MONTOYA CAPTURES SECOND CONSECUTIVE NAZARETH POLE
2nd driver in CART history to win consecutive pole positions at Nazareth Speedway

Juan Montoya of Target/Chip Ganassi Racingbecame the second driver in FedEx Championship Series history to winconsecutive pole positions at Nazareth Speedway on Saturday when he claimedthe pole for Sunday's Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota (1p.m. ET, live, ABC-TV).

Montoya (Target Toyota Lola) averaged 176.868 miles per hour (19.255seconds) for his fastest lap on the 0.946-mile oval, repeating the pole heclaimed in 1999, when he recorded a dominant victory, leading 210 of 225laps.

Montoya, whose pole was the eighth of his two-year CART career, joined PaulTracy (1996-97) as the only drivers to win consecutive poles at Nazareth. Itwas also the second pole of Toyota's five-year history in the FedExChampionship Series, following Scott Pruett's pole-winning effort atCalifornia Speedway last year.

Christian Fittipaldi (Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola) of Newman/Haas Racingearned the outside pole at 176.401 miles per hour (19.306 seconds). He willmake the second front-row start of his five-year career, having earned hisfirst career pole position at Rio de Janeiro in his homeland of Brazil lastyear.

Helio Castro-Neves (Marlboro Honda Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske earnedhis second top-three start in as many years at Nazareth by qualifying thirdat 175.918 mph (19.3 seconds). He qualified on the outside pole last yearand led the 15 laps not led by Montoya, before exiting due to contact after175 laps.

Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) was fourth at 175.891 mph (19.362 seconds),followed by Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) at 175.628 mph (19.391seconds). FedEx Championship Series points leader Max Papis (Miller LiteFord Reynard) qualified 16th at 171.619 mph (19.844 seconds)

Twenty-one of the 22 race starters were covered by less than one second.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

JUAN MONTOYA, Target Toyota Lola: "The car has been good all weekend long.The wind didn't effect me that much. I was surprised. Tomorrow, I think thestints are really gonna be long, and saving tires will be very important.The Toyota has been really good so far. I think tomorrow will be a reallyinteresting race."

CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola: "The conditions werepretty tough, but they were tough for all the cars out there. It was toughcoming out of Turn 4; we lost a bit of downforce. It was a little bit better[during qualifying] than this morning. I reckon we could have gone with amore neutral setup, but I'm very happy to start on the front row. The topfour or six [qualifiers] tomorrow are going to have a big advantage."

HELIO CASTRO-NEVES, Marlboro Honda Reynard: "I was expecting a change in mycar, but I think I waited too long. The car was handling well, then thegreen flag came, and I thought we needed to do something. I ran a 19.3[second lap] and I wished I could have had one more lap, but everyone saysthat. I've got a very good package; if it's going to be cold I think we needto bring some Brazilian heat for the tires, but it's gonna be a really goodshow for the fans."

WHAT'S NOTEWORTHY

* Juan Montoya (Target Toyota Lola) will be seeking his fourth careervictory from the pole Sunday, having earned three while winning the FedExChampionship Series championship last year. Montoya's 1999 wins from thepole came at Nazareth, Cleveland and Vancouver.

* Montoya's pole was the first for Lola since Helio Castro-Nevesearned the pole at Milwaukee last year.

* Christian Fittipaldi (Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola), who startssecond, has scored FedEx Championship Series points in three of four careerstarts at Nazareth, with a best finish of seventh last year. He alsofinished 11th in 1998 and ninth in '96.

* Helio Castro-Neves (Marlboro Honda Reynard), who qualified third,has qualified fifth or better for his past four starts on one-mile ovals,including second at Nazareth, a pole at Milwaukee and fifth at Chicago, allin 1999.

* Fourth-place qualifier Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) is a two-timewinner at Nazareth (1994, '97 from the pole), with additional podiumfinishes of third in 1992, '93 and last year. He has finished out of the top10 only once in nine career starts (26th in 1995).

* Gualter Salles (Dale Coyne Racing Ford Lola) and Luiz Garcia Jr.(Hollywood/Embratel/Tang/Banco Sofisa Mercedes Reynard) will not compete inSunday's Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota. Salles waswithdrawn by Dale Coyne Racing due to equipment damage sustained in aone-car accident during practice Friday afternoon. Garcia Jr. failed to meetCART's minimum qualifying requirement of 110 percent of the pole-winningtime.

WHAT'S ON TAP

CART 2Day airs 11 a.m. ET Sunday on ESPN2, with ABC-TV's live race broadcastdue to begin at 1 p.m. ET.


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