Race No. 4
Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix
Presented By Toyota
Nazareth Motorsports Complex — Nazareth, Pennsylvania
April 25-27, 1997
Sunday Quotes from drivers and managers at Nazareth: |
Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
| JIMMY VASSER | |
| "We still haven't figured out these one-mile ovals yet, but maybe we're creeping up on it. It wasn't loose but it wasn't the fastest car on the track either. And it's the first race this year when we haven't had a flat tire. If you look at the history of one-mile ovals and the results that Penske and Newman-Haas teams have achieved, I think it's obvious that they know something about these places that the rest of us don't. " | |
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Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
| PAUL TRACY | |
| "It's the most exciting day in the last year. The whole team just dug their heels in and got it done. For awhile, it was like we were in quick sand and we were sinking even more. We looked good at Elkhart Lake last year and the bottom fell out. But everybody kept working hard, everyone at Penske Cars and Mercedes and Goodyear. I was really having to work traffic. For the last 30 laps, my car was good off the bat but toward the end it got loose. I was just working hard to keep Michael behind me. ... It definitely closes the [fine] issue for me. We are third in points and right where we want to be at this point in the season. The motor is strong, the car is great and our next three races are on short ovals. " | |
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Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Cosworth XD |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| "I think we had the best car out there. We fought our way back out there from a lap down early in the race. We hung in there until the end. In the end, I still thought we were looking good, but then the yellow came out with a whole lot of lapped cars in between us. I thought we'd be able to pass in a few laps [after the restart removed the lapped traffic], but then whole flow went away because of two more yellows after that. I just didn't have enough time to get him. I think after loosing a lap here, and coming back the way we did, I can't complain too much. " | |
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Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
| AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| "I couldn't seem to get a groove as well as Paul [Tracy] could. At the end, I figured the boys were going to go at it and I didn't want to be in the middle of it. It was there race and I wasn't going to intefere. It was just how the day went. We wanted a one-two Marlboro Team Penske finish really badly but it wasn't going to happen. " | |
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Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford |
| SCOTT PRUETT | |
| "My car had a big push
the whole race. We came here with a different set-up than we normally
do. We had the car set-up for understeer hoping it would go neutral, but
it didn't. The good thing is that it didn't go loose. Unfortunately, we got caught out on the pitstops. We pitted one lap before it went yellow. You can never guess that. We ran well all day long, and the engine did its job. This was a learning experience for us with the new Reynard and setup on how to keep it from going loose -- and it didn't go loose. We'll take that and apply it when we go to Milwaukee. We could run as fast as most everybody out there. It was just a matter of when you did your pit stops." * #24 HIRO MATSUSHITA, Panasonic Duskin Reynard Toyota: "Right from the start I felt a severe vibration in the rear, so the crew called me in before any more trouble. We believe it's something in the gearbox." | |
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PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes |
| MARK BLUNDELL | |
| "Obviously I'm disappointed and a bit upset. One doesn't like to not finish races. I got bottled up behind Franchitti for several laps and I decided to try a higher line. I went about three feet higher into the corner trailing close behind Franchitti and it just started to push straight on. Once I got into the marbles it just dragged me straight into the wall. " | |
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Ralphs/Food 4 Less Della Penna Racing Lola Ford |
| RICHIE HEARN | |
| "It was an
extremely disappointing end to our weekend. The car was absolutely
great all weekend. We worked on our race set-up from the first moment
of the first practice and things appeared to be going very well. [Raul]
Boesel and I were trying for the longest time to get by Parker
[Johnstone]. He was holding up the entire train. Finally [on Lap 190]
Raul went for it on the inside of Turn 3. They touched. Parker spun into
the wall and collected me. It seems my fate here is to either win, or get
taken out by a slower car. [Note: In a 1994 Toyota Atlantic series race
here, Hearn was leading before being taken out by lapped traffic in Turn
3]. It's a shame. We were running well and I was hoping to score some
points and head down to Rio [de Janeiro for the next race] with some
momentum.
Parker was holding up that whole
train for a while. Raul [Boesel] got a good run on him down in the corner.
Parker came down on him and they touched. I was already on the outside
when Parker wound up sideways and I just T-boned him. I had nowhere to
go. I didn't hit him that hard, but I thought he was going to end up on
top of me the way he ran up the wall. I'm O.K. but it obviously just
trashed what looked like a good finish for us. At least we were doing
well and had a good race to that point. So there's some promise. It's
just one of those unfair racing incidents that I couldn't control.
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Kmart/Budweiser Swift Ford Newman/Haas Racing |
| ROBERTO MORENO | |
| "Nothing really happened with me. The guy in front of me saw what happened ahead and just stopped too suddenly. So not to hit him, I spun, rather slowly. The Kmart/Budweiser team did a fantastic job in allowing me to overtake some guys on pitstops. There's a lot that is new to me on short-oval racing. This was my first time in a new car on a short oval, so there was a learning curve for me. Brazil is a different game. It is an oval with road course characteristics. " | |
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MCI Arciero Wells Reynard Toyota |
| MAX PAPIS | |
| "We were having a very good race and running some quick lap times. Then the engine just died. We tried to restart so I could get more experience on the oval but we were unable to continue. I think I am going to like oval racing. " | |
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Pennzoil Special Reynard Ford Davis/Craig Racing |
| GUALTER SALLES | |
| "At the beginning we had a good run, and the car was feeling good. I managed to overtake Pruett, and I was just behind [Bryan] Herta and having a run on him coming out of three and then the back end just passed me. And I lost the car coming out of three. I was not really worried about turn three today. I was worried about the car getting loose in two. Now I learned it gets loose in three. " | |
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Shell Reynard Ford Team Rahal |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| "I thought I beat Bobby [Rahal, his teammate] to the blend line coming out of the pits but the stewards made the call for Bobby. Hey, it was close. To be honest, I'm glad we got a couple of Top 10 finishes because some of the point leaders didn't have much luck today. " | |
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Team Kool Green Reynard Honda |
| PARKER JOHNSTONE | |
| "When I first felt contact from Boesel, I spun and the tires scrubbed and I thought, 'Okay, I can pull out of this.' But then I felt this sledgehammer hit and I thought, 'Good, it's over.' Then suddenly, I'm up in the air. And then I stopped. And the whole time I was thinking, 'Wait a minute, I wasn't going that fast!' "I had lost my left mirror earlier from debris, but even if I'd had use of my left mirror, I would have turned anyway. Boesel just wasn't there until the last second. I was already committed to the turn, and just as I turned down, Boesel showed up. " | |
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Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
| ALEX ZANARDI | |
| "We had some bad luck today. It's tough when you get passed by the leader and then it immediately goes yellow. Today we were not strong enough to come back, so in a way it's pretty satisfying to come away with two points, especially considering how the weekend started for us. " | |
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LCI International Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
| ANDRE RIBEIRO | |
| "Obviously we are disappointed. It is a shame. At the moment, we need the track time. We were hoping to learn from Adrian, but he had the same problem as well. " | |
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Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| "The car snapped so fast! Suddenly, I was in the wall. Up to that point we had a lot of push and I was just trying to finish the race. It was not a good weekend for us. " | |
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Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford |
| GIL de FERRAN | |
| "This is a great result for us for many reasons. This, to me, is the most difficult circuit on the schedule, and to finish on the lead lap, high in the points is a great accomplishment. " | |
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Bettenhaused Racing Alumax Aluminium Reynard Mercedes-Benz |
| PATRICK CARPENTIER | |
| "To be honest, I am extremely disappointed. I believe we had the best car out there. I could follow the leaders, but we had bad luck when the yellow came out after the second stop. Still, we got a point and that puts us in a tie for the lead for top rookie. " | |
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Miller Lite Reynard Ford Team Rahal |
| BOBBY RAHAL | |
| "It's always pretty wild here at Nazareth. We lost some ground in the middle of the race when my right front tire got too grainy and the car had a big understeer. But we switched to the Goodyear primary set and the car felt great. I almost got Jimmy [Vasser for fifth] at the end. I was almost on the grass in turn two trying to get by him. " | |
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Hollywood Reynard Ford |
| MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| "We got caught by that yellow after we made our second pit stop. Up to that point, things were looking good. I ran easily in second, and was actually pulling away from Gil [de Ferran] but [Dario] Franchitti came out of the pits on cold tires and lost it and pushed me into the marbles. " | |
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Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford Cosworth |
| RAUL BOESEL | |
| "The car was great
especially in clean air. In traffic it's hard to overtake. You can't go
outside because of the marbles. You get a run on someone else and get
close then you lose the front end. It was great to lead again. Maybe
next time it will be the last lap. We were fighting for position. I went to the inside. I think he thought he could hold me off, but I was too far ahead of him at that point. He knew I was there. He tried to save his position, and we touched. I don't know how I saved it -- I [perhaps] helped a little [smiling]. My car started to slide sideways. It kept some traction. My car was great in clean air. In traffic it's hard to overtake. You don't want to go to the outside, because you don't want to get on the marbles. You are just stuck there. I was faster than a lot of cars ahead of me, and I really got under but lost the front end and couldn't come out as clean as I'd like, so you're stuck there. But it was great to lead the race again for a couple of laps. Sometime it will be on the last lap. We have some momentum going as a team now." | |