KANAAN WELCOMES THE CHALLENGE OF ANOTHER CRITICAL RACE

                                                                               TEAM 7-ELEVEN?S KANAAN WELCOMES THE CHALLENGE OF
                ANOTHER CRITICAL WEEKEND AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY

        INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Sept. 16, 2003) ? There are no easy weekends left for Team 7-Eleven
driver Tony Kanaan and that is just fine with him.
        After leading the point standings following a series-high nine races, Kanaan is in a position to
challenge for the 2003 Indy Racing League (IRL) IndyCar? Series championship with just two
events remaining.
        Following a crash and DNF at Nazareth Speedway on Aug. 24, Kanaan needed a good
result and a little bit of help at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 7 to better his chances of winning
the title. A sixth-place finish coupled with a tough day for points leader Helio Castroneves gave
Kanaan exactly what he needed and put him in a position to climb another step closer this weekend
as the series moves to California Speedway.
        Unlike Chicagoland ? a place where Kanaan had no previous race experience ? California
Speedway is very familiar and very favorable to Kanaan. He?s raced there since 1997, clinching an
Indy Lights title in his California debut before going on to make five more Champ Car starts in the
years that followed. He sat on the pole in his final Champ Car race there last season.
        Kanaan will look for his second straight California Speedway pole on Saturday when
qualifying gets underway at 2 p.m. (EDT). The 200-lap race is scheduled to go green just after 3:30
p.m. (EDT) Sunday, airing live on ABC.

                                    2003 Season to Date
                               Starts                       14
                               Wins                           1
                               Poles                          3
                               Top-5                          8
                               Top-10                       11
                               Points (Position)       425 (3)

TONY KANAAN, #11 TEAM 7-ELEVEN DALLARA/HONDA/FIRESTONE:
        ?I have a lot of good memories from racing at California. I won my Indy Lights championship
there in ?97 and was on the pole there last year, so it brings me good vibes. What is going to happen
there? We obviously don?t know. But, it?s good to go to a place where you have had a lot of good
memories from before. I?m looking forward to it.
        ?It?s a very important race. The championship could be decided right there. You could get out
of there with a chance to win the championship at Texas or you could leave there saying, ?That?s it.?
        ?We had a tough weekend at Chicago, but looking back ? the result was positive. It wasn?t
what we wanted, but we closed the gap and that was the plan. We?re heading in the right direction.
We?re going to need a little bit of luck again at California and then see what we can do.
        ?I feel pretty good after our test. But, a test is a test. I don?t want to head there with any
expectations, but I?m happy with the car that I have. We always have good race cars. We just need
to improve our qualifying and I think we?re going to do that.?
        (ON RACING FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP)  ?I?ve certainly competed for championships
before, but this is the biggest championship I?ve ever competed for. This is the top. This is everything
I?ve ever dreamed of. But, I truly don?t feel any pressure. The more that you grow and the more that
you race, you use the pressure as an advantage ? as a focus to go quicker. It?s a positive. Pressure
can be very negative. Under pressure, people sometimes make mistakes. I don?t feel any pressure.

                                                     (more)


Team 7-Eleven Advance, California, page 2

TONY KANAAN, #11 TEAM 7-ELEVEN DALLARA/HONDA/FIRESTONE:
        (continued from page 1)  ?It is not possible to describe how much I want this championship.
There are no words. I really want it for myself and I really want it for Team 7-Eleven.
        ?There were two goals that I had for this year ? one was to win Indianapolis and the other
was the championship. Indy is over, so this is my last shot this year. But, I just can?t describe it.?

                                IndyCar Series Standings
                                   (after 14 of 16 races)
                           1.  Helio Castroneves             439
                           2.  Scott Dixon                   427
                           3.  Tony Kanaan                   425
                           4.  Gil de Ferran                 422
                           5.  Sam Hornish                   397

KIM GREEN, PRESIDENT, ANDRETTI GREEN RACING:
        ?It certainly looks like this championship is going to go right down to the last race and I think
the race itself in Fontana will be no different. I?d like to think we could go out there and have some
little secret that would give us a dominating package, but this series is so competitive that I don?t see
that happening. In lieu of that, we?ve been working extremely hard to get ready for the last two races.
I think we can compete on an equal basis with anybody. As long as we all do our jobs, and that is
what it?s going to take ? everybody on the team doing their best job all weekend ? it will give us a
chance at it.?