Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda
ALEX ZANARDI
I’m not too concerned (about not running as fast in the afternoon session as this morning). When there are 30 cars out there, you can gain two miles per hour if you hit the draft the right way, and that is a lot around this place. I’m pretty happy about the car, and I think we can have fun in the race on Sunday.

	Marlboro Penske Mercedes
AL UNSER, Jr.
The Marlboro car ran great today. We spent most of the day working on race setup and seeing how the car works behind other cars. We’ll get after top speeds tomorrow. The top speeds we saw today are due to the draft. It’s not likely we’ll see drivers running 230 (mph laps) in qualifying tomorrow.

	Marlboro Penske Mercedes
ANDRE RIBEIRO
We’re really happy with the Marlboro car. The balance is good, so we’re just fine tuning it and working on the race setup.

	Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Walker Racing Reynard Ford
GIL de FERRAN
I’m pretty happy, the car is good, and good in traffic. We spent most of the afternoon on full (fuel) tanks and running on old tires. We lost a lot of time this morning, with a turbocharger failure on the first car and some little niggling problems with the backup. But it didn’t hurt us too much. I think we’re looking good for the race on Sunday.

	Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford
MICHAEL ANDRETTI
The new rules are great. The car feels real good. They're real good in traffic and we're going slower. Who knows how fast we'd be going if they hadn't done anything. I think it's going to be a great race on Sunday. I'm real, real happy in the car. I think the pole speed will be 229. in the end. Right now, we'd be around 240 without it {Handford Device]. A 500-mile race is all about finishing. That's what we're going to try to do. I think I've finished this race three times. That says something about how hard it is to finish this race.

	Hogan Truck Leasing Reynard Mercedes
JJ LEHTO
It’s really fast! At the beginning you’re just numb, and you are just driving as fast as you can. As you start to work on setups and everything, it begins to get tough, but it will be interesting to see what the real speeds are during qualifying tomorrow. Qualifying makes a difference, especially at the beginning of the race, but it’s more important to have a good car during the race.

	Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda
JIMMY VASSER
The morning session was great, but we struggled a little bit this afternoon. The car worked well right out of the trailer for the first session, and we really didn’t change anything for the second practice, so we don’t know where the difference (in speed) came from. It’s time to go back to the trailer, look at the data, and think about things for tomorrow.

	Bettenhausen Racing Alumax Aluminium Reynard Mercedes
HELIO CASTRO-NEVES
This is my first time at a superspeedway, but I’m very comfortable. A lot of guys are running in the ‘tow,’ but we don’t need that. At 250 laps and 500 miles, this is a long, long race. (Team owner) Tony (Bettenhausen) has been helping me a lot, coaching me because its very difficult to do everything at once here: watch the mirrors, watch the line, watch the speed. But for my first time, I’m extremely happy.

 

	Hollywood Reynard Mercedes
MAURICIO GUGELMIN
We had a decent run this morning. It was really our first opportunity to run with the new wing in traffic, and the car felt good, better than I expected. Our major plan was to work on some mechanical changes this afternoon, but then we had an engine failure, and the backup car had some small electrical problem, so we lost most of the afternoon session to that. Tomorrow, we’ll see who’s running quick. With the Handford wing, you’ll see speeds drop by five miles per hour or so. But qualifying is not that important. You want to lead the last lap not the first one.

	PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes
MARK BLUNDELL
We had a reasonably constructive day. We ran some fast laps, and we ran some on full tanks. All in all, we got a lot done for our first day of running. Tomorrow, we’ll have to see if we can trim the car out a bit and pick up some more speed. It’s almost as if you want to qualify at the back to get the big tow, but a 500-mile race is always a funny deal.

	LCI International Tasman Motorsports Group LCI Reynard Honda
TONY KANAAN
It was difficult first day, the Champ Car is completely different from anything (Indy Lights) I’ve driven here previously. The car is easy to drive when you’re by yourself, but it’s a totally different deal in traffic, and I’m not 100% comfortable there, yet. I have a lot to learn this weekend, but that’s what I’m here to do.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda
DARIO FRANCHITTI
It’s a bit frustrating right now. We’re getting there little by little. Sometimes it takes more than one day to find your way. But I’m confident that Don (Halliday, chief engineer) and the guys will give me a great car. We’ll try again tomorrow.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda
PAUL TRACY
The car is working very well, it feels really good out there. We unloaded off the truck and the car was pretty much like we tested. The car felt good. We’ve got a handle on the balance, now we just need to maintain this level of intensity tomorrow in qualifying.

	Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes
PATRICK CARPENTIER
The car is much better than I thought it would be with the Handford wing. You don’t have any downforce, but it will be good for passing. The times you see today are all done with a ‘tow.’ Tomorrow, we’ll see what the cars are really capable of doing alone. It’s definitely going to be an interesting race. If someone gets behind you, you don’t even have to use your mirrors. You can feel it; it sucks you back, and you know the guy’s going to pass you at the next corner. But when you’re the guy in back, it’s really cool how you just move up on him.

	Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ
On your own, the car feels pretty good; in traffic, you have to be a little more careful. Drafting is going to be a big key for the race. It [the Handford Device] is a good measure to slow down the cars. I'm sure during qualifying, the speeds will go down. In this type of racing [500-mile events], you try not to do too many fancy things. If the car is running well, you just keep doing what you're doing and try to finish.

	Forsythe Player's-Indeck Reynard Mercedes
GREG MOORE
We tested here three weeks ago, and it was a good test; we learned a lot. Now, we’re just fine tuning the car. With this Handford wing, the big question was what the car would do in traffic. Because of it, the guys getting the fast times are the guys getting the good draft on both straights. But the real issue is to be as stable in traffic as possible. Qualifying won’t be too important here. You always want to be on pole, but at this race, with the length of the race and the importance of the ‘tow,’ it doesn’t really matter.