Kendall Marks Return to Trans-Am Competition at Long Beach with 40th Pole

CONTACT: Justin Anderson,
Ph: 704-348-9400, Cell: 704-589-2100

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 KENDALL MARKS RETURN TO TRANS-AM COMPETITION AT LONG BEACH WITH 40TH POLE

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 17, 2004) ‹ Tommy Kendall proved he hadn¹t lost
much in the five years he¹s been away from Motorock Trans-Am Series
competition by winning his 40th career pole Saturday for Sunday¹s race, part
of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Kendall, driving the No. 11 Jaguar R
Performance XKR, recorded a 1:44.657-minute lap at 67.695 miles per hour
around the 1.968-mile temporary street circuit in wet conditions.

Boris Said was second quickest in the No. 33 New Century Mortgage/GE
Access/ACS Express Ford Mustang, ahead of 2003 Rookie of the Year Jorge
Diaz, Jr. (1:46.736). Paul Gentilozzi (No. 3 Jaguar R Performance XKR) and
Michael Lewis (No. 12 Autocon Engineering Jaguar XKR) completed the top
five.

Kendall, who ended the session on BFGoodrich Tires¹ wet tire compound,
recorded his quick time on the very last lap.

³This is better than I could have imagined,² said Kendall, who earned his
second pole at Long Beach, the fourth-straight pole for Jaguar here, and the
second-straight pole for Jaguar¹s stock-block, overhead-cam, fuel-injected
AJ-V8 engine. ³I was very happy with the car yesterday, though we missed the
gearing a little bit. Things really fell my way today. We put on the rain
tires late in the session and we went back out.

³The secret to going fast in the wet is finding weird places for grip,²
added Kendall. ³The line is where you can get grip. It¹s really about
launching off the turn.

³My radio wasn¹t working, so I just went out and ran every lap,² concluded
Kendall. ³I didn¹t know what happened until I came in and everyone was
giving me the thumbs up.²

Said earned his second-straight Long Beach pole. Interestingly, Said won
from the outside pole here last year.

³Street circuits are really slippery in the rain, so we just did a few laps,
recorded a pretty good time and parked it,² said Said. ³We had a really good
car in the dry, so hopefully tomorrow we¹ll have some of that typical sunny
California weather and we¹ll put on good show for the fans. I¹m really
looking forward to going up against Tommy.²

Diaz equaled his best career qualifying effort, set last year at Denver.
Diaz ran his first two laps on slicks before switching to rain tires.

³It was fun to drive,² said Diaz. ³I¹m proud to be here next to Tommy and
Boris. There are no better drivers in this Series. I know it¹s going to be
tough tomorrow, but we¹re looking forward to it.²

The qualifying session was shortened to 30 minutes due to inclement weather.
Instead of the usual two-group format, all cars qualified in one group. Wet
tires were declared optional for the session. Teams were therefore allowed
to use either wet-compound or slick tires.

The times turned in by John Baucom (No. 86 MAP Quality Engineering Ford
Mustang) and Greg Pickett (No. 6 Cytosport Jaguar XKR) were disqualified due
to post-qualifying technical inspection. Both were cited for violating Rule
9.11 ³Ground Clearance.² They will start at the back of the grid.

Final practice for the Motorock Trans-Am Series is scheduled today from 3:45
p.m. to 4:15 p.m. The Trans-Am race is scheduled to take place tomorrow,
immediately following the Champ Car World Series event.

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