DETROIT (July 11, 2000) - The FedEx Championship Series season has producedeight different winners in its first nine events - just two shy of theseries single-season record of 10 different winners established last year -and the season has not even reached its halfway point.

Now, heading into Round 10 of the 20-race season, Sunday's Molson Indy atToronto's Exhibition Place (3 p.m. ET, one-hour tape delay, ESPN), thatdiversity is further exemplified by the fact that five former Toronto racewinners are on this weekend's entry list. Among the other 19 active FedExChampionship Series race venues, only Laguna Seca Raceway could make asimilar claim.

And while there are five former winners on the 1.755-mile temporary streetcircuit at Exhibition Place in this weekend's field, one of those is afive-time winner at Toronto. That would be Michael Andretti (BigKmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) of Newman/Haas Racing, whose Toronto resumeincludes victories in 1989, '91, '92, '94 and '95. Andretti, who hasfinished fifth or better in 10 of 13 career starts at Toronto, stands secondin the championship with 68 points, 22 behind leader Roberto Moreno (VisteonFord Reynard) of Patrick Racing, who has 90 points after earning his firstcareer pole and win at Cleveland.

Though Andretti has not won at Toronto since '95, three of the past fourMolson Indy winners will join him in the field. Adrian Fernandez(Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard) of Patrick Racing recordedhis first career FedEx Championship Series victory at Toronto in 1996 andhas scored championship points in four of his past five starts at the venue.Included is an outstanding effort last year when he drove to a sixth-placefinish from the 23rd spot on the grid.

A year following Fernandez' triumph, Mark Blundell (Motorola PacWestMercedes) led 93 of 95 laps at Toronto en route to the second victory of hiscareer. Blundell will be making his first appearance at Toronto since 1998after missing last year's event while recovering from a small fracture ofthe seventh cervical vertebra sustained in a testing accident at GatewayInternational Raceway.

Rounding out the list of the most recent winners at Exhibition Place isDario Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard) of Team KOOL Green, who led all 95laps en route to a dominant victory last year. Franchitti is also a two-timepole-sitter at Toronto (1997, '98) and holds the track qualifying record of105.694 miles per hour (58.618 seconds), established in 1997.

Franchitti's Team KOOL Green teammate, Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) isthe fifth former Toronto winner in this year's field. A native Canadian, hedrove to victory in 1993, and owns six top-10 finishes in eight careerstarts at Toronto, including a runner-up effort to Franchitti last year.

Moreno, in his seventh FedEx Championship Series season and his first withPatrick Racing, has established career milestones in abundance en route tohis championship lead. He comes to Toronto off his first career poleposition and victory at Cleveland, which allowed him to extend a one-pointlead (68-67) over Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) entering the eventto 22 over Andretti, who moved ahead of de Ferran and into second in thetitle race, at its conclusion.

Moreno's 90 championship points are a career single-season high as are hisfour podium finishes - second at Homestead and Portland and third at Japan,in addition to his victory at Cleveland.

This year for the first time in FedEx Championship Series history, all carsride on Firestone Firehawks, the Official Tire of CART.

The Molson Indy begins a stretch of three consecutive weekends of FedExChampionship Series action. The series continues with the Michigan 500Presented by Toyota, July 21-23, at Michigan Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.,followed by the Target Grand Prix Presented by Energizer, July 28-30, atChicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, Ill.

WHO'S HOT

Roberto Moreno (Visteon Ford Reynard) of Patrick Racing arrives inToronto off the first pole position and victory, respectively, of his FedExChampionship Series career at Cleveland two weeks ago. Moreno scored amaximum 22-point sweep for winning from the pole and leading the most racelaps (91) and extended his championship points lead to 90-68 oversecond-place Michael Andretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) ofNewman/Haas Racing. Moreno, in his seventh year in the FedEx ChampionshipSeries and his first with Patrick Racing, has finished among the top-10drivers in seven of nine starts this season, with podium performances ofsecond at Homestead and Portland and third at Japan, in addition to hisvictory at Cleveland.

Michael Andretti has finished among the top-10 in six of his pastseven FedEx Championship Series starts and among the top-six drivers in fiveof the past six, beginning with his CART career-leading 39th victory atJapan. He owns back-to-back fourth-place finishes at Portland and Clevelandand has moved into second place in the championship with 68 points, 22behind leader Roberto Moreno.

Rookie Kenny Brack (Shell Ford Reynard) of Team Rahal has finishedfifth or better in five of his past six FedEx Championship Series starts,highlighted by a career-best second at Cleveland two weeks ago. Alsoincluded are finishes of third at Nazareth, fourth at Milwaukee, fifth atJapan and sixth at Portland. He has moved into fourth place in thechampionship with 63 points, and has more than doubled the point total (31)of his closest pursuer, Oriol Servia (Telefonica Toyota Reynard) of PPIMotorsports, in the chase for the Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year Award.

Patrick Carpentier (Player's Forsythe Racing Team Ford Reynard) ofPlayer's Forsythe Racing has scored championship points in five of six FedExChampionship Series starts to date and has finished fifth or better in fourof those. The run includes a season-best result of third at Milwaukee aswell as fifth-place efforts at Homestead, Detroit and Cleveland. Despitemissing three events - a third of the season to date - with a small fractureof the left wrist sustained in an April accident at his Las Vegas home,Carpentier currently stands 10th in the championship with 47 points.

Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske hasscored championship points in seven of his nine FedEx Championship Seriesstarts this season, and is the season's only two-time winner, with victoriesat Nazareth and Portland. He also owns pole positions at Homestead and LongBeach, outside poles at Portland and Cleveland, and stands third in thechampionship with 67 points.

Cristiano da Matta (Pioneer/MCI WorldCom Toyota Reynard) of PPIMotorsports recorded the first podium finish of his two-year FedExChampionship Series career by finishing third at Cleveland. He has finishedfifth or better in four of his last seven starts, including fourth at Rio deJaneiro and Japan and fifth at Portland. Da Matta also recorded the fastestlap speed of the two-day CART Open Test at Chicago Motor Speedway lastweekend, turning a lap of 161.934 miles per hour (22.876 seconds) on theone-mile oval.

Adrian Fernandez (Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard)of Patrick Racing has scored championship points in six of his last sevenstarts, beginning with a victory at Rio de Janeiro.

Mauricio Gugelmin (Nextel PacWest Mercedes) of the PacWest RacingGroup qualified third at Cleveland, his best qualifying effort on a road orstreet course since winning the pole at Road America in 1997. He went on tofinish 10th, scoring championship points for the third time in his past fivestarts, including a season-best runner-up effort at Nazareth.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Michael Andretti is a five-time winner at Toronto (1989, '91, '92,'94 and '95) and has finished fifth or better in 10 of 13 career starts atthe venue. He led all 103 laps en route to his back-to-back victories in1991 and '92 and has led a total of 414 laps on the streets of Toronto. Inaddition to his five wins, he also owns podium finishes of second in 1990and '98, and third in '88. He won the pole in 1991 and has qualified amongthe top-10 drivers for all 13 appearances at the venue.

Dario Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard) of Team KOOL Green is thedefending Molson Indy champion, having led all 95 laps from the outside poleposition and making him one of two FedEx Championship Series drivers to leadevery lap of an event en route to victory last year (Bryan Herta was theother at Laguna Seca). He is a two-time pole-sitter at Toronto (1997, '98)and owns the track qualifying record of 105.694 miles per hour (58.618seconds), established in 1997.

Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) of Team KOOL Green owns six top-10finishes in eight career starts at Toronto, topped by a victory from theoutside pole in 1993. He also recorded a runner-up finish to Team KOOL Greenteammate Dario Franchitti last year.

Adrian Fernandez earned his first career FedEx Championship Seriesvictory at Toronto in 1996 and has finished among the top-10 drivers in fourof his past five starts at the venue, including seventh in 1995, ninth in'98 and sixth last year.

Christian Fittipaldi (Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola) of Newman/HaasRacing has scored championship points in four of five career appearances atToronto, topped by a podium result of third, last year. The run alsoincludes finishes of ninth in 1995, seventh in '96 and 11th in '97.

Jimmy Vasser (Target Toyota Lola) has scored championship points insix of eight career appearances at Toronto, with a best finish of third in1998. Other points-paying results include 12th in 1992, 11th in '93, eighthin '96, seventh in '97 and eighth last year.

MANUFACTURING SUCCESS

Roberto Moreno's victory at Cleveland allowed Ford to end a streakthat had seen Honda-powered drivers record 16 consecutive victories ontemporary street circuits, dating to the start of the 1998 FedExChampionship Series season. Ford also extended its Manufacturer'sChampionship lead to 158-138 over Honda.

Honda has won the past two FedEx Championship Series eventscontested at Toronto's Exhibition Place, with victories from Alex Zanardi in1998 and Dario Franchitti last year. Honda also owns a streak of fourconsecutive poles at the venue, from Andre Ribeiro (1996), Franchitti (1997,'98) and Gil de Ferran last year.

Firestone has amassed a streak of 23 consecutive victories on CARTtemporary street courses. That includes every temporary circuit race in1997, '98, '99 and 2000, with this year the first that Firestone faces notire competition.

NOTEWORTHY

With eight different winners in nine events, the upcoming voting forthe five-driver midseason CART All-Star Team will be intriguing. The MolsonIndy marks the midway point of the FedEx Championship Series season, andballoting for the midseason CART All-Star Team will begin immediatelyfollowing the event. The results will be announced the weekend of the TargetGrand Prix Presented by Energizer, set for July 28-30 at Chicago MotorSpeedway. The midseason CART All-Star Team, which gives drivers, media andfans an indication of who is on target for the season-ending team, is votedupon by current FedEx Championship Series drivers, selected media, selectcelebrity voters - including Grammy Award-winning musician Lenny Kravitz -and fans. This will mark the first time fans will be able to vote for theteam and they can do so on www.cart.com , the official website of the FedExChampionship Series. Last season, Juan Montoya, Michael Andretti, DarioFranchitti, Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves were chosen to the midseasonCART All-Star Team. Of that group, Montoya, Andretti and Franchitti werelater named to the inaugural 1999 CART All-Star Team, along with Max Papisand Paul Tracy. Montoya was the leading votegetter for the midseason and '99team, the latter accomplishment earning him the Mario Andretti Trophy.

Two-time FedEx Championship Series champion Alex Zanardi was backbehind the wheel of a Champ Car last weekend as he completed two days oftesting in the Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Mercedes Reynard at SebringInternational Raceway. Zanardi completed 246 miles during the two-day test,which took place at the invitation of Mo Nunn Racing team co-owner MorrisNunn, who served as Zanardi's engineer during his FedEx Championship Seriesseasons of 1997 and '98. Zanardi stepped in for regular Mo Nunn Racingdriver Tony Kanaan, who continues to recover from a broken left forearm andfour cracked ribs sustained in a June 17 qualifying accident at Detroit.Bryan Herta, coming off a ninth-place finish in Cleveland, will make histhird consecutive start in the Mo Nunn Racing entry at Toronto. "It was goodto drive the car again, to take some of the rust out of my muscles," Zanardisaid following the test. I really enjoyed it. I'm glad that we made someprogress in different areas, and Morris was happy because he thought hewanted to get my feedback, and it was good. For me., I was going to come toToronto anyway this weekend, to see some friends and to think about thepossibility of, who knows, driving next year. That's not a secret. Then,Morris called and said 'We've got a two-day test at Sebring.' Since Tonycouldn't drive, and they had this test available, they said they'd ratherhave Alex in the car than anybody else. In three years, Morris and I hadgotten to know each other so very well ... We speak a language that isbasically identical, and it's allowed us to get some good results. AfterI've been out of everything for basically eight months, to come back for mewas particularly exciting. From my point of view, it was certainly a lot offun to do it." Added Nunn: "As Alex said, he came over here as a favor tohelp us confirm data that we've been gathering so far this season so wecould evaluate where we are. He helped us a lot in two solid days oftesting, and we accomplished our goals satisfactorily. It was great to havehis feedback. We always worked well together and that seems to still be thecase. It was nice to see him and spend time with him, as always."

On Friday, July 14, the Discovery Channel will air a piece duringits "Discovery News" broadcast focusing on the concepts of race-cartechnology being applied to consumer cars to make them more fuel-efficient.Check your local listings for broadcast times in your area.

ON THE AIR

Qualifying for the Molson Indy will air 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday onESPN2. "CART 2Day" airs 11 a.m. ET Sunday on ESPN2, with ESPN's one-hourtape-delayed race broadcast scheduled to begin 3 p.m. ET Sunday. The racewill also air live on the CART Radio Network and on CART's official websiteat www.cart.com .

MOLSON INDY "QUOTEBOARD"

ROBERTO MORENO (Visteon Ford Reynard), on his unexpected lead in the FedExChampionship Series championship: "When I joined the Visteon/Patrick Racingteam I thought it would take some time for the team and I to adjust to eachother. I expected to be within the first six places in the championship atthis point, but not leading by 22 points. I think that we have been able toperform at such a high level because of the strong relationship between theVisteon/Patrick Racing team and myself. A lot of the success is because ofthe strong leadership of [team owner] Mr. [Pat] Patrick and [generalmanager] Jim McGee, the fact that we have an extremely good engineeringstaff with Ed Nathman and John Ward, and the hard work of the mechanics.Having captured my first victory in CART [July 2 at Cleveland], and in factmy first win in 12 years, I achieved one of the goals I set out for myselfthis year. My goal now is the championship. It is still very early in theseason, just short of the halfway mark, so we need to continue to perform atthe level we have during the first half of the season. But, theVisteon/Patrick Racing team knows it can compete at a championship level.The Toronto street circuit is a track that I like. Last year I did wellthere,finishing fourth. I enjoy driving all the street circuits, but Iparticularly like Toronto. I think the team has a very good set-up forthese kinds of tracks and my driving style is well suited for the streetcircuits."

CRISTIANO DA MATTA (Pioneer Electronics/MCI WorldCom Toyota Reynard):"We struggled early in the season with our oval set-up, but we've got a very good road racing car. The key is to consistently run up front and then good things will happen. Lately, we've been able to do that. I was happy that we had a third-place finish in Cleveland because that was my best finish ever in a Champ Car, but I was disappointed, too, because I knew in my heart that we could have done much better than that. As with all street races, qualifying up front will be very important at Toronto. We've qualified ninth or better in the last three races, we'll need to do that again in Toronto."

PAUL TRACY (KOOL Honda Reynard), on racing at "home": "No matter how manytimes I've been racing in Toronto, I still get that special feeling knowingthat I'm back home seeing a lot of familiar faces and meeting with Canadian racing fans. One of the highlights, of course, waswinning there in 1993. And then last year was almost like a dream year forTeam KOOL Green in Toronto, with Dario [Franchitti] and I pulling off aone-two finish. Accomplishing a one-two finish two years in a row isobviously a big challenge, but Team KOOL Green is up for it. We not onlywant to defend our championship in Toronto but we want to get back to thekind of success we were having in the series earlier this season. Despitethe problems we've run into lately, we still have a very positive attitudethat things are going to turn around soon. Toronto would be the ideal placeto start. The Team KOOL Green crew has consistently been able to deliver a competitive car on that street course and that adds to ourconfidence going into this year's race."

DARIO FRANCHITTI (KOOL Honda Reynard), on defending his championship at theMolson Indy: "Toronto has to be right up there as one of my favorite trackson the CART circuit, not only because I've been really fast there but Ireally like the layout, the city, the fans and the whole festive atmospherethat's part of the race weekend in Toronto. Plus, there are pretty bigItalian and Scottish communities there and they've always given me a lot ofsupport. After winning the pole in Toronto my first two times there and thenrunning into some bad luck that prevented me from finishing both of theraces, it was nice to have everything fall into place last year, with asecond in qualifying and then winning the race. That was my first win of theseason and we were able to really feed off that because we had threepodiums, including a win, in the four races after Toronto. The Toronto racewas a big turning point in the season and, hopefully, the same thing willhappen this year."

BARRY GREEN, Team KOOL Green owner, assessing the team's performance at theseason's halfway point: "As we hit the midway point of the season, weobviously would have liked to put up some better results than we havethrough the first nine races. But you can't dwell on the past. You have tolook at each race as a learning process and go from there. Things can turnaround in a hurry, as we saw last year when we had the one-two finish inToronto and had five podiums in the next three races. The fact that therehave been eight different winners in the nine races so far means that no oneis really pulling away in the standings and there's such a long way to go,you can really make some progress with a string of good races. We'reconfident our time is going to come."

JUAN MONTOYA (Target Toyota Lola), on remaining competitive through theremainder of the FedEx Championship Series season: "With the addition ofthe Indy 500, this team has had to work very hard the first half of theseason. I'm proud of Team Target for doing such a great job of figuring outa brand new car and giving me a great machine to compete with on raceday. Iwould love to have a few more wins and a few less DNFs this year, but I lookback at these first nine races and know that the team and I have learned alot and will be very competitive in each remaining race. Toronto is a greatcity and a great race. I was very disappointed with my result there lastyear, and I know we will have a great race there Sunday. It's frustratingto look at the point standings and to know that just a few problems haveprevented us from a few more podium finishes. Starting with Toronto, one ofmy goals is to score points in each race -- and I plan to score a lot inToronto."

MICHAEL ANDRETTI (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola), on the challenges ofracing at Toronto: "I think our package is getting more competitive. Ithink we've learned a lot. It's not perfect yet, but it is getting there.The Toronto track is a really good layout. It's a great street course. Itis just a really good racing course for our team and hopefully we can bringhome number six [career win at Toronto] this weekend. My confidence is goodin Toronto and it feels good heading into this race second in the standings.The only problem is that I haven't won on the new course, just on the oldcourse. I would love to win on the new course, and that's what we are goingto try to do this weekend. It is great for the Big Kmart/Texaco/Havolineteam to be second in the championship but we will approach this race justlike everyone else. Roberto [Moreno] is the guy to beat right now since heis leading the standings. We just need to keep scoring points and bringinghome consistently good finishes. We have been running strong on the streetand road courses and we need to make up as many points as we can everyrace."

GIL de FERRAN (Marlboro Honda Reynard), on turning qualifying success intorace-day success at the Molson Indy: "While I qualified on the pole lastyear and have consistently run fast in Toronto, I've never finished the racein a good position. I hope to change that this year and bring the Marlborocar home in the points."

HELIO CASTRONEVES (Marlboro Honda Reynard), on continuing his successful runon FedEx Championship Series street circuits: "I'm looking forward to racingin Toronto this weekend. Marlboro Team Penske has been running pretty wellon street courses - I finished second in Long Beach and won my first CARTrace on Belle Isle [Detroit]. One of the biggest challenges will be settingup the car to work well over the surface changes from concrete to asphalt.We'll be able to work on the set-up Friday and Saturday, and hopefully comeSunday we'll be in a good position on the grid and in the points at the endof the race."

KENNY BRACK (Shell Ford Reynard), on building upon his career-best runner-upeffort at Cleveland: "I was really proud of the effort the Shell team puttogether at Cleveland. It was a strange weekend for us. We went from thirdon Friday to 15th on Saturday to a podium finish on Sunday. All through theweekend the crew kept positive and worked toward making the car as good aspossible. Even when we were having problems on Saturday, there was anattitude that we would get things turned around and be on pace. Thebiggest obstacle for me was figuring out what I needed from the car for aroad race. I have felt like I found my rhythm for driving the road coursesat Long Beach [his first street race]. Adapting to the race strategies, thepit stops and the demands on the car were the real challenge for me.Fortunately with Team Rahal I have a great crew and my engineer Don Hallidayhas been vital in helping me with the learning curve. I have never raced inCanada or been to Toronto so I am looking forward to the experience.Everything I keep hearing about the Canadian fans is how knowledgeable theyare and how there is a carnival atmosphere that surrounds the race."

JIMMY VASSER (Target Toyota Lola), on regaining the momentum with which hebegan the FedEx Championship Series season: "It would be nice to finish offthe first half of the season with a podium finish. We struggled a bit afterthe first few races, but we put together a nice run in Cleveland [finishingeighth], so I think we have our confidence back.

"I haven't experienced a great deal of success in Toronto, but you have tostart somewhere, and I have a feeling we'll put it all together thisweekend. It takes a few races for everyone to get used to their cars andtheir teammates, and some teams figure out those things sooner than others.After the mid-point, however, all teams are pretty much on the same page andthat's when the battle for points really begins. I like our chances headingdown the stretch, but a good performance in Toronto would be a good way toconclude the first half of the year."

CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI (Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola), on his car'simprovement on street courses: "I think our car is more competitive on anoval as opposed to a street or road course right now but we are improving.We were in difficult shape in Long Beach, better in Detroit, and a lotbetter in Portland. We started out fast in Cleveland but didn't keepimproving as the track got better and struggled in qualifying. We ran wellin the race, though, and I think we learned some things that will help inToronto but we're still as competitive as we want to be. We ran well in thepast three races and could have had three podium finishes rather than justone, but events out of our control changed that and put us behind in thestandings compared to where we could have been. The Big Kmart/Route 66 teamhas our work cut out for us this weekend. The Toronto course is veryinteresting, especially when you are coming back to the pits. There's anice flow of right and left corners. The car has to have a good speed forthe middle of the corner, and has to have a nice flow, and it's not veryimportant if you brake really well or put the power down. You actually haveto go through the turns at a nice flow and in my opinion, that's where youpick up all the time on that track. [On last year's third place finish] Thecar was very competitive last year and there was not a lot of things wecould have done differently. It was a good weekend. We finished third andgot beaten fair and square by Dario [Franchitti]."

MAX PAPIS (Miller Lite Ford Reynard), on turning recent misfortunes around:"We have been unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong timeon several occasions this year. Last year, it seemed we always just missedthe mishap on the track, where this year, we find ourselves in the middle ofthem. Just when we have taken a step forward like Detroit [2nd place], wehave been beset by another setback [DNFs at Portland and Cleveland]. Thegreat thing about the Miller Lite team is that even though we have had ourdifficulties, the crew is upbeat and we are doing the little things that weneed to do to be successful. If we can get a run of good luck, we can be acontender over the second half. We were able to put together a strongsecond half last season and I feel we can do that again in 2000."

ADRIAN FERNANDEZ (Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard), lookingfor a change of luck heading into the second half of the FedEx ChampionshipSeries season: "This has been a very frustrating season. The Tecate/QuakerState/Patrick Racing team has run into a streak of bad luck that has hurt usduring the first half of the season. Fortunately, despite the bad luck weare still right in the middle of the championship race and still have 11races left in the season. We haven't lost the desire, or the belief that wecan compete for the championship. We just have to pay attention to detail,kept working hard and things will starting going our way. The race inToronto last year was one of the best of my career. We didn't qualify wellbecause we had a mechanical problem, but in the race we came on strong,passing 17 cars and finishing sixth. I have done well in the past inToronto and I know we can do well again. I like the track and the city. Itis one of the best races we have in the series."

PATRICK CARPENTIER (Player's Forsythe Racing Team Ford Reynard), on theexcitement of the Molson Indy: "Team Player's always looks forward to therace in Toronto because it means we get the chance to connect with our homefans. There are a lot of activities in Toronto in the days leading up to therace weekend, and you really get caught up in the exciting atmospheresurrounding the event. We only have the two Canadian stops on the schedule,so we definitely want to make the most of these opportunities by putting ina strong performance for the Canadian motor-racing fans.

"I'm happy that we're going into Toronto on a roll, fresh off anothertop-five finish. We've been able to gain nine positions in the standings inthe last four races, and we're aiming to maintain that momentum to get intothe top five. With the work Team Player's has been doing lately to improvethe suspension set-up and car handling, I'm confident we're going to be ableto achieve that."

ALEX TAGLIANI (Player's Forsythe Racing Team Ford Reynard), on his memoriesof Toronto: "Going to Toronto brings back some pleasant memories for mebecause I remember what a thrill it was to win the Atlantic series racethere in 1998, a year after finishing second. Now I'm about to have anotherthrill, competing in my first CART race in front of the home fans. They'vegiven me a lot of support since I started in the CART series, and I'm goingto go all out to repay them by producing a good result at the Molson Indy.Getting a good qualifying position has been a bit of a problem in recentraces, but I'm optimistic things will start to improve with the Molson Indy.Team Player's spent some time in the last week on the Shaker [seven-postvehicle dynamics simulator] and with the data they have been able to come upwith, we should start seeing some significant progress in Toronto. If we canmove higher on the starting grid, everything should fall into place becausewe've had pretty good success moving up the field during the race."

BRYAN HERTA (Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Mercedes Reynard), on his enjoyment ofToronto: "Toronto's an absolutely terrific event. Certainly, I think as faras the fans go there, they have some of the most knowledgeable fans of ChampCar racing that we see all year. And, I really enjoy the street courses. Igot to do Long Beach this year [for Walker Racing], and that went prettywell [fifth-place finish]. Hopefully, we can recreate that at Toronto. It'sa unique racetrack - like any racetrack, it has its own personality, and itsown character. In the end, the job is the same - to try and tune the car,to maximize the car and driver combination. I'm very much looking forward toour third race together [with Mo Nunn Racing]. From Portland to Cleveland,we made a lot of progress as a combination. Hopefully, what we learned atCleveland will help us be even more competitive at Toronto."

MICHEL JOURDAIN JR. (Herdez Mercedes Lola), looking forward to continuinghis street-course success at Toronto: "I like very much Toronto and I wasperforming well there last year before I retired. The last street course onwhich I drove was Detroit and we got there our best result in the season. Wegot a good set up there and we learned a lot. I think we can do it better inToronto. I think we will have a good qualifying and if we start from a goodposition, we can get some points."

LUIZ GARCIA JR. (Hollywood/Embratel/Tang/Banco Sofisa Mercedes Reynard), onthe challenges of the Toronto street circuit: "Toronto is a race track thatI like a lot. It's a difficult circuit, especially in qualifying when thetrack changes from concrete to asphalt. We'll have a competitive car forToronto. My primary car from Cleveland that was wrecked in the accident Ihad during practice should be repaired and I'll finally have a 2000 Reynardas a back-up car. This will be the first time all season I've had a 2000car for a back-up and I'm really excited about that."