Race No. 8
ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix
Belle Isle
Detroit, Michigan
June 5-7, 1998
Friday Quotes from Detroit:| ALEX BARRON | PARTICK CARPENTIER | DARIO FRANCHITTI |
| ROBBY GORDON | RICHIE HEARN | P.J. JONES |
| TONY KANAAN | GREG MOORE | MAX PAPIS |
| PAUL TRACY | JIMMY VASSER |
 | Budweiser/Ralph's Della Penna Racing Swift Ford Qualified (Provisional): 3rd |
| RICHIE HEARN | |
| For once it was good to be in the slow group. those guys (in the fast group) really paid the price a little bit. It will probably change by tomorrow. My engineers gave me a great car right out of the box, and fortunately, the track dried out during the session. I was able to jump in the backup car [after an incident involving the primary car during morning practice] and it was pretty good. It has different gearing, five speeds instead of six, and I don't like that too much. But it turned out O.K. | |
 | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Qualified (Provisional): 2nd |
| JIMMY VASSER | |
| I don't think today's session is going to be very indicative of the grid. All the guys from the first session got rained out. It's really hard to tell what you have right now. I hope we can make the car better, but you have to wait to find out. | |
 | LCI International Tasman Motorsports Group LCI Reynard Honda Qualified (Provisional): 13th |
| TONY KANAAN | |
| I think we have a good car in both dry and wet conditions. It's pretty good to start a weekend like this especially after last weekend at Milwaukee. We definitely made a lot of improvement. We're back. We still need to keep working because it's not going to be easy, but at least we have a good car from the start. The track is a lot nicer than last year. I think the Detroit track and CART did a good job with the improvements. It's one of the best street courses. It is a lot of fun to drive. | |
 | Arciero/Wells Reynard Toyota Qualified (Provisional): 4th |
| ROBBY GORDON | |
| It’s hard to put this in perspective. The key is Max [Papis] out-qualified [Jimmy] Vasser and I’m right behind Vasser so obviously we’re making gains and the Toyota is getting better and better every weekend. I believe that Max with the MCI car and myself with the Panasonic/MCI car, we can probably qualify tomorrow in the top ten. And that’s what I thought going into this race. We’re pretty happy. That last lap of qualifying Max just happened to be in the right place on the track when they signaled that it was the last lap. All of us were getting faster each lap and then I think somebody spun and it kind of slowed our lap down a little bit. No big deal, there’s tomorrow. | |
 | MCI Arciero Wells Reynard Toyota Qualified (provisional): 1st |
| MAX PAPIS | |
| The MCI crew did a fantastic job for me today, the car was really good. Toyota is coming on strong and this is where the team belongs. I knew it was only a matter of time before something good would happen. The MCI team, Toyota, and Cal Wells and Frank Arciero have the will to succeed. I’m not racing my teammate, [Robby Gordon] but I know he is a contender. When I jumped in the car I said this is my chance to use it. I enjoy life. It’s tough knowing that we have the potential and waiting for the moment to deliver. For Toyota and MCI, the progress is there, this is just the beginning. The city of Detroit and the promoters have done a great job improving the track, and there is now a very wide straight. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Qualified (Provisional): 11th |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| The dry line was very narrow at some points and very wide at others. You were constantly looking ahead for the dry patches, which made it a very difficult session. We were third fastest in the dry this morning, but I wasn't very happy with the car. I haven't been here (Detroit) with Team KOOL Green and Don Halliday (chief engineer) hasn't been here with me, so we're just trying to get everything sorted out. I'm not worried; Team KOOL Green always gives me a great car. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Qualified (Provisional): 19th |
| PAUL TRACY | |
| Everything will be upside down for tomorrow's qualifying, because the slow guys are going out now on a basically dry track, so they'll be the fast group tomorrow. The car was really good in this morning's dry practice, so I'm disappointed we didn't get to qualify in the dry. I like the changes to the track. Turn two is now very important because if you make a mistake it'll cost you at the end of the straight. | |
 | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Qualified (Provisional): 5th |
| PATRICK CARPENTIER | |
| We didn't quite know which type of tires we should select at the start of qualifying. The track was dry in only a few sections. For this reason, we opted for the wets. Then, with 10 minutes to go, the Player's Team decided to go with the slicks, but it was a bit too late. I think the grid will probably change tomorrow because they are forecasting a sunny day. | |
 | Castrol/Degree AAR Racing Reynard Toyota Qualified (Provisional): 10th |
| ALEX BARRON | |
| We've been fighting with our set-up all day. This is a very difficult track compared to Long Beach. I underestimated the complexity of the course layout and hopefully my times will continue to improve as I become more familiar with the track. | |
 | Castrol/Degree AAR Racing Reynard Toyota Qualified (Provisional): 9th |
| P.J. JONES | |
| It's definitely nice to see all the Toyotas in the top-10. Lady luck was on our side today (referring to the rain) and if it rains again tomorrow you never know where we might end up. Our car was pretty decent, considering the conditions. I think that the Goodyear tires were designed for a hotter day, so we need a little hotter weather for the race or some rain. | |
 | Forsythe Player's-Indeck Reynard Mercedes Qualified (Provisional): 26th |
| GREG MOORE | |
| We went out with a dry set-up because we thought the track would dry up more quickly. We gambled a little bit but with 15 more minutes, we would have been OK. The Player's Team is the defending champion at this race, and everybody is ready to do it again. It's important we start this road course portion of the schedule on a high note and get as many points as possible because I'd like to follow in Jacques Villeneuve's footsteps and provide Player's with a second championship at the end of the season. | |