditions between practice and qualifying posed a problem
for the Hemelgarn Racing Delta Faucet/Life Fitness Chevrolet Dallara, which
qualified 21st at 208.88 mph.

    "At the end of practice we were in between fourth and fifth gears, so
we split the ratios for qualifying," Lazier explained. "We were surprised
we didn't pull more gear, but as the temperature goes up, the speed goes
down. We lost a little speed, but that's about what we expected. We're
looking for long runs in the race. The engineers tell me we cannot be more
trimmed out, and everyone here is flat out. Now it's a matter of making the
car work good in dirty air and try to draft as well as we can in the race."

    The Kansas Indy 300 will start at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 6.
The 200-lap, 300-mile race will be televised live on ABC and broadcast on
the IMS Radio Network.

KANSAS INDY 300 QUALIFYING SUMMARY:
Pos./Driver/Engine/Speed
1. Scott Dixon, Toyota, 218.085 mph
2. Tomas Scheckter, Toyota, 217.892
3. Tora Takagi, Toyota, 217.538
4. Gil de Ferran, Toyota, 215.855
5. Felipe Giaffone, Toyota 215.697

17. Vitor Meira, Chevrolet, 211.619
18. Sam Hornish Jr., Chevrolet, 210.224
19. Buddy Rice, Chevrolet, 209.881
20. Robbie Buhl, Chevrolet, 209.244
21. Buddy Lazier, Chevrolet, 208.883
22. Sarah Fisher, Chevrolet, 207.390