Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda
ALEX ZANARDI
Fortunately, I crashed my backup car this morning (in a minor incident with Christian Fittipaldi) and hadto go to my backup car. In just a few laps it was apparent that there must be something wrong with theprimary car, because the backup was so much better just off the trailer. We are very happy after the waythings turned around today. The basic balance of the car is ok, we just need to fine tune a few things.

	Marlboro Penske Mercedes
AL UNSER, Jr.
We went to Andre’s setup which definitely helped us, but we weren’t able to capitalizethe way we wanted to. Tomorrow will be a race of patience and perseverance – Marlboro TeamPenske is going to give it their all. Also, I want to wish my dad a happy Father’s Day tomorrow.

	Marlboro Penske Mercedes
ANDRE RIBEIRO
We had a good practice this morning and the car was well balanced. During qualifying we developed anoversteer on our first set of tires which we adjusted for but couldn’t achieve the same balance onthe second set. It will be interesting to see how consistent we will be able to run in the race tomorrow.

	Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Walker Racing Reynard Ford
GIL de FERRAN
We have a better car than this morning, but there were still more areas that need improvement: westill have some exit oversteer, and the brake balance is not spot on. I was locking up the fronts going intothe chicane. It was tough luck that the session ended early. We knew we could have improved on our times,but at least we know we are going into the right direction for the race.

	Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford
MICHAEL ANDRETTI
We struggled with the grip. Starting 10th here isn’t great but it’s notimpossible to win. I hope to pass a few guys on the start and the rest hopefully later. The most action willprobably be in the pits. I want to win one for all of the fathers, and especially this father (himself).Hopefully this race will be even more memorable than the one in 1986. Maybe we can do better (than secondplace to his father in 1986).

	Miller Lite Team Rahal Reynard Ford
BOBBY RAHAL
As an owner, it feels good for our team and Bryan to collect another pole. I’m sure no one on histeam wants a win more than Bryan. He’s been so close so many times. It’s definitely his turnto win. And when that happens, look out. He’ll be tough to beat everywhere.

	Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford
BRYAN HERTA
I came here on a mission this weekend. And now we are halfway there with the pole. There is $340,000available for me if I can win on Sunday. That counts the Marlboro Pole money ($240,000). And, of course,a lot of pressure, too. Starting on the front row here at Portland is very important but anyone in the firstfive or six rows can win. Our team is getting better and better on the engineering side. You gain experienceand confidence from winning and the Ganassi team has it right now. It’s that bounce in your step,that level of confidence that you can’t get until you win. This team has been ready to win for sometime. Having a champion like Bobby to talk about winning is special. Bobby knows what it takes to win racesand championships. I hope I can pick up some of his advice.

	Hogan Truck Leasing Reynard Mercedes
JJ LEHTO
We have a good racecar. This is a big step forward today. We didn’t even have the right setupreally for qualifying, it was just an experimental thing for an aerodynamic test, we weren’t asconcerned for the setup. We still need some direction. As luck would have it, we managed to go quite a bitquicker, and I think I could have gone even quicker. Unfortunately, we had a little miscalculation with thefuel so we lost the fuel pressure and I wasn’t able to do the lap times. We are still off the pace alittle bit, but we now have something to work with.

	Budweiser/Ralph's Della Penna Racing Swift Ford
RICHIE HEARN
We struggled with the car all weekend. I’m only off a little more than a second, but this series isso competitive that, unfortunately for me, being off even that small amount of time means a large loss ofposition. It’s all I could do with the car this afternoon, now I’m just focused on the racetomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll still be able to make a strong finish for Budweiser at their race.

	Kmart/Texaco Havoline Newman/Haas Racing Swift Ford
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI
The car was good but we need more grip. We made the best out of what we had and that’s all wecan do. I was really hanging it out but seventh is the best we could do. We are the highest Goodyearqualifier, so I guess we won that race.

	Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda
JIMMY VASSER
I’m a little disappointed that Christian (Fittipaldi) couldn’t get off the track. I had justused a lap cooling off the tires and was ready to take one last shot at the front row. Still, we made somegains with the car today and we can be pretty racy from the second row. It’s going to be a long, hotrace tomorrow and with a field this competitive, fuel, tires, everything will be critical.

 

	Hollywood Reynard Mercedes
MAURICIO GUGELMIN
The car is getting a little better. I had a quick lap going when the red flag came out for Christian, so Iwas disappointed. I think that could have been good for one or two tenths of a second quicker. We still havework to do finding the good setup, but we’ll work on it overnight to see what we can come upwith.

	PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes
MARK BLUNDELL
It was a frustrating session. I only had one productive lap and that was at the beginning of the sessionwhile we were still getting the balance set up. Then we were kept in the pits for 10 minutes because of atechnical problem. We corrected the problem, put on fresh tires, and were ready to go at another run untilthe red flag came out for Christian. I’m confident the car will be better than it’s been in thepast for tomorrow’s race, but I would like have been able to start a bit further up.

	Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford
MICHEL JOURDAIN
Today I feel OK. We made some changes for the last qualifying session, mainly in the front springs and theyworked well. We expected some good results after today’s free practice (he was 8thfastest). It could be better, but I encountered some traffic during two of my fastest laps. I think like lastyear, we will begin to achieve better results from this race forward.

	Visteon Reynard Ford
SCOTT PRUETT
For the Visteon Team we made a big step forward. I think we have a good racecar. I’m pleasedand happy. We’ve got a great place to start the race tomorrow, and if we keep racing like we have,it’s going to be great. This is the biggest reason to qualify first this weekend is the Marlboro PoleAward money. We’ll have to see what kind of deals we can make (with Bryan Herta) on the side.It’s always great to start up front.

	LCI International Tasman Motorsports Group LCI Reynard Honda
TONY KANAAN
I think we improved a lot from yesterday morning. We’re paying a bit of a price for not testinghere (prior to the race weekend), but the team has worked very hard this weekend and I think we’rein good shape for tomorrow. It will be a long race, let’s see what’s going to happen.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda
DARIO FRANCHITTI
We had a good car except for turns nine and ten. I pushed it as much as I could and tried to make up thedifference, but it was not quite enough. Other than that, the car is well balanced and should be good for therace. I like the set of tires that we will be starting on, and if the weather is like today, we know we have agood setup for the track.

	Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes
PATRICK CARPENTIER
We improved our times from yesterday, but that was not enough as most of the other quick drivers didthe same. We blew and engine this morning, and I had to make a few check runs at the start of the session.At the end, I was on a fast lap and crossed the line in 59 seconds flat. But they showed the red flag at thesame time as Christian (Fittipaldi) was stopped on the track in an unsafe area. During the session, thepopoff valve kept opening on the bumps on the back straight. We made some changes for the afternoon, but Ithink we went a bit too far. The Player’s team will make some improvements on the car fortomorrow’s race. There are a few good spots to pass on this track, and my car is very good when Ibrake late.

	Castrol/Degree AAR Racing Reynard Toyota
ALEX BARRON
We made some pretty big improvements with the chassis but I’m disappointed that Iwasn’t able to finish the qualifying run. The motor locked up with about 10 minutes left in thesession, so we lost some valuable time. The race is going to be pretty long, so we need to stay out oftrouble and let attrition take place.

	Baan Software Davis Racing Lola Ford
ARND MEIER
I think we improved on the car despite an oversteer problem. The track is also a bit slower today thanyesterday, but I’m not going to make excuses. We fixed the understeer problem we had from themorning session, but as I said, there was some oversteer during qualifying. I’m confident we willhave the problem solved for tomorrow. Still, we learned a lot for the race.

	Forsythe Player's-Indeck Reynard Mercedes
GREG MOORE
Obviously, I’m quite disappointed. The track conditions have changed a lot since this morning,and our setups were not right. My only consolation is that the Player’s Reynard is very good underbraking, and that’s very important on this type of track. I made a mistake at the start of the session(lap 2) as I entered too quickly with cold tires into corner 8. Luckily, my off-track excursion had norepercussions on the car. We will try a new setup for tomorrow’s warmup, which should help us.It’s going to be a long race, and a lot of things can happen. Hopefully, everything will turn positivefor us.