Race No. 19
Marlboro 500
Presented by Toyota
California Speedway — Fontana, California
October 30 - November 1, 1998
Saturday Quotes from Fontana:| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | SCOTT PRUETT | JIMMY VASSER |
| TONY KANAAN | DARIO FRANCHITTI | PAUL TRACY |
| ARND MEIER |
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Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Qualified: 3rd |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| It was a pretty good day. The car has been running really well, really consistent. I thought we had a shot at the pole, but it came down to a guessing game because of the weather. We just needed one small adjustment to be in contention for the pole, but it wasn't there today. I think we have a car that's capable of winning here, the key will be adapting to the changing conditions as the race goes on. | |
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Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Qualified: 2nd |
| JIMMY VASSER | |
| We didn't have that great of a morning session. We struggled with some things and tried to get it back. But I had confidence that we knew what to do with the car and I told [engineer] Julian [Robertson], 'You know what to do.' I just told him we didn't need any wicker. And he did a magnificent job. It didn't matter whether you start second or 15th, we needed the point in our fight with Dario [Franchitti] for second place [in the FedEx Championship Series championship]. I think there are going to be a lot of similarities to the Michigan race, but not as exaggerated with the passing. | |
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Visteon Reynard Ford Qualified: 1st |
| SCOTT PRUETT | |
| I thought we had a good shot [at the pole] but it's always difficult. We took virtually all the gurney off the rear of the car. It may have been easy [to drive] flat out for Jimmy [Vasser], but it wasn't for me. It [the pole position] is exciting for me personally, being as how it's my last race with Visteon and Patrick Racing. It's a great way to start the weekend and puts us in good position for tomorrow. Ever since we made the announcement [about next year's move] to Toyota, MCI and Cal Wells, my goal with my guys has been to focus on the last few races and end this season on a high note, and everybody has. My relationship with [team owner] Pat Patrick has been great over the years. He's always been very fair with me. He hasn't changed his commitment to me one bit. | |
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LCI International Tasman Motorsports Group LCI Reynard Honda |
| TONY KANAAN | |
| This has been one of the most difficult weekends of the season. We have had very little track time. We lost an engine yesterday, and we were only able to do a few laps this morning before qualifying because we had more problems. That is why we qualified so far down. We need to get the most we can out of the time we have in the warm-up tomorrow. | |
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Team Kool Green Reynard Honda |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
|
t would be nice to have the car further up the grid because you have less
to worry about on the start with all of the turbulence. But a 500-mile
race is a whole different situation than qualifying and we've got the KOOL
car balanced really well for running in race traffic. [On his bid for second place in the championship] I'm just going to go for it tomorrow; that's the best way to do it, especially on a superspeedway. I'd love to win the race, but I'll keep in mind that the main objective is to finish second in the points. | |
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Team Kool Green Reynard Honda |
| PAUL TRACY | |
|
Of course, we would have liked to have qualified the KOOL car better but I
think we're in good shape for the race. The car is strong. We were in the
top six most of the weekend and I'm really happy with the way the car
handles in traffic and that's what's important tomorrow. [On his suspension from the first race of the 1999 CART season] I don't feel I did anything outside the rules. We still need to examine the situation and we don't intend to deal with the issue this weekend. We do have some telemetry and data, plus there are other factors we must consider before we decide on our next steps. | |
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Baan Software Davis Racing Lola Ford |
| ARND MEIER | |
| I did three flat laps and gave the car everything I had. I'm a little disappointed I didn't go faster, but overall it was a pretty good day. The car didn't give me any problems at all. I hope that proves true tomorrow. | |