FRANCHITTI LAUNCHES INDIANAPOLIS 500 BID WITH PRACTICE ON OPENING DAY

        SPEEDWAY, Ind. (May 9, 2004) - Archipelago Exchange (ArcaEx) driver Dario
Franchitti started working toward a successful run in the Indianapolis 500 today at Indianapolis
Motor Speedway as practice officially began for the 88th edition of the "Greatest Spectacle in
Racing."
        Franchitti, who drives the ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone, turned laps in the #27T
during the hot, windy afternoon practice session as he searched for a baseline setup from which
to work. After logging a total of 22 laps in his backup machine, Franchitti notched a best speed
of 214.040 miles per hour (42.0453 seconds, which ranked him 25th of the 33 cars that practiced
on Sunday.
        Defending Indy Racing LeagueŽ IndyCarŽ Series champion Scott Dixon recorded the
fastest speed on Opening Day at 219.760 miles per hour (40.9537 seconds). He was followed
by Helio Castroneves, who clocked in at 219.752 miles per hour (40.9552 seconds). Adrian
Fernandez was third at 218.342 miles per hour (41.2197 seconds) and was followed by Tomas
Scheckter at 218.308 (41.2261) and Franchitti's Andretti Green Racing teammate, Dan
Wheldon, at 218.007 (41.2831).
        Practice for the Indianapolis 500 continues tomorrow, beginning at 12 p.m. (EDT).

                       Franchitti - May 9          Franchitti - Overall (practice)
                   Position     25th              Best Speed        214.040 mph
                   Speed        214.040 mph       Best Time         42.0453 sec
                   Time         42.0453 sec       Total Laps        22
                   Laps         22

Dario Franchitti, #27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
        "You wouldn't know it by looking at our times, but we're not too shabby with the ArcaEx
car right now. It's certainly a good starting point. We've just scratched the surface and worked
on some race stuff. The times really aren't an indication of where we're at right now. We just
wanted to shake things down a bit. Tomorrow we'll go to work on the speed."

Allen McDonald, Race Engineer, #27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
        "I think we've got a reasonable baseline to work from after today. Obviously, we've got a
bit of work to do on both the race car and the qualifying car. But, we're fairly happy with where
we started off. Disregard the times at the moment; that will come. The important thing is to have
a good baseline and I think we've got that."