Chevy Powers Hornish to Record IRL Victory

    FONTANA, Calif., Sept. 21, 2003 - Sam Hornish Jr., the hottest driver
in the IRL IndyCar Series, turned up the heat on his rivals for the
IRL championship with a victory today at California Speedway. Chevrolet
powered Hornish to his third victory in the last four races at an average
speed of 207.151 mph, the fastest race in motorsports history. Hornish
notched his second consecutive win on the 2-mile oval and tallied his
record 11th career IRL victory.

    "We could pull away once we got to the front, but it was hard to
get there," said Hornish in the winner's circle. "The engine and car were
working real well. We didn't have any telemetry, so I was telling the pit
crew what the fuel consumption was. We were getting as good or better
mileage than anyone out there."

    It was a punishing day for drivers and engines at California Speedway
with temperatures in the high 90s, track temperatures approaching 140
degrees and a wilting desert wind. The 400-mile endurance test was slowed
by only one caution period that lasted six laps. Despite the adverse
conditions, the Chevy Indy V8 again had a perfect reliability record.

    "It was hot and windy just like we thought it would be,"
Hornish explained. "The wind was making the car really loose coming off of
Turn 2. That was something we battled all day long. Hot, slick conditions,
I like that!"

    Hornish's record pace eclipsed the 197.897-mph mark he set at
Kentucky Speedway on August 17 en route to his first victory of the year
with the new Chevy Indy V8. Since Hornish debuted the Gen IV Chevy Indy V8
at Michigan International Speedway in July, he has tallied three victories
(Kentucky, Chicago and Fontana) and two runner-up finishes (Michigan and
Nazareth).

    "Early on I thought it would be a lot closer than it was,"
Hornish recalled. "With all the green-flag pit stops, it was important to
get in and out quickly. I knew as long as we were out in front that's where
we needed to be because our car could work in traffic where a lot of other
people couldn't."

    Hornish led four times for a total of 30 laps. The two-time IRL
champion started 10th on the grid, but moved to the front for the first
time on Lap 43 with passes on both the high and low lines. He took the lead
for good on Lap 186 with an outside pass around rival Scott Dixon and then
stretched his advantage to .3563 seconds at the conclusion of 200 laps.

    Hornish will go into the season-ending Chevy 500 at Texas Motor
Speedway on Oct. 12 in fourth place in the title race with 448 points, 19
behind leaders Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves, who are tied with 467
points. With a maximum of 52 points on the line in the season finale,
Hornish is still in contention to win a third consecutive title.

    "Everyone on this team wants to win and we are committed to doing the
best we can," Sam declared. "That's what made my decision (to leave) so
hard because these guys give 110 percent all the time. We're going to keep
working away at it. We don't know if it can be done, but we're sure going
to try for it."

    Hornish scored the 103rd win for the Chevy Indy V8 in
open-wheel competition and Chevrolet's 17th victory in the IRL IndyCar
Series.

    "With the heat and unrelenting pace, today's race was the toughest
test yet for the Chevy Indy V8," said Doug Duchardt, Director of GM Racing.
"The Chevrolet engines ran strong all day and our fuel economy looked good
with the No. 4 (Hornish) and the No. 52 (Alex Barron) cars. There has been
a lot of development work done on fuel efficiency, and it's starting to pay
off.

    "When we introduced this engine package we had to be a
little conservative, but now you can see the progress that's been made,"
Duchardt noted. "The Panther Racing team put a great car under Sam, and he
took it to the front again."

    Alex Barron posted his second straight Top-10 finish for Red Bull
Cheever Racing, finishing 10th in his second start with the Chevy-powered
team. Vitor Meira returned after sitting out three races with a broken
wrist, finishing 11th in Team Menard's Chevrolet Dallara. Robbie Buhl moved
up from 22nd at the start to 12th at the finish with Dreyer & Reinbold
Racing, while rookie Ed Carpenter came home 13th with PDM Racing's
Chevrolet Dallara. Sarah Fisher was 19th and Richie Hearn 21st in his first
outing with Hemelgarn Racing.

    The 2003 IRL season will conclude at the Chevy 500 at Texas Motor
Speedway on Oct. 12. The final event of the year will be televised live on
ESPN at 3:30 p.m. Eastern and broadcast on the IMS Radio Network.

    "The Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway is going to be a
shootout," predicted GM Racing IRL program manager Joe Negri. "Our
competition threw a little more at us at this event, but we were up to the
challenge. We hope to have a little more for them at the next one."

RACE SUMMARY
Track: California Speedway, 2-mile oval
Winner: Sam Hornish Jr./Pennzoil Panther Racing Chevrolet Dallara
Margin of Victory: .3563 seconds
Average Speed: 207.151 mph (series record, fastest closed course race in
auto racing history)
Pole: Helio Castroneves/Toyota, 226.757 mph
Fastest Lap: Scott Dixon/Toyota, 224.154 mph

RESULTS
Pos./Driver/Engine/Laps
1. Sam Hornish Jr./Chevrolet, 200
2. Scott Dixon/Toyota, 200
3. Tony Kanaan/Honda, 200
4. Dan Wheldon/Honda, 200
5. Tomas Scheckter/Toyota, 200

10. Alex Barron/Chevrolet, 199
11. Vitor Meira/Chevrolet, 199
12. Robbie Buhl/Chevrolet, 198
13. Ed Carpenter/Chevrolet, 198
19. Sarah Fisher/Chevrolet, 194
21. Richie Hearn/Chevrolet, 133 (handling)

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (after 15 of 16 events)
Driver/Engine/Points (victories in parentheses)

1. Helio Castroneves/Toyota, 467 (2)
   Scott Dixon/Toyota, 467 (3)
3. Tony Kanaan/Honda, 460 (1)
4. Sam Hornish Jr./Chevrolet, 448 (3)
5. Gil de Ferran/Toyota, 437 (2)

Manufacturer/Points (victories in parentheses)
1. Toyota, 135 (10)
2. Honda, 99 (2)
3. Chevrolet, 96 (3)

NEXT EVENT
Oct. 12, Chevy 500, Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas
TV: ESPN, 3:30 p.m. Eastern

General Motors Corp. , the world's largest vehicle
manufacturer, employs 342,000 people globally in its core automotive
business and subsidiaries. Founded in 1908, GM has been the global
automotive sales leader since 1931. GM today has manufacturing operations
in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in more than 190 countries. In
2002, GM sold more than 8.6 million cars and trucks, nearly 15 percent of
the global vehicle market. GM's global headquarters is at the GM
Renaissance Center in Detroit. More information on GM and its products can
be found on the company's consumer website at www.gm.com.