---

Trans Am: Brian Simo qualifying at Laguna Seca

15 October 2000

Brian Simo qualified second for Sunday's BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series 
race at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif.  He noted his lap time of one 
minute 27.239 seconds on the 2.238-mile road course was hampered by an 
elusive engine problem.

"We don't know the exact answer yet, we have to review all the data.  We 
weren't getting all the revs out of the motor.  I don't know if something 
broke, but we've got a problem.  We've been working on it this weekend to 
figure out why we're not getting the revs we should be getting.  At this 
point, we'll just have to race through it," he said.

"It's unfortunate we didn't get the pole, because that championship point 
would have been good.  But Paul [Gentilozzi] didn't get it, so there was no 
gain or loss."

Gentilozzi, of Lansing, Mich., leads the driver championship standings by 
four points over Simo.