Chevy Nashville IRL Results

Contact: Rick Voegelin
rickvoegelin@compuserve.com
GM Racing Communications
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Hornish's Chevy Shows the Way in Nashville

    NASHVILLE, Tenn., July 19, 2003 - Sam Hornish Jr. and his Chevy Indy
V8 made beautiful music tonight in Music City as his Pennzoil Panther
Chevrolet Dallara went from 20th on the grid to the lead on Lap 97 of the
Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway. Hornish led four of the 200
laps, putting Chevy on the point for the first time in 2003. He
relinquished the lead with a green-flag pit stop on Lap 101, but ran the
fastest lap of the race at 203.757 mph on the 190th circuit and finished
11th. Gil de Ferran won the 200-lap race in Penske Racing's Toyota Dallara.
The race finished under caution.

    "Our pattern this year is to pit under green and then lose two
laps because of it," Hornish laughed. "Hopefully when we get the new Chevy
engine we'll get some good luck to go along with it.

    Hornish will debut the new Gen IV Chevy Indy V8 in the upcoming
Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on July 27. The
Panther team has conducted three track tests with the new powerplant.

    "From what we've seen in testing, I think the new Chevy engine will put
us real close," Hornish predicted. "We've been very happy with the way
everything is going, and real proud that Chevrolet did what they had to do
to put us in a position to be competitive and win races."

    Hornish displayed the driving form that has made him the talk of
the IndyCar Series, passing cars on inside and outside lines. Starting from
the 20th spot on the grid, he was 10th on Lap 60, fifth on Lap 66, and
third on Lap 90. On Lap 97, he passed Tora Takagi for second in Turn 2 and
Tony Kanaan in Turn 3 to take the lead.

    "I knew it was a pass for the lead, but I didn't really think about
it," Hornish recalled. "I'm glad that we had an opportunity to get up
there. We've worked real hard this year making sure that we had good
handling cars because we knew that when Chevrolet got us the horsepower we
had to have the car to be able to win races. We know what it takes to make
this car fast, and hopefully we'll prove that next week in Michigan."

    Buddy Lazier also showed the form that took him to the Nashville
winner's circle and the IRL championship in 2001. After starting last on
the grid, Lazier steadily worked his way through the field to second on Lap
132. He spun in Turn 4 without damage six laps from the finish, then made
contact with the outside wall on Lap 198.

    "We really, really pushed it this weekend, and we ran really good,"
said Lazier, who was credited with a 14th place finish. "I know that is
really encouraging for everybody. That is the good part about it. I just
hate to crash and end a race that way."

    Buddy Rice and his Red Bull Cheever Racing Chevrolet Dallara were
slowed by a cracked water pipe that required a lengthy pit stop to repair.
The crew pushed the car behind the pit wall on Lap 82, and rejoined the
contest on Lap 121. Their perseverance was rewarded with an 18th place
finish.

    "The problem we had when we came in on our second pit stop was a
minor water leak," Rice reported. "As soon as I could start smelling hot
water, I radioed in to let the crew know that something was wrong. We
decided to go another 15 to 20 laps before it started getting really bad,
which explains why our car was so loose.

    "The crew did a great job fixing the water leak and we were able to
get back out into the race. At that point we had lost about 40 laps so it
killed the strategy we had planned in the beginning. We went back out on
the track to see how many points we could get and were also able to gain a
few positions."
    
    The Firestone Indy 200 was a short race for Chevy drivers Robbie
Buhl, Sarah Fisher and Vitor Meira. Buhl made contact with Scott Sharp on
the third lap and crashed in Turn 4. Fisher fought handling problems and
retired on Lap 50, and Meira crashed on Lap 111. Both Buhl and Meira were
examined and cleared to drive.

    "We had a good car coming out, but we quickly had to contend with the
car being too loose," said Fisher. "We came in and made a turn and half
correction with the front wing, but then after a couple of laps had almost
the opposite problem with a serious push. As hard as we tried, I couldn't
keep a low line to let the faster drivers go around high.

    "We're regrouping to find out what we're dealing with, given that
we started out behind the eight ball by not being able to test earlier
this week," she continued. "The good news is Chevy's got some help coming
and we've got some important testing coming up that will put us back on
track and up front."

    "We had a pretty good qualifying car, but we had a lot of problems in
the race," said Meira. "The car was really inconsistent, sometimes
oversteer, but not as good a car as I had in qualifying. It was a lot of
work. A crash is never a good end to a weekend, but sometimes it happens."

    The next event on the IRL calendar, the Firestone Indy 400 at
Michigan International Speedway on July 27, will mark the competition debut
of the Gen IV Chevy Indy V8. The tenth round of the 16-race IRL IndyCar
Series will be televised live on ABC at 3 p.m. EDT.

RACE SUMMARY
Track: Nashville Superspeedway, 1.33-mile oval
Winner: Gil de Ferran/Penske Racing Toyota Dallara
Margin of Victory: Under caution
Average Speed: 137.679 mph
Pole: Scott Dixon/Toyota, 206.211 mph
Fastest Lap: Sam Hornish Jr./Chevrolet, 203.757 mph

RESULTS
Pos./Driver/Engine/Laps
1. Gil de Ferran/Toyota, 200
2. Scott Dixon/Toyota, 200
3. Helio Castroneves/Toyota, 200
4. Dan Wheldon/Honda, 200
5. Alex Barron/Toyota, 200

11. Sam Hornish Jr./Chevrolet, 200
14. Buddy Lazier/Chevrolet, 197
18. Buddy Rice/Chevrolet, 161
19. Vitor Meira/Chevrolet, 108
20. Sarah Fisher/Chevrolet, 44
21. Robbie Buhl/Chevrolet, 2

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (after 9 of 16 events)
Driver/Engine/Points (victories in parentheses)

1. Tony Kanaan/Honda, 303 (1)
2. Gil de Ferran/Toyota, 289 (2)
3. Scott Dixon/Toyota, 288 (3)
4. Helio Castroneves/Toyota, 282
5. Kenny Brack/Honda, 245

Manufacturer/Points (victories in parentheses)
1. Toyota, 84 (7)
2. Honda, 67 (2)
3. Chevrolet, 47

NEXT EVENT
July 27, Firestone Indy 400, Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn,
Mich.
TV: ABC, 3 p.m. Eastern

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  E-mail from: Rick Voegelin, 19-Jul-2003