Pruett Holds off Said for MotoRock Mile High 100 Victory

Aug. 31, 2003


DENVER Scott Pruett proved his lack of experience at Denver didn¹t matter,
as the he simply dominated Sunday¹s MotoRock Mile 100, part of the Centrix
Financial Grand Prix of Denver, and recorded his seventh victory in nine
MotoRock Trans-Am Tour for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup starts this season.
Pruett, driver of the No. 7 MotoRock Jaguar XKR, led from the pole at
Denver¹s 1.647-mile temporary street course, and then held off defending
champion and last year¹s Denver race winner Boris Said for the victory.

Said (No. 33 ACS/GE Access/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang), Johnny Miller
(No. 64 Eaton Cutler-Hammer Jaguar XKR), finished second and third, while
Stu Hayner (No. 2 GMAC Commercial Finance/Trenton Forging Chevrolet
Corvette) rebounded from early contact with Tomy Drissi (No. 5 Stuck on You,
The Movie Jaguar XKR) to finish fourth. Justin Bell (No. 59 Ultama Swimwear
Chevrolet Corvette), filling in for Simon Gregg, who is recovering from
minor elective surgery, finished fifth.

³This season has been just terrific,² said Pruett, who leaves Denver,
unofficially, with a 49-point lead in the championship. ³We ran hard here,
but left a little on the table. You can¹t challenge this track 100%; one
little bobble and you can lose a half a second or more. You¹ve got to be
heads up enough not to get in too deep and pay a big price. We were really
laying it down. At the beginning, my car had an ugly understeer, but by the
end, it was sweet. The car really came in well.

³Both Boris (Said) and I race in Winston Cup, so we¹re used to leaning on
each other a bit,² added Pruett, who with his 21st career victory tied Bob
Tullius for fourth on the all-time Trans-Am win list. ³It makes it more of a
challenge. If you¹re in the position to do it, you let the guy in front know
he needs to speed up or move out of the way.²
With his victory, Pruett earned the BFGoodrich Tires Take Control Award for
leading the most laps, after being presented the Jaguar Pole Award, when he
was placed on the pole after qualifying was rained out, and the grid was set
by combined practice times. In fact, the only award Pruett didn¹t win was
the Flowmaster American Thunder Challenge Award, which will roll over to the
next Trans-Am Series race in Miami. Since the award wasn¹t claimed at Road
America, it will be worth $6,000 in the MotoRock Miami 100.

Said admitted he tried to challenge Pruett, and in fact ran nose to tail
with the two-time Series champion early in the event. However, in the end,
Said didn¹t have enough car to make the pass.

³I used my car up pretty well all race,² said Said, who earned his fourth
podium finish this year in four starts. ³We are a little disappointed. This
is my last Trans-Am race this season, and I really wanted to go out with a
win. We also wanted to put on a good show for (sponsor) GE Access. They¹re
local and we wanted to give them a win here. I tried to get up close to
Pruett to a put a fender on him, but we just came up a little bit short.²

Miller said if qualifying hadn¹t been rained out, Sunday¹s results might
have been much different. Miller started fourth.

³I think not having the chance to qualify played a role in our race today,²
said Miller. ³We¹ve had a good car all weekend and would have likely had a
solid qualifying effort. We basically finished where we started; it¹s so
tough to pass on this track. You get one foot off line here and the car just
sails.²

The race ran in one hour and 15.342 minutes at an average speed of 77.342
miles per hour. Pruett set the track race lap record of 1:12.121 minutes at
an average 82.212 miles per hour. The race was slowed by the caution flag
from laps 44 through 47. Miller and Said each earned one bonus point for
being within five seconds of leader Pruett on the Fast Five Lap, lap 12
here.

Today¹s MotoRock Mile High 100 will air on tape-delayed basis tomorrow
(Monday, Sept. 1) at 1:30 EDT on SPEED Channel. The next race for the
Trans-Am Series, the MotoRock Miami 100, Round 10 of the 2003 MotoRock
Trans-Am Tour championship is scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 26-28, as
part of the Grand Prix of Americas in downtown Miami.

Notebook:
MotoRock LLC has signed a multi-year agreement to become title sponsor of
the Trans-Am Series. The Series will now be known as the MotoRock Trans-Am
Tour for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup. The agreement is a continuation of
MotoRock¹s title sponsorship of Sunday¹s MotoRock Mile High 100, part this
weekend¹s Grand Prix of Denver. The announcement was made by MotoRock
Chairman Jamie Rose, Trans-Am Series principal Paul Gentilozzi and Trans-Am
Series Executive Director John Clagett.

With the title sponsorship, the Series announced it would run its first
event in conjunction with MotoRock this year, with a return to the Grand
Prix Americas in Miami, Sept. 26-28, along with the Champ Car World Series.
The added Miami round brings the total races on this year¹s schedule to 11.

Under the new agreement, MotoRock will present cutting-edge music and
ambient programming as part of racing weekends. The Grand Prix Americas
event will feature Elton John, with another act to be announced later.

³MotoRock is a new generation of pop culture that blends cars, stars and
guitars,² said Rose. ³MotoRock is a series of live events that showcase the
excitement of motorsports, music and lifestyle, while delivering a unique
new form of broadcast entertainment programming. It¹s the new breed of
speed.

³By integrating music, lifestyle and entertainment, MotoRock hopes to bring
a new audience to the thrill of motorsports, as well as a dramatically
enhanced opportunity for media partners and corporate sponsors at every
level,² concluded Rose.

³This agreement shows a significant change in direction for the Trans-Am
Series and represents an important step forward for the Series,² said
Clagett. ³Pairing popular music with the Trans-Am Series is a perfect fit,
as both are American institutions. We are proud to be a part of this
venture.

³We¹re also looking forward to returning to Miami,² added Clagett. ³The
South Florida market is a perfect fit for the Trans-Am Series. The location
is ideal and boasts some of the most avid racing fans in North America. The
event was extraordinarily exciting last year, and we expect, with the
addition of MotoRock, this year¹s event will be even better.

n Scott Pruett¹s chances to clinch his third Trans-Am championship
evaporated Saturday at Denver when qualifying was rained out. Pruett, driver
of the No. 7 MotoRock Jaguar XKR, had to earn maximum points this weekend,
36 (two points for the pole, one point for leading the most laps, two points
for leading a lap, one point for the Fast Five bonus, and 30 points for
winning the race), while his closest pursuer, Johnny Miller (No. 64 Eaton
Cutler-Hammer Jaguar XKR) would have had to finish last and earn no bonus
points. As no qualifying points were awarded, Pruett will have to carry his
championship hopes to Round 10, the MotoRock Miami 100, part of the Grand
Prix Americas, on the Miami street course.

n With his 21st career victory, Pruett moved into a tie for fourth on the
all-time Trans-Am Series win list with Bob Tullius. Interestingly, Tullius
won the 1978 Drivers¹ Championship and Manufacturers¹ Championship for
Jaguar, the British carmaker¹s first of three titles. Pruett clinched the
manufacturers¹ title for Jaguar last weekend at Road America.

n Pruett, Boris Said (No. 33 ACS/GE Access/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang)
and Miller, the top-three finishers in today¹s race will receive a special
bonus from MotoRock for the upcoming MotoRock Miami 100, during the Grand
Prix Americas. Second- and third-place finishers Said and Miller each earned
two floor seat tickets for the Saturday concert, featuring Elton John, while
winner Pruett grabbed a special invitation to a meet-and-greet session with
the ³Rocket Man.²

n Pruett has been nominated for the third quarter voting for the SPEED
Channel Presents the DRIVER OF THE YEAR award. The two-time Trans-Am
champion and current Trans-Am Series points leader joins an elite group of
eight drivers chosen from different forms of North American auto racing. In
its 37th year, the third-quarter DRIVER OF THE YEAR¹s, will be determined by
an independent vote of the 18-member panel of blue ribbon auto racing
journalists and broadcasters and one vote based on the cumulative tally of
fans voting at www.speedtv.com. At the end of the year, a special and
separate vote will be held for the 2003 DRIVER OF THE YEAR. The winner of
the quarterly voting will be given a trophy and a Maurice Lacroix Swiss
Watch, the official watch of the DRIVER OF THE YEAR, to commemorate the
honor.

n Miller has been placed on the ³short list² of four drivers to drive the
No. 4 Kodak Pontiac Grand Prix for Morgan-McClure Motorsports full time in
the NASCAR Winston Cup Series next season. Miller drove for Morgan-McClure
twice this season, finishing 24th at Infineon Raceway in June and 36th at
Watkins Glen after running in the top five during the second half of the
event. There is a survey on Morgan-McClure Motorsports¹ web site
(www.morganmcclure.com) asking ³Who has been your favorite driver in the
Kodak Pontiacs this season?² in which Miller is one of the choices.

n Sunday¹s Trans-Am Tour autograph session featured Denver street magician
named, interestingly enough, Stuart E. Hayner. The magician sawed Trans-Am
driver Stu Hayner in half. Hayner, the driver, said that Hayner, the
magician, is a distant relative.

n Bobby Sak, driver of the No. 10 Revolution Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette,
proposed to his girlfriend Jenny Boyd this weekend at Denver. Word is that
Jenny gave Bobby the ³green flag,² although at date hasn¹t been announced.

n The fastest laps set in this weekend¹s three practice sessions were all
under the track qualifying record (1:13.612) set by Hayner last year.
Interestingly, the fastest race lap (1:12.261) also set by Hayner last year,
was faster than the qualifying lap.

n The cars of Miller, Marvin Jones (No. 45 Margraf Racing/M&L Jones Racing,
LLC/BG Products Qvale Mangusta) and Mike Davis (No. 11 ACS/GE Access/Sun
Microsystems Ford Mustang) to part in Trans-Am Revealed on Saturday at
Denver. Through the ³Trans-Am Revealed² program, teams selected by Technical
Director David King are required to remove all body panels from their cars
prior to the race to allow other teams and the Trans-Am Series technical
team to inspect the cars¹ chassis. The object of the program is to remove
any secrecy, regarding design as it relates to chassis and hardware
configurations.