Chevy Nashville IRL Qualifying

    NASHVILLE, Tenn., July 16, 2004 - Tomas Scheckter and his Panther
Racing teammate Townsend Bell set the pace for Chevrolet in qualifying for
Saturday night's Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway. Scheckter
qualified the Pennzoil Chevrolet Dallara 10th on the grid at 198.829 mph,
his seventh top-10 qualifying effort in eight IRL events this season. Bell
was a heartbeat behind in 12th at 198.747 mph in the Menards/Johns Manville
Chevrolet Dallara. Buddy Rice won the pole in a Honda Dallara at 201.231
mph.

    "It was good, but I think we maybe missed out a little on the gears,"
said Scheckter. "I think the car had a little more in it. As usual, the
Pennzoil car will be good in the race. The last couple of races we've been
fighting right up in front, and hopefully we can do that here again. This
track is not renowned for two lanes, which is usually what I like, but
we'll see what we can do tomorrow."

    Scheckter had a moment of drama when he spun in the second
practice session without encountering the wall. "Now we know the car can go
backwards as well as forwards, which is a good thing," the South African
joked.

    Townsend Bell will start in the sixth row directly behind his teammate
in his second appearance with the Panther team.

    "That's the quickest we've run so far, so I'm happy," said Bell. "The
car was perfect on balance and that's all we've got today. We can't look to
do anything major immediately - it just has to be step-by-step, one foot in
front of the other. I feel we've made progress in the two weeks we've
been together."

    Alex Barron knows the way to the Nashville winner's circle after
scoring his first IRL victory at the track in 2002 with the underdog Blair
Racing team. This year he'll start Red Bull Cheever Racing's Chevrolet
Dallara 16th on the grid with a 197.993 mph qualifying speed.

    "We didn't test here and this track is quite different with the
concrete," he explained. "I have some experience here from 2002 when we
won. We did a Chevrolet test at Michigan that went real well, so we're
looking real good for tomorrow night.

    "The key here is to be in the right position at the end of the race,
and pit strategy plays a big part," he noted. "It's going to be a little
hard to pass with the marbles up high because the concrete really shaves
the tires. Red Bull Cheever Racing should have a strong finish, and our
goal is to keep getting solid points."

    Barron's teammate Ed Carpenter also has previous experience at
Nashville in the Menards-sponsored support series. He'll put that
experience to good use when he starts 21st with a 196.399 mph qualifying
speed.

    "We're confused," Carpenter conceded. "The car feels really good and
I'm happy with the it, but we're missing something and we haven't put our
finger on it yet. The car is really consistent, so hopefully we can run a
clean race and do something in the race. All you can ask for is a good,
consistent race car, and that's what I've got."

    Jacques Lazier joined the Patrick Racing team for this race and
qualified the Stacker 2 Chevrolet Dallara 17th at 197.400 mph.

    "With the changes we made I thought that we would be able to back up
what we ran earlier," said Lazier. "We fell a little short, but we've been
working on our race setup and I know we have a real good car. We've made
progress from where we were when we started a week and a half ago, and I'm
looking forward to tomorrow night."

    Felipe Giaffone was scheduled to be first in the qualifying order,
but ended up as the last driver on the track. He qualified the Team Purex
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet Dallara 19th at 197.237 mph.

    "We lost our initial spot in qualifying because we made an airbox
change and then didn't get through tech in time, so we lost a lap," he
said. "It hurt a lot. We struggled all day with different issues during
each session. Last race we were okay and we should be all right for
tomorrow."

    The Firestone Indy 200 will start at 7 p.m. Eastern time on
Saturday night, July 17. The 200-lap, 266-mile race will be televised live
on ESPN.

FIRESTONE INDY 200 QUALIFYING SUMMARY:
Pos./Driver/Engine/Speed
1. Buddy Rice, Honda, 201.230 mph
2. Vitor Meira, Honda, 200.967
3. Bryan Herta, Honda, 200.955
4. Dan Wheldon, Honda, 199.992
5. Tony Kanaan, Honda, 199.804

10. Tomas Scheckter, Chevrolet, 198.829
12. Townsend Bell, Chevrolet, 198.747
16. Alex Barron, Chevrolet, 197.993
17. Jaques Lazier, Chevrolet, 197.400
19. Felipe Giaffone, Chevrolet, 197.237
21. Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 196.399