ALEX FIGGE EARNS FIRST TOYOTA ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY AT MONTERREY GRAND PRIX

MONTERREY, Mexico (May 23, 2003) ‹ Alex Figge dominated Round 2 of the
Toyota Atlantic Championship Presented by Yokohama at the Monterrey Grand
Prix Sunday, earning his first career Toyota Atlantic victory. Figge (No. 69
Pacific Coast Motorsports), who started sixth, avoided a first-lap tangle in
turn one, led every lap and beat Rocky Moran, Jr. by 2.050 seconds. Danica
Patrick, Ronnie Bremer (No. 10 Port-A-Cool) and Jonathan Bomarito (No. 8
Dixien/Omnisource) completed the top five.

³We had a pretty rough start and I got banged around a little bit,² said
Figge. ³We had a little bit of damage, but my engineer did an awesome job.
Rocky did put a little pressure on me and I had to dig a little deeper at
the end, but we held on at the finish.²

³This is a great place,² said Moran, driver of the No. 9 Healthcare
Privileges car. ³We put something together in the warm up. The start was
pretty crazy. Smoke was everywhere. From then on out, it was just Figge for
the rest of the race. We tried to keep the pressure on early on. I think we
got a little bit of a run on him. We had an awesome race. It was a good
battle.² 

Patrick recovered from damage suffered in the first-lap accident and made up
seven positions to finish third, recording her third career podium. Patrick
moves to second in points, six markers behind championship leader Ryan
Dalziel, who finished eighth after spinning off course on the first lap.
Bremer is third in the championship chase.

³I am still not sure what happened on the start,² said Patrick, who pitted
just after the incident to replace the nose on her No. 24 Argent Mortgage
Company mount. ³I just think everyone underestimated the grip level on the
outside and they just went off. This is a slippery track.

³So much of racing is confidence and being assertive,² added Patrick. ³I had
to yell at myself a few times, but I was simply determined to make up for
what we had lost. We have worked too hard this weekend to let a solid result
slip away. I feel that first win coming. We are making progress, but we just
arenıt there yet. Everyone has been working so hard and I know it is only a
matter of time until we win.²

The race ran in 49 minutes, 58.717 seconds at an average speed of 80.828
miles per hour. The race was slowed twice by the caution flag for six laps.
The race will air on a tape-delayed basis on SPEED, Sunday, May 30 at 1 p.m.
EDT.
 
The next race for the Toyota Atlantic Championship Presented by Yokohama is
scheduled for Saturday, June 5 at The Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis.

NOTEBOOK:
*       Danica Patrick (No. 24 Argent Mortgage Company) continued a dominant
tradition for Team Rahal by earning her third-career and second Monterrey
podium finish here during Sundayıs Toyota Atlantic Championship Presented by
Yokohama race. Team Rahal has never finished out of the top five in four
years of competition here. Kenny Brack was fifth in the Champ Car World
Series race in 2001, while Michel Jourdain finished fourth and second in the
2002 and 2003 Champ Car races, respectively. Patrick finished third last
year, as well as this year.

*      Patrick equaled her best qualifying position of third during
second-round qualifying on Saturday. Patrickıs previous best qualifying
position was a fourth last year at Trois-Rivières.

*      Ryan Dalziel (No. 28 Pro-Works) won his fourth career pole Saturday,
tying him for 41st on the all-time pole list with active driver and 2002
champion Jon Fogarty (No. 96 Pacific Coast Motorsports), as well as 2001
titleholder Hoover Orsi, and several other notable veterans of Toyota
Atlantic competition. It was also Dalzielıs second-straight pole, as he was
the fast qualifier in Round 1 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
 
*      Jonathan Bomarito (No. 8 Dixien/Omnisource) suffered terrible luck in
Saturdayıs first-round qualifying session. At the start of the session, the
car was diagnosed with gearbox problems and crew spent much of the session
fixing it. Then, once Bomarito got on course late in the session, his luck
only got worse.

 ³We got the problems fixed on pit road and I finally got on track,² said
Bomarito, who was sixth fastest in second-round practice today. ³Then, as I
was going around, I noticed one of the wheels was loose. We never got a
chance at a good lap, but weıre hopeful for today.²

Bomarito won the Formula Ford Zetec championship last year.

 
*      Beginning with this weekendıs race, Ronnie Bremerıs No. 10
Port-A-Cool car was adorned with a silver-and-blue livery. He also switched
his car number to No. 10 after running the No. 12 in Long Beach. Bremer
finished fourth Sunday.
 
³Silver and Blue were my colors last season,² said Bremer, who ran in the
British Formula 3 Championship the last two seasons, finishing sixth in the
series in 2003. ³(Team owner) John (Brooks) was amenable to changing the
team colors to accommodate my lucky colors. Weıre also using my old number
10 for the rest of the year.²

*      Jon Fogarty (No. 96 Pacific Coast Motorsports) celebrated his 29th
birthday Sunday.

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