Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Qualified (provisional): 5th
ALEX ZANARDI
Well, the afternoon certainly went better than the morning. At least we stayed on the circuit! Considering that we didn’t get much track time this morning, I’m pretty pleased with out results today. There is a minor problem with the car, something we can easily fix tonight but didn’t have time to fix during qualifying, so I think we will have a better car tomorrow.

	Marlboro Penske Mercedes Qualified (provisional): 4th
AL UNSER, Jr.
We think qualifying went very well, except for Andre’s accident. It’s been a while since we qualified like this. Now we just need Lady Luck on our side in the race. I can’t say enough about the great job Mercedes and Goodyear are doing. We worked with the Marlboro car this morning, not really for times, but for a race setup. And based on our performance this afternoon, we think we got pretty close.

	Marlboro Penske Mercedes Qualified (provisional): 9th
ANDRE RIBEIRO
I went out of turn six and got on the throttle. The car was running very well, but unfortunately the car ahead of me dropped a wheel and threw dirt on the track. I was the next car through, and I just lost the rear and went straight into the wall on the left side. The amount of damage was amazing based on how slow the corner is. I just hit at a bad angle. I’m anxious to run tomorrow because the Marlboro Penske/Mercedes is very good.

	Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Walker Racing Reynard Honda Qualified (provisional): 1st
GIL de FERRAN
The Goodyear test here last month gave us a good foundation for this weekend. The car has been very, very good since we unloaded this morning. If it is cooler tomorrow, we’ll need to go quicker, maybe in the ‘39s. But if it is hotter, then the time today may be good enough [for the pole].

	Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Qualified (provisional): 3rd
MICHAEL ANDRETTI
It was a nice day for Goodyear. The testing we did really seemed to make a difference. We could have been quicker, but (Al) Unser, Jr. got in my way during a hot lap. He tried to get out of my way, but that is just how it goes. I was a victim of circumstance.

	Miller Lite Team Rahal Reynard Ford Qualified (provisional): 10th
BOBBY RAHAL
The car wanted to slide around a little too much. I was on a pretty quick lap and, going into turn five the rear end just came around. I lost over half a second. The track is a little tricky in certain areas.I don't feel that the car is real secure in the carousel and I want to be on the throttle there. It's just great to be back at Road America. It's my favorite track. It's the first track I remember as a kid. If I'm going to be emotional about this year, it's going to be here. Before and after the race, I think I'll feel somewhat of a loss. Just because I won't race here again.

	Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford Qualified (provisional): 8th
BRYAN HERTA
We ran out of fuel during a very good lap. We got about two-thirds around the track and we realized that we would not have enough fuel to make it. So when I came up on (Jimmy) Vasser I tried to pedal it a bit but ended up running out of fuel right before pit row. I was nine-tenths quicker that last lap.

	Hogan Truck Leasing Reynard Mercedes Qualified (provisional): 22nd
JJ LEHTO
We only had a short run then an oil leak. There’s no point running the backup car because it’s a ‘97 car, and we haven’t run it since sometime in April. The new one was due at the shop today. This is my first time here, and it’s a place where you can really go fast if you can find the car. But if your car isn’t working, it can be a really difficult circuit.

	Kmart/Texaco Havoline Newman/Haas Racing Swift Ford Qualified (provisional): 6th
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI
We are o.k. It’s not 100-percent, but we made progress from this morning. After practice this we were ninth and then after qualifying this afternoon we were seventh so I am looking for us to continue to improve and start the race in the top-six and maybe break into the top-four. The testing we did here 15 days ago with Goodyear is really paying off.

	Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Qualified (provisional): 14th
JIMMY VASSER
I don’t know. The car certainly isn’t handling like it was when we tested here. The car was really good then, but not so hot today. It’s all handling, I think the power we have is pretty good. Somehow we have to figure out where we’ve gone wrong and get the car back to where it was during our test here.

	Bettenhausen Racing Alumax Aluminium Reynard Mercedes Qualified (provisional): 18th
HELIO CASTRO-NEVES
This is my first time here, and we’re doing pretty good. But we had some kind of mechanical problem, so the team is checking the gearbox and everything to find out what happened. It’s unfortunate because my second set of tires was very good, and the setup was good. But the problem happened on one of our fastest laps.

 

	Hollywood Reynard Mercedes Qualified (provisional): 27th
MAURICIO GUGELMIN
We have a car that handles; we tested very well here. But we lost a turbo in the morning session, and then had a motor problem. We elected to go with the backup car this afternoon because the turbo is easier to change than the whole engine. Then we lost another turbo this afternoon, which indicates that there’s something wrong with the installation, and that was it.

	PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes Qualified (provisional): 12th
MARK BLUNDELL
Basically, we just have to find some more grip. When we find it, we’ll go quicker. We think we have some ideas for tomorrow to get us going in the right direction. We’ll make the changes overnight, and hopefully come back with something better tomorrow.

	Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Reynard Ford Qualified (provisional): 17th
MICHEL JOURDAIN
I know we have the potential to qualify better, but after several events qualifying in the twenties (positions). It seems that we are going back in the right direction. However, we need to work further on the car. During the first practice we used the '98 car, but for qualifying we decided to use the updated '97. I like this one ('97) more than the other, it has better brakes and handling. During qualifying I spun with my first set of tires and we had to go for fresh tires a little bit earlier. My last lap was the fastest, but we still need to work on the balance, mainly in the fast turns the car is very loose.

	Visteon Reynard Ford Qualified (provisional): 7th
SCOTT PRUETT
We were real happy with the improvements that we made this morning. Then, this afternoon we made a few changes and they did not work out as well. The red flags made it very difficult to make the car better during the qualifying session. We did not have much time to work on improvments.

	LCI International Tasman Motorsports Group LCI Reynard Honda Qualified (provisional): 23rd
TONY KANAAN
We had a problem with the gearbox. I was braking into turn one and the transmission dropped down into two gears at the same time. We didn’t want to over-rev the engine so we stopped. It’s a shame because I didn’t test here, and didn’t have a chance to run my second set of [qualifying] tires.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Qualified (provisional): 2nd
DARIO FRANCHITTI
On my quick lap, someone else had gone off in the carousel and put some dirt up on the track. I took a big slide on that dirt, so I’m pretty happy to be second. I think there’s still a bit of time in the car, so I’m pretty confident about our chances tomorrow.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Qualified (provisional): 13th
PAUL TRACY
In qualifying we set some good times on the first set of tires. I came in and made some changes to the car and went back out on our second set [of tires]. I got through he first couple of corners really well, faster than I’ve ever gone here. I just tried to go for more and locked up the brakes [going into turn five], flat-spotted the tires and that was the end of the lap. I’m frustrated with myself because the car was good. I just dropped the ball in qualifying.

	Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Qualified (provisional): 20th
PATRICK CARPENTIER
This circuit is not as physically tough as Mid-Ohio, but our car is just very loose at the moment. We’re trying to work on that. It’s pushing going in to the slow- and medium-speed corners, but in the high speed corners, the rear end snaps out. It almost felt like something was broken, but we didn’t change much from the morning, and it shouldn’t be that different from when we tested here.

	Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford Qualified (provisional): 11th
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ
We were fighting to get a balance in the car, but I really never got it. Then during the session I cut a tire and had to come in. With the second set of tires we had to put on, we didn’t have a good balance. After that we were basically running out of time.

	Baan Software Davis Racing Lola Ford Qualified (provisional): 24th
ARND MEIER
We improved the car from practice and it feels pretty good when I drive it. I know a couple of corners where we can improve the car, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to try them.

	Forsythe Player's-Indeck Reynard Mercedes Qualified (provisional): Disqualified
GREG MOORE
I think we’re about a second off of what we did here in testing. The track is a bit more slippery, probably because of all the rain they’ve had here recently. That’s washed most of the rubber off of the surface. But it’s getting better, we just have to watch out that the Trans-Am cars don’t lay down too much oil. We made some major improvements from the morning and now we have an idea of which way the track is going, so we have a baseline to continue improving tomorrow. [later after tech inspection]: This is most disappointing because we were in fourth position and now we will have to start from the back. We know we can be fast here, we've proven it in the testing. Tomorrow our work is cut out for us, and we'll give it all we've got.