VANCOUVER, B.C. (September 2, 2000) - Dario Franchitti of Team KOOL Green,who won the 1998 Molson Indy Vancouver from the pole position, put himselfin position to do so again Saturday when he captured the pole for Sunday'sMolson Indy before a crowd of 49,576 at Concord Pacific Place (4 p.m. ET,live, ABC-TV).

Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard) recorded a track-record lap of 106.144 milesper hour (1 minute, .405 seconds) to claim his second pole in succession andthe 10th of his career. It capped an emotional afternoon during which heearned the Greg Moore Pole Award, given annually to the polesitter at bothVancouver and Toronto in memory of the Canadian Champ Car driver,Franchitti's close friend, who lost his life in a racing accident at lastyear's season finale.

Franchitti's effort keyed a Team KOOL Green sweep of the front row, asteammate Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) qualified second at 105.989 mph(1:00.493).

It marked Team KOOL Green's first front-row qualifying sweep in sevenseasons of FedEx Championship Series competition. Franchitti's new trackrecord broke the existing mark of 105.730 mph (1:00.641) established by JuanMontoya of Target Chip Ganassi Racing last year.

Franchitti's 10th career pole moved him into a 10th-place tie in CART careerhistory with Teo Fabi, Nigel Mansell and Alex Zanardi. He will chase hisseventh career victory when the green flag falls 4 p.m. ET Sunday for Round15 of 20 in the championship.

Tracy, coming off a victory at Road America two weeks ago, will make aseason-best start on a road or street course, exceeding seventh at RoadAmerica. The start is also his first on the front row in a road/street eventsince qualifying on the outside pole at Detroit last year.

Marlboro Team Penske swept the second row, as Gil de Ferran (Marlboro HondaReynard) qualified third at 105.470 mph (1:00.791) and Helio Castroneves(Marlboro Honda Reynard) took fourth at 104.753 mph (1:01.207). De Ferranextends an outstanding qualifying record that has seen him qualify among thetop five drivers for 12 of the past 15 events. Castroneves, meanwhile, willmake his seventh top-four start in the past 11 events.

Defending Molson Indy Vancouver polesitter and race winner Montoya (TargetToyota Lola) rounded out the top five at 104.669 mph (1:01.256). Montoya,who used his victory here last year as a springboard to the FedExChampionship Series championship, has qualified fifth or better for 11 of 15events this season.

Current FedEx Championship Series points leader Michael Andretti (BigKmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) qualified eighth at 104.220 miles per hour(1:01.520). Andretti holds a 125-112 points lead over Roberto Moreno(Visteon Ford Reynard) entering Sunday. Moreno qualified 10th Saturday at104.037 mph (1:01.628).

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

DARIO FRANCHITTI, KOOL Honda Reynard: "[The car] certainly ranks up there.I've had some pretty good cars in the past, but this one's definitely upthere. The car's pretty good, and I'm very happy. It's all going accordingto plan right now. I didn't get the best out of the first set of tires, andPaul did a pretty good job and got up there. I thought, 'This is not theplan. What is going on here?' I just couldn't go any quicker because I wasmaking some mistakes, but the car was quicker. It was very important to meto get the pole because of the Greg Moore Trophy. Greg's mom, Donna, came upto me and said, 'I really want you to win this.' That was on my mind duringqualifying and there was a lot of pressure, because I knew Paul wanted towin it, too. I'm glad I got it."

PAUL TRACY, KOOL Honda Reynard: "I think my best opportunity was when Iwent out at the beginning of the session. I was quick for the first couplelaps and then I came in. When I went back out, the car was really quick.Then, on the second set [of tires], it takes awhile for the tires to buildup to temperature. I turned a quick lap, and then on the next lap I lookeddown at the display and thought, 'This is going to be a really quick lap.'But the red flag came out when I was three-fourths of the way around. Ittakes a while for the tires to build back up to optimum temperatures and Ididn't have enough time, so I had to settle for second."

GIL de FERRAN, Marlboro Honda Reynard: "On my first set of tires, therewere several laps where I was ahead of where I was yesterday, but I keptmaking mistakes. I think I was trying a little too hard. On the second set,[engineer Tom] German made a few changes and I just wanted to get into arhythm and go for it. Unfortunately, because of the red flag, I didn't getmany laps to do it. On the last lap, I said, 'Well, this is it.' I wanted togo for it, but I didn't want to make any mistakes. I wish I could havegotten one more lap."

WHAT'S NOTEWORTHY

* Dario Franchitti's (KOOL Honda Reynard) pole position was the fourthon Canadian soil of his four-year Champ Car career. Prior to Saturday'seffort, he earned poles at Toronto in 1997 and '98 and at Vancouver in '98.He also owns race victories at each of those venues, at Vancouver in '98 andToronto last year.

* Franchitti's pole was the eighth of the season for Honda, and itsthird in a row.

* Paul Tracy's (KOOL Honda Reynard) start on the outside polerepresents a career-best qualifying performance in nine career starts atVancouver, exceeding third last year.

* Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) qualified third to earn his12th top-five start in 15 FedEx Championship Series starts this season. Therun includes poles at Homestead, Long Beach and Mid-Ohio; outside poles atPortland, Cleveland and Road America; fourth at Milwaukee and Detroit andfifth at Japan, Nazareth and Michigan.

* Sunday's pre-race ceremonies will include the retirement of carnumber 99, piloted by Greg Moore, from CART, Indy Lights and Toyota Atlanticcompetition. Moore, a native of Maple Ridge, B.C., near Vancouver, earnedfive victories and five pole positions during his four-year Champ Carcareer, and finished among the top 10 drivers in the series championship ineach of his FedEx Championship Series seasons. He also won the 1995 IndyLights championship and owns the series record for career victories, with13. National Hockey League legend Wayne Gretzky will be among theparticipants in the retirement ceremonies. Car No. 99 joins the No. 14 ofall-time Champ Car victory leader A.J. Foyt as the only retired numbers inCART history.

* By starting Sunday's Molson Indy Vancouver, Michael Andretti (BigKmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) will move into sole possession ofsecond-place on the CART career starts list with 265, breaking a tie withcurrent CART President and Chief Executive Officer Bobby Rahal. Andretti, inhis 17th FedEx Championship Series season, currently trails CART careerstarts leader Al Unser Jr. (273) by nine.

WHAT'S ON TAP

Qualifying for the Molson Indy Vancouver will air 1:30 a.m. ET Sunday onESPN2. "CART 2Day" airs 10:30 a.m. ET Sunday on ESPN2, with ABC-TV's liverace broadcast scheduled to begin 4 p.m. ET. The race will also air live onthe CART Radio Network and on CART's official website at www.cart.com .