Race No. 12
U.S. 500 — Presented by Toyota
Michigan Speedway — Brooklyn, Michigan
July 25-27, 1997
Saturday Quotes from drivers and managers at Michigan: | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Qualified: 4th |
| Photo: Scott Hughes JIMMY VASSER | |
| "That's about how we thought we'd run today. The balance on the car was good, and I was flat out all the way around. I have no complaints. Starting position isn't really all that important here, but it is good momentum for the team. More importantly, it's time to go win a race on Sunday." | |
 | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes-Benz Qualified: 21st |
| GREG MOORE | |
| "I am disappointed because the car was a lot faster this morning. I was flat out all the way around but with too much drag. We do not know what is the problem so far. We are going to fix the problem during this afternoon's practice session. Fortunately, the car is excellent in traffic and that will be important tomorrow." | |
 | Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Cosworth XD Qualified: 19th |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| "I have no idea what happened. We were about two miles slower than we've been running. The car was perfectly balanced before qualifying. I had less boost than this morning so maybe we had an engine problem. I didn't scrub any speed off in the corners. I'm very disappointed. It's a long race. You never know what can happen." | |
 | Marlboro Penske Mercedes Qualified: 16th |
| AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| "We made a little miscalculation on our front wing adjustment making the Marlboro car push a little too much which brought our speed down for qualifying. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow and the car definitely feels comfortable right now. We'll be using a lot of throttle during the race, which makes it awfully hard on the engines. Marlboro Team Penske, Mercedes-Benz and especially Kevin Walters in our engine shop have done a great job to prepare the car for 500 miles. That's our first goal--to make sure we finish this race." | |
 | Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford Qualified: 1st |
| SCOTT PRUETT | |
| "Ford has made a huge step forward. That's why we're at the top here. They've done their homework, and I'm proud to be with them. We have really just carried our setup from last year and that's the year before we went over to the new Reynard. A lot of the credit goes to the engineers. There's a lot of difference between a Lola and a Reynard, but they were able to make the jump and keep the old data useful. The Firestones have owned the super speedways. I'm glad to be on them. We're in great shape for the race, barring any funny business." | |
 | PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes Qualified: 11th |
| MARK BLUNDELL | |
| "We got the gearing wrong. Top gear was too tall, which meant we were 500 or 600 rpm short of peak performance. The car was very well balanced, but we just couldn't get enough absolute speed out of it. We still ended up in the top 10, and quite frankly grid position is not that important in a 500-mile race. The Motorola team has been focusing on Sunday since we got here and things are looking good in that respect. The car is handling well in traffic and I expect to make a strong showing on race day." | |
 | Kmart/Budweiser Swift Ford Newman/Haas Racing Qualified: 14th |
| CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| "t had been 366 days since I last drove on a super speedway so this has been very informative. We didn't have much pre-season testing with the Swift and I didn't test on a super speedway before my accident. We're trying to trim it out a little more. Hopefully we'll make it better for the race. It's a long race. The car has always been more comfortable in the race than in qualifying. I hope this is still the case." | |
 | Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford Cosworth Qualified: 17th |
| MICHEL JOURDAIN | |
| "I was flat out all the way around trying not to slow down the car. We made more time than when we tested here. And yesterday afternoon, we had the front anti-roll bar break and a few fuel pressure problems, so we're not as far along as we could have been. We need some more laps. For the race it's pretty good. I haven't run much in traffic. Everybody else says it's bad, but we will see. I'm not overly concerned about it." | |
 | MCI Arciero Wells Reynard Toyota Qualified: 23rd |
| MAX PAPIS | |
| "We went out and we knew that we had a pretty good car. It was just very different for me since I have never done qualifying like this, flat out for four laps. It was a new experience. We have a good car, of course we are not that fast on the straight and we know that. If we can run consistent laps all day tomorrow it will be a decent race for us." | |
 | Pennzoil Special Reynard Ford Davis/Craig Racing Qualified: 20th |
| GUALTER SALLES | |
| (On morning practice) "We were just concentrating on our qualif~ing setup this morning and I think we have a car that will do pretty well later. Gerald Davis told me to go out and make sure I ran alone on the track. I'm not going to have a tow during qua1ifying so I made sure I ran with-out a tow during the session." (On morning qualifying) "The INDUSVAL-Marlboro Reynard-Ford Cosworth feels real good out there. I guess it could have been trimmed out a bit to get more speed down the straights, but in the corners it is handling just fine. We didn't really have the car for qualifying, but what we have is a real good race car for tomorrow." | |
 | Shell Reynard Ford Team Rahal Qualified: 8th |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| "We're moving up slowly but surely. It's a little bit of work to get more and more speed out of the car. I like fast tracks and fast corners. I've had some good luck here (2nd in 1996 Marlboro 500). But it's still never comfortable here. Your on the edge a lot. It's good to be the top Goodyear team though. I think we have a good car for the race and we'll have time to improve it with seven or eight pit stops. It's a long run and the weather conditions will also dictate how the car works." | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Qualified: 5th |
| PARKER JOHNSTONE | |
| "I'm very happy with the run, and it's a great place to be [starting fifth on the grid] for tomorrow. But you know, on the first lap, I knew we hadn't done enough [to maximize speed]. I used what was there and drove around the top [of the track] as carefully as I could, and I tried to conserve the tires for the second lap. The car was very capable of doing better. I guess we ended on the conservative side, and even though my wife and kids really like that, I think we could have pushed it a little more. I think we still have room to make the car even better for tomorrow. I'm definitely looking forward to the race. … This place just taunts me. It says, 'Come on in, the water's fine.' For the race tomorrow, well, I've led the beginning here and the middle here. I'd sure like to be around at the end." | |
 | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Qualified: 7th |
| ALEX ZANARDI | |
| "We needed more speed. Maybe I should've been a bit braver, maybe we should have made a few more changes to the car. In general, we've been focusing on the race, not on qualifying." | |
 | LCI International Reynard Honda Tasman Motorsports Group Qualified: 9th |
| ANDRE RIBEIRO | |
| "This morning we were running together, so naturally you have the benefit of the draft. Our time was not exactly what we were expecting, but the car is great for the race. This is a new machine for us. We have been preparing the car for the race both yesterday and this morning. We were trying not to do big changes for qualifying and keep the car consistent for the race. The package is very good and the car is good in traffic." | |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group Qualified: 15th |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| "We tried our best, but basically we had too much drag. We had a small problem in practice this morning, and lost some time to trim out the car. The most important thing here is a good race car. The tires are looking good and they will be a key for the race." | |
 | Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford Qualified: 10th |
| GIL de FERRAN | |
| (On morning practice) "Since yesterday we changed everything on the car and it's improved tremendously. I'm quite comfortable and confident with the car around the track both in and out of traffic. If we can quality in the top ten I'll be happy. I know whatever happens in qualifying we'll have a good car for the race." How are the Goodyear tires performing this weekend? "I think that they were better suited to this session and this kind of weather. The car improving makes the job for the tires a little easier. It's better than it was yesterday." (On morning qualifying) "Yeah, it felt really good. We've improved the car wonderfully from yesterday. The car was very fast, very neutral (handling) all the way around. We changed everything since yesterday: springs, anti-roll bars, shocks, toe-in. Now the car handles very well in traffic, and hopefully we will have a very good race tomorrow." | |
 | Bettenhaused Racing Alumax Aluminium Reynard Mercedes-Benz Qualified: 12th |
| PATRICK CARPENTIER | |
| "I'm happy with the qualifying run, but weather conditions obviously have changed from this morning. When I ran the 233[-mph] lap in practice this morning, I felt like I was right on the edge. When I ran in qualifying, conditions had changed so much that the car felt like it had too much grip. It must have been the air density because the car just slowed down. Still, I'm happy we've had such a good weekend. As for the race, we spent a lot of time yesterday on race setups and the main problem we had there was in oversteer. We will fix that today so we should have a good car for the race tomorrow." | |
 | Miller Lite Reynard Ford Team Rahal Qualified: 6th |
| BOBBY RAHAL | |
| "This place is work. You never look forward to a 500-mile race. If you have a good handling car, the race goes fast. If you have a bad handling car, it's the longest day of your life. We ran 20 to 25 gallons Friday in the heat and the car felt good. Of course, driving with traffic is much different than qualifying. You have to be careful and work on getting as comfortable a car as possible." | |
 | Hollywood Reynard Mercedes Qualified: 2nd |
| MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| "I'm disappointed I didn't get the pole, but it's not the end of the world. The important thing is that we have a fast and consistent car for the race. My qualifying laps were as fast as the car would go today, so I'm very happy in that respect. You do the best job you can and sometimes somebody goes a little quicker. We had the car trimmed out as far as it would go. The only thing we could have done to take off more downforce would have been to remove the rear wing. The Mercedes gave plenty of power, and the Firestones will be strong all day. I'm confident. We're in very good shape for the race." | |
 | Panasonic/DUSKIN Arciero/Wells Racing, Reynard Toyota Qualified: 26th |
| HIRO MATSUSHITA | |
| (On morning practice) "This morning the car is just about ready to qualify. I think we have all we are going to get from this car/engine combination. Now I'm just trying to run good clean lines, not scrubbing any speed through the corners. We made little changes to the rear wing, then scrubbed the tires for the race." (On morning qualifying) "We ran all we had. I was flat-out completely over the last four laps. The handling was as good as yesterday, but we are about 50 horsepower down from the other three Toyotas. Both wings are nearly trimmed out too. I tried moving the wheel as little as possible, so I would not scrub any speed in the corners." | |
 | Castrol/Jockey AAR Racing Reynard Toyota Qualified: 24th |
| P.J. JONES | |
| "The car handled great during qualifying. It was free and we took as much drag off as we could. I think we have a pretty good car for the race. I just wish we could be more competitive. We just need to stay out of trouble and try to finish the 500 miles for Toyota's development program." | |
 | Castrol/Jockey AAR Racing Reynard Toyota Qualified: 25th |
| JUAN MANUEL FANGIO II | |
| "I don't really know how much more we can get out of the car. We were flat all the way around the track. Like I said before, this is a horsepower race track and we're in a development program right now. We need to work on getting the car comfortable in traffic and see what happens tomorrow." | |
 | Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford Cosworth Qualified: 3rd |
| RAUL BOESEL | |
| "I'm happy with the car, it's just that I knew that the previous lap was better. I slowed down because there was more understeer in One and Two. I knew there was no way that lap would be fast, so I stopped. It's not terrible, but for qualifying, it wouldn't have been there. We have a good balanced car for the race and it is consistent. The power of the Ford engine is the same. I don't think we've gained more as compared with other races. It's just that I think we are running with more reliability and with a good setup that allowed us to be fast right away on Friday." | |
 | Hogan Racing Reynard Mercedes Qualified: 13th |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| "We were not quick enough. The Mercedes people gave us a good motor car. The Firestone tires were working well. A little too much grip is killing us. Coming off the corners, we aren't getting the acceleration in the straights we need. We'll fix things and we'll be ready for tomorrow." | |
| Team Owner Tasman Motorsports Group | |
| STEVE HORNE | |
| "We tried our best, but basically we had too much drag. We had a small problem in practice this morning, and lost some time to trim out the car. The most important thing here is a good race car. The tires are looking good and they will be a key for the race." | |