Race No. 12

Michigan 500
Brooklyn Michigan
July 28, 1996

	#6 Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Lola Ford Cosworth XD
MICHAEL ANDRETTI
"The car was very good. It stuck really good. [On why he parked 30 minutes before the end of the session] I didn't want to mess it up. It feels great. We only had 39" [of 40"] of boost though, so there was really nothing else we could do." "We've got it wrung out as far as it will go. The car feels great. It's about as good as I've ever had a car here. This morning we did a long run right away. That tells you how comfortable we are with the set-up. The car was good here in May. I think we were in a good position to win but our day ended early. Ford has made some improvements that have helped us here. I have higher hopes than I did last time we were here. Unfortunately, I think everyone improved. Those guys that were struggling here in May, like Penske, have obviously figured it out."

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	#11 Kmart/Budweiser Lola Ford Newman/Haas Racing
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI
"It's [the practice times] confusing right now because you can't tell who has a tow and who doesn't. The car feels pretty good right now. We're just going to concentrate on setting it up for the race. Qualifying set-up and the race set-up are different since we qualify in a single-car format and, for the race, we need a set-up that will allow us to run all over the track and in traffic." "The car was okay today. We're pretty much maxed-out. It will be a lot different in qualifying tomorrow without the drafting. We've been pretty consistent this year in where we have run and with scoring points. Sunday will pretty much be the same hopefully."

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	#31 LCI International Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group
ANDRE RIBEIRO
"We ran with both cars this session, and both looked very strong. We started basically with the same package as at the U.S. 500, with very small changes. Now, we are concentrating on the race. We are headed in the right direction." "The car looks good. We're trying some different things this afternoon to get ready for the race, and found a lot of positive answers. We're also happy with our qualifying setup. We ran both cars this morning and both looked very strong."

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	#32 Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ
"The car is fine. We are doing our homework and going through the process of fine tuning the car. We should be able to improve this afternoon." "We had a problem with the primary car and had to go to the backup car. The car is good, and like everyone, we are fine-tuning. The main thing is to have a good car for the race. Whoever gets the best car under the current conditions will be quick in qualifying. If we qualify towards the front, I will be happy."

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	#5 Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford
ROBBY GORDON
"We tested here in between the U.S. 500 and this race. We've learned a bit and we found what we were definitely missing at the U.S. 500. Now, we're with all of the Fords. We were doing some stuff wrong on set-up and got a bit lost [at the U. S. 500]. But, now we know what we can come back here with. The most important thing is to stay real focused and just try to find a good race setup." "I think we just lost a motor, so we'll probably run an [Ford] XB. But, I don't think we've made a final decision yet. Losing an XD doesn't give you much confidence going into a 500-mile race. Right now, we're not doing great in the championship. A podium finish would definitely move us into the top 10. So, that's what we need to do."

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	#12 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda
JIMMY VASSER
"The car's pretty good, but not perfect. Actually, I think we were expecting it to be a little bit warmer this weekend — and I think Firestone was as well — and made changes accordingly. But we'll be okay for qualifying tomorrow and Sunday's race."

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	#3 Marlboro Penske Mercedes
PAUL TRACY
[Of the improved Mercedes engine] "It is just much more powerful. It [the engine] is the one we started the season with, but it wasn't reliable. We shied away from it for awhile, but last week on our dyno[mometer], it ran three 500-mile races. We're quite confident in it. It's good that they got things figures out."

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	#2 Marlboro Penske Mercedes
AL UNSER, Jr.
"The new Mercedes engine is running really well and the power's great. Our biggest gain since racing here at the U.S. 500 is the chassis itself. We've learned quite a bit about the car from our test sessions here at MIS, and I think that was reflected in Marlboro Team Penske's times today. Goodyear has really done a good job with the tires; they've really stepped up to the plate. We're all pulling our resources together and working extra hard so we can hopefully pull ahead in the points when the checkered flag falls on Sunday."

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	#20 Firestone Lola Ford Patrick Racing
SCOTT PRUETT
"The car is working very well. The performance of the Firestone tires is very good. We tried a couple of different things with the setup, but we basically know what we want to do, because we were here in May. We spent a lot of time during the second session working on the race setup, trying to get ready for Sunday. That is why we were a little slower in the afternoon session than in the morning."

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	#10 Delco Electronics High Tech Team Galles Lola Mercedes
DAVY JONES
"I've raced here three times in my career, and I really enjoy the track. It's a lot of fun. I ran here with A.J. Foyt's team in 1987 and was running fourth until I received a penalty for having too many people over the wall. "We're making some progress. I'm pretty pleased; it's a lot to take in. I spent most of the day familiarizing myself with the circuit. You need to have a good feel for the speed, the grip and the Gs through the corners of this place. I'm going to sleep on it tonight and come out fighting tomorrow."

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	#8 Pennzoil Special Reynard Honda Hall Racing
GIL de FERRAN
"We spent the afternoon session just doing work [in preparation] for the race, and I was pretty happy. We did qualifying runs in the morning, and I was happy then, too. But what's more important here is the race setup. It's been proved here time and time again that it's not how far up you start that matters here, but how well your car handles in the race."

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	#49 Motorola Reynard Honda Brix Comptech Racing
PARKER JOHNSTONE
"We made good progress today, especially in the afternoon session. I could run higher [on the track] than this morning, and the car was better in the draft as well. I'm much more interested in the race setup than going for the pole, and we're getting there, one small step at a time."

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	#4 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda
ALEX ZANARDI
"We started today with the same setup we ran at the U.S. 500 — but a fresh engine! We improved it a little bit since then. The car is very good, but not perfect. We need to make it just a little bit better, and I know we can."

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	#18 Miller Racing Reynard Mercedes-Benz Team Rahal
BOBBY RAHAL
"The car didn't feel very stable this morning, as we tried a lot of different settings. Plus, I was having [turbo] boost trouble. This afternoon, we found a better setup. Of course, I've been here enough times [19 races] to know that qualifying is nice, but you have to be running at the end. Bryan [Herta, Rahal's teammate] has a good setup now, and I'm sure we'll exchange some information before qualifying."

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	#36 Eagle Mk-V Toyota
JUAN MANUEL FANGIO II
"We were much better than the last time we were here for the U.S. 500. We've already been able to run five mph faster [at 222.034 mph] than our best lap speed [217.395 mph] the last time we were here. We can get a little bit more out of the engine and the chassis, but it's not like we are going to do miracles. Everything seems much more comfortable than before. Right now, we are working to fine-tune the settings for the Toyota Indy engine and the Eagle chassis, and we will come back tomorrow and see where we are."

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	#1 Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford Cosworth
RAUL BOESEL
"We're running the car slightly softer than we did at the U.S. 500. Because the weather is predicted to be warmer, we need more grip mechanically. Now we've started to free the car up. The car has a touch of understeer, and if we can get rid of that, we can gain a lot of speed."