Franchitti Qualifies ArcaEx Car Fifth at Kentucky

        SPARTA, Ky. (Aug. 14, 2004) -Dario Franchitti recorded a lap of 215.181 miles per
hour (24.7605 seconds) in the #27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone during qualifying this
afternoon at Kentucky Speedway, which earned him the fifth starting position for Sunday's
running of the IRL IndyCar® Series Belterra Casino Indy 300.
        This marks Franchitti's best qualifying effort since earning pole position at Texas on
June 10, a race in which he finished second to Team 7-Eleven driver Tony Kanaan. It also
marks his fourth top-five starting berth in 11 qualifying efforts this season.
        Franchitti also lies just 29 points of shy fifth-place Sam Hornish Jr. in the driver's point
standings.
        Buddy Rice earned the pole position for tomorrow afternoon's event with a speed of
216.016 miles per hour (24.6648 seconds). Kanaan will start on the outside of the front row,
having registered a speed of 215.731 miles per hour (24.6974 seconds), Hornish Jr. will start
third with a speed of 215.592 miles per hour (24.7134 seconds) and Adrian Fernandez is
fourth at 215.326 miles per hour (24.7439 seconds).
        Honda-powered machines occupy four of the top-five starting positions.
        The Belterra Casino Indy 300, Round 11 of the 2004 IRL IndyCar Series, is set to go
green at 3:45 p.m. (EDT) Sunday, with ABC Sports providing live broadcast coverage of the
200-lap event beginning at 3:30 p.m. (EDT).


Dario Franchitti, #27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
        "Our qualifying run was certainly an improvement over our practice session. We're
still struggling a little bit in qualifying trim to get the most out of the ArcaEx car, but we'll keep
working on it. It's hard to find the absolute perfect setup for the car; finding that perfect
balance, be it for qualifying or for the race. You're talking such small amounts between
getting it perfectly right and missing it altogether."

Kyle Moyer, General Manager, Andretti Green Racing:
        "We're pretty pleased with our qualifying effort. We wanted to be in the 215's, maybe
higher in the 215's, but starting fifth is no problem. The main key is that we're trying to get up
there with Tony (Kanaan) to help him with this battle and the only way we're going to do that
is to run up front."