Trois-Rivi=?ISO-8859-1?B?6A==?=res 'Rookie' Scott Pruett Earns 26th Pole

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Aug. 1, 2003

TROIS-RIVIÈRES ŒROOKIE¹ SCOTT PRUETT EARNS 26TH POLE

TROIS- RIVIÈRES, Quebec ‹ Scott Pruett didn¹t let lack of experience or even
gearbox troubles get in the way of him earning his sixth pole this season,
and 26th of his career, during Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup
qualifying Friday at Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. Pruett, who has made
just one Trans-Am Series start here prior to this weekend, earned the pole
with a 1:03.890-minute lap at 85.687 miles per hour. The pole was also
Jaguar¹s first pole here.

For his efforts, Pruett, driver of the No. 7 Jaguar R Performance XKR, 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.

Johnny Miller (No. 64 Eaton Cutler-Hammer Jaguar XKR) qualified second,
ahead of French Canadian driver Claude Bourbonnais, driving the No. 3
Rocketsports Jaguar XKR. Michael Lewis (No. 12 Westward Tools/The Crank
Jaguar XKR) and Bobby Sak (No. 10 Revolution Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette)
completed the top five.

³Actually, I¹m glad we just made it out,² said Pruett, driver of the. ³I
really have to thank my guys because they had to change a transmission right
before the session. We put a couple of good laps together. It was good
enough for the pole. We¹re going to go back and work on it a little more.

³I think this is going to my toughest race,² added Pruett, who only went out
briefly during the session, and set his fast time on his third lap. ³You
really have to conserve the car here‹the tires and the brakes. You really
have to plan ahead to win the race Unfortunately, I¹ve only raced here once,
and it wasn¹t a really good race. I started second, but finished 10th after
contact with another car. So that wasn¹t my best race. I guess we¹ll just
have to see what happens tomorrow.²

Miller said his team may have found what it needed to get to the front.

³We did four or five quick laps, laid off, did four or five quick laps, and
then laid off,² said Miller. ³We¹ve been fighting the car all day. It¹s been
kind of ugly since this morning. We were able to dial around on the sway
bars during the session to get a good lap out of it. We ran about 11 minutes
and then we stopped.²

Bourbonnais, meanwhile, was saving his tires for the race. Trans-Am Series
rules stipulate drivers must compete on at least three of the four tires
they use for qualifying.

³Our plan was to go out there and conserve the tires,² said Bourbonnais, who
will make his first Trans-Am Series start this weekend. ³That means five or
six hot laps and then conserve the car. We could have gone a little bit
faster, but that would have meant hurting our ability to be competitive at
the end of the race. So we qualified and parked it. Scott and Johnny are
going for the championship, so I¹m going to follow them around a little bit
tomorrow and we¹ll see what happens.²

The Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, Round 7 of the 2003 Trans-Am Series
championship is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2. The race
will air LIVE on SPEED Channel.

Notebook:
* Trans-Am Series drivers Michael Lewis and Tomy Drissi are keeping a busy
schedule this weekend at Trois-Rivières. Lewis and Drissi, who drive the No.
12 Westward Tools/The Crank Jaguar XKR and No. 5 Stuck on You, The Movie
Jaguar XKR, respectively, in the Trans-Am Series, are also teaming up to
compete in the American Le Mans Series race on Sunday. The pair will
co-drive the No. 12 Riley & Scott Mk III C Lincoln in the ALMS¹ LMP 900
class for faster, heavier prototype sports cars in Sunday¹s event.

* Drissi¹s Jaguar suffered a suspension failure during second-round
qualifying Friday. The damage required major repairs, so Drissi¹s team
elected to sit out qualifying. Drissi, who had been turning times in the
top-five all day, will start Saturday¹s race in the 15th and final
qualifying position. ³I tagged the wall in the previous practice session,²
said Drissi. ³I had good times early and would have had it pretty easy to be
in the top three in qualifying today. I was trying for a faster lap in that
last session. I just didn¹t anticipate coming up on a flyer (fast lap) and
the car didn¹t push like it normally does. I just grabbed the wall a little
bit with my tire turning into the last corner before the front straight.
³The guys didn¹t want to put me back out there; they saw a little weld
(break) where the suspension hooks up the frame,² added Drissi. ³So, we¹ll
attend to it and see how the car is working the in the final practice
session (tomorrow). We¹ll start in the back of the pack, be patient, and put
this on the podium tomorrow.²

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