ATLANTICS: Bulls-Eye Bound at the Target Grand Prix
19 August 1999
BULLS-EYE BOUND AT THE TARGET GRAND PRIX
Fast Facts: Lynx Racing at the Target Grand Prix, August 21
1. Lynx Racing driver Buddy Rice is a prime candidate to win the KOOL/
Toyota Atlantic support race at the inaugural Target Grand Prix; he has led
the last four Atlantic races and scored three podium finishes in a row.
2. Lynx Racing is the only championship-winning team in a major auto racing
series owned by women, Peggy Haas and Jackie Doty. The team's mission is
to seek out young drivers with championship potential and provide them with
the funding, training and equipment to make it to the top level of
motorsports.
3. Lynx Racing has graduated its last three drivers directly to CART FedEx
teams: Patrick Carpentier to Player's/Forsythe, Alex Barron to Dan Gurney's
All-American Racers and Marlboro Penske and Memo Gidley to Walker Racing
and Payton-Coyne.
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Lynx Racing, with drivers Buddy Rice and Mike Conte are prime
contenders to hit the bulls-eye in the KOOL/Toyota Atlantic support race at
the Target Grand Prix, August 21.
Atlantic is the premier stepping-stone series to the CART FedEx
Championship, and Lynx Racing - the only championship-winning, woman-owned
team in a major auto racing series - is one of the top teams. The past
three Lynx drivers have graduated to CART: Patrick Carpentier to
Player's/Forsythe, Alex Barron to Dan Gurney's All-American Racers and
Marlboro Penske and Memo Gidley to Walker/Alpine Racing and
Payton-Coyne/Herdez.
Lynx driver Buddy Rice and Lynx graduate Memo Gidley teamed to win
every oval track race on the Atlantic circuit in 1998, and Rice, with new
teammate Mike Conte, has led the last four Atlantic races and scored three
podium finishes in a row in 1999.
"Lynx is used to winning, and we're planning to do just that at
Chicago," says Rice, 23, of Phoenix, Arizona. "Since this is the first
race ever held on this track, it's a level playing field for drivers and
teams. We won every Atlantic oval track race last year, and we've been the
most consistently competitive team this season. There are a lot of good,
experienced drivers and teams in the Atlantic series this year, but not one
of them wants a win in Chicago more than we do."
Mike Conte, 30, of Seattle, Washington, is new to the Lynx team
this year. He is a software designer who formerly worked for Microsoft and
was a major force in creating several of their most popular programs,
including Windows 95 and Internet Explorer. He now drives full-time with
Lynx and also runs his own Porsche-based sports cars team - Contemporary
Motorsports - that scored a podium finish in the 12 Hours of Sebring
earlier this year.
"Oval track racing is as much black art as science," says Conte.
"So it's a big help that at Lynx we have both wizards and computer wonks to
help us figure out the setup. And getting the car right is absolutely
essential on an oval, particularly this oval, because with long straights
and tight, constant radius turns, it looks we'll need to brake, and
possibly downshift, going into the turns. You'll really have to drive it,
not just circulate around with the gas pedal flat on the floor like some
ovals. So this weekend will be a race of engineers and computers as much
as drivers... until the green flag drops on Sunday, anyway."
Lynx Racing is the only championship-winning racing team and driver
development program owned by women that competes in a major auto racing
series. Created by Peggy Haas and Jackie Doty, Lynx Racing is now in its
ninth year of seeking out young drivers with championship potential and
providing them with the funds, training and equipment to make it to the top
levels of the sport.
Lynx alumni include Patrick Carpentier, who won the 1996 Atlantic
championship, was the 1997 CART Rookie of the Year, and now drives for
Player's/Forsythe. Lynx's 1997 graduate, Alex Barron, won the Atlantic
championship in his first and only year with the team, and was quickly
signed by Dan Gurney's All-American Racers for the 1998 season. This year
he also drove for Marlboro Penske in the U.S. 500 at Michigan, and will
drive for them again in the season-ending race at Fontana. Lynx Racing's
1998, Memo Gidley, impressed CART insiders with four races as a substitute
for the injured Naoki Hattori on the Alpine/Walker Racing team, and has now
moved over to run in a second Herdez-backded car with Payton-Coyne.
Target Grand Prix Schedule of Events:
Thursday, August 19
8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. Atlantic practice
12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Atlantic practice
4:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Atlantic practice
Friday, August 20
8:45 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. Atlantic practice
1:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Atlantic practice
5:05 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Atlantic single-car qualifying
Saturday, August 21
11:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Atlantic warm-up
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Atlantic race / 60 laps
Television Schedule:
ESPN2 Sunday, August 29 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
ESPN2 Tuesday, August 31 2:30 a.m. - 3:30 a.m. (repeat)
ESPN2 Friday, Sept. 3 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (repeat)
CTV (Canada) Tuesday, August 31 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
RDS (Canada) Sunday, Sept. 9 Check local listings
ESPN Intl. Sunday, August 29 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Next Event on Atlantic Schedule:
Molson Indy Vancouver / September 11