| [ News Index ][ SpeedCenter Homepage ][ Copyright Info ][ SpeedCenter Galleries ] |
|
|
||
©1999 SpeedCenter Publishing Santa Ana, CA., June 14, 1999 Dan Gurney announced today that Alex Barron will step out of the Denso-Castrol Toyota-Eagle for the next three CART races. Car number '36' will be driven by Gualter Salles in Portland, Cleveland and Elkhart Lake. Dan Gurney, Owner All American Racers: "Due to the fact that All American Racers is fielding a unique car/tire/engine package, Alex has been put in the extremely difficult position of being our singular source of feedback as to where we stand with our car. Our results in testing, qualifying and the races have given us a mixed picture. In order for us to plan the future structure of AAR's racing program, I consider it vital to get a 'second opinion' so that we may be able to further evaluate the current 997 Eagle chassis. This decision has been very difficult to make and has been reached by mutual agreement over the weekend. It should in no way be interpreted that we are not appreciative of Alex's proven talent and efforts in difficult circumstances. We chose Gualter Salles because he has CART experience, a good record and was available." Gualter Salles, 29, was born in Rio de Janeiro and is a resident of Miami Beach, Florida. He started his racing career in karting at age 17, proceeded to Formula Ford, British F3 and to Indy Lights, where he won three consecutive races in Portland, Cleveland and Toronto in 1996 and finished 3rd in the Championship. In 1997 he joined Davis Racing in CART, his best result of the year was a 7th place in Laguna Seca and three 12th place qualifying positions. When Davis Racing closed shop, he joined the Payton Coyne Team in 1998 to drive in six CART events, his best finish was a 12th place in Motegi, Japan and a 4th qualifying position in Long Beach. Gualter, whose full name reads Gualter Jose Fortuna Salles Santos, is an avid tennis player and soccer fan. He studied business at his local university for two years, enjoys reading and is fluent in four languages. Source: All American Racers |
||
|
|||
|
|
|||