Race No. 13

Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit
Belle Isle — Detroit, Michigan
August 6-8, 1999

	Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes
GREG MOORE
Our two pit stops were great. The Player's team did a fantastic job, getting me back out there quickly. On this track, where passing is so tough, the best way to gain four positions is through smooth pit stops. In fact, the Player's crew was outstanding all weekend, especially after my main car was damaged on Saturday morning and I had to go to the back-up. I'm super happy to score points today and also get back into contention in the drivers' standings.

	Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford
MICHAEL ANDRETTI
I wish we would have had a little longer green flag run at the end. I was just saving my fuel and tires for a real charge at the end. I really think I would have had something for those guys at the end. We were getting great fuel mileage today and I really, really think we would have had something for them there in the final laps. I just wish we could have shown it.

	MCI Worldcom Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota
CRISTIANO DA MATTA
I feel fine. It was a little scary, but I'm sure it looked worse from the outside. I was right behind Herta, and he didn't look too strong coming off the restart. I was setting up to go after him, and when I put the power down the back end got loose. I just went into the wall, and it scraped off the whole side of the car. It didn't feel like a hard hit, but I guess it was. On the Gugelmin/Carpentier incident: I didn't make any contact with them. They were two wide, and I was on the outside. I don't know who hit who first. I was outside, and I had to go wide to avoid it. That ended up costing me a few positions.

	Pioneer Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota
SCOTT PRUETT
I'm thrilled with the finish. It was a great effort all around from the Pioneer Electronics team. I would've like to race to the end. The Pioneer car was good, and the guys worked really hard to help me get out of the pits and save fuel. We had to conserve fuel pretty stringently after our second stop in order to make it to the end. It's tough (racing under fuel constraints), because you want to race out there, and conserving fuel means you have to watch yourself. You want to run as fast as you can and also make your mileage, which is tough. You have to time it just right with the guy in front of you. I was behind Herta, and I had to watch him closely. I'd step up when I needed to, then hold off when I could save fuel. It's very touch-and-go.

	PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes
MARK BLUNDELL
Overall, for the fact that we've just come back, the weekend wasn't bad at all. Our biggest disappointment was qualifying yesterday, because we felt we should have been a lot stronger. We just caught a bit of bad luck in the race. The puncture right at the beginning cost us a significant amount of track time, and put us right to the back. With a good strategy and snappy pit stops by the boys we got ourselves back in the pack. It's a shame that we didn't actually get a better result. The strategy was working out in our favor, but towards the end of the race other guys had a few mishaps that possibly cost us a better finish. Physically, it was reasonably tough for me because I've just got back into it. But really, it's done me a world of good. Tomorrow I'll ache and be a bit moany and sulky, but by Tuesday I'll be back again. By Wednesday I'll be perfect, so it's not a problem.

	Big Kmart Swift Ford
ROBERTO MORENO
WHAT WERE THE THOUGHTS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU SAW MONTOYA ATTEMPT THE PASS THAT HE DID? There was no way he was going to pass me there because I was braking late. I don't know what he was thinking. He was too far back to even try that pass. UP TO THAT POINT YOU WERE HAVING A SOLID RUN . . . Our strategy was to save fuel and try to go a little longer than the others. Unfortunately because of the yellow flags that didn't work out. The car was handling very well today and the engine was strong.

	Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford
MEMO GIDLEY
The car felt real good. The balance on the car was very good. I was really hooked up in turns two and thirteen. I could rip off of them. I was making up a lot of time there. I was running very lean on the fuel and hoping that the race would come to us a bit. But we were strong. There were a couple of guys holding me up for a while and I think it was right after I got by them that I set me fast lap of the race. The only problem we had was that we didn't have radio communication during the race. WHAT CAUSED YOU TO DROP OUT ONE LAP AFTER YOUR TEAMMATE JOURDAIN? We had the same problem within one lap of each other. I just lost all the gears. I think it may have been the differential.

	Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford
MICHEL JOURDAIN
The car was running very well today. But, we had a problem with the left front tire. It was completely destroyed. After we changed it, the car was running very well. WHERE DID ALL OF THE OIL COME FROM ON YOUR HELMET? I don't really know but somebody out there sure was making a mess. WHAT CAUSED YOU TO RETIRE? We lost a gearbox. I didn't have any gears. I went for fourth and that was it, I couldn't get anything to grab.

	Miller Lite Team Rahal Reynard Ford
MAX PAPIS
I really don't know what happened. I was going into turn one and I was hit from behind and we were out. It is a very, very, stupid way to start a race. It was not a good start. You can talk all you want about being careful on the starts in the driver's meeting, but if someone doesn't use their head it doesn't count. I don't have a lot of respect for people who make dumb mistakes. Today was not our day.

	Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford
BRYAN HERTA
This was a typical street course. Passing was at a premium all day. We battled really hard today and everything we got on the track was tough. The track was very slippery and we struggled with the hitting the setup today. We worked at it all day and it got a bit better but it was not good enough to really push it out there. WERE THERE ANY MOMENTS OUT THERE THAT WERE A BIT MORE EXCITING THAN OTHERS? Well it's not often that you have a hit like Cristiano (da Matta) took on a street course. He hit a ton. He was a few spots in front of me at the time and I am glad we were able to get through it unscathed.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda
DARIO FRANCHITTI
I told the guys on the radio it was a pretty ugly way to win a race, but we'll take it any way we can. I was a little worried that Juan (Montoya) might catch us, but we'd been conserving so much fuel that we were ready to go for it at the end. So there really wasn't too much worry at that point. I just had to come through some traffic. It was a great day for Team KOOL Green. Another 1-2 finish for us, Honda and Firestone. Under yellow I looked up at the jumbo screen and saw Juan walking away. It's great to be leading the Championship now, but the time to do it is after the last race at Fontana. I hope I can keep it until then.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda
PAUL TRACY
I had to let Dario go by early in the race because I was struggling with my tires. They were the set that I'd qualified on and I had to use them up to set my fast time. I was really hanging on trying to stay in front of Dario, but I had to let him go. I thought we'd get him later on in the race. I'm a little disappointed we couldn't race to the end because I was staying with him. But I'm really happy for Team KOOL Green. Dario takes the points lead and I'm up to fourth.

	McDonald's Forsythe Championship Racing Team Reynard Honda
TONY KANAAN
I had a great start. Unfortunately all the positions I gained on the track, I lost in the pits. It wasn't anyone's fault. It's just that the pits are so tight here. When Michael and Gil got me, they both had a clean shot in the pits. We started sixth and finished sixth. I thought we could have finished fourth, but could - should. It was a hard race for everybody. It's tough on the cars and it's really a bumpy track. My car was consistent, but there is really nothing you can do when you are trying to save fuel. I couldn't pass Jimmy because I was trying to save as much fuel as I could. We'll take the points, but I am really looking forward to going to Mid-Ohio.

	Hollywood Reynard Mercedes
MAURICIO GUGELMIN
When I came to the braking point for Turn 3, I was in the middle of the track. As soon as I braked, the car moved left and then snapped to the right. Cristiano da Matta was very close to me. I can't be sure that he hit me, although it felt like it from the way the car went loose. I spun around and couldn't avoid hitting Patrick Carpentier. I rolled over once, but luckily I ended up on four wheels. I'm okay - just a little banged up from hitting things in the car. It's unfortunate because we had a great pit stop. Even though I went in a bit crooked to avoid Gil de Ferran, we managed to beat out da Matta and Helio Castro-Neves. We had just made some good changes to reduce the oversteer I had under braking. I think we could have had a pretty decent run and collected some points.

	Patrick Racing Visteon Swift Ford
JAN MAGNUSSEN
This was a tough weekend for us from the start. Nothing went well for us today. We had a run in with Robby Gordon that put me in the tires. I noticed that he was having problems with his rear tires and went for it. We both went for the corner where there was only room for one of us. It's disappointing because we had wing damage and it cost us extra time in the pits. But, we were able to run some very good times during the race and I think we learned some things that can help us down the road today. It's a little disappointing though to not have more success than we did. Hopefully Mid-Ohio will be a better experience.

	Team Gordon Swift Toyota
ROBBY GORDON
I don't want to say Magnussen was in the wrong or the right. I'm not happy about the whole situation, though. His tire marks on my car were on the back of the side pod, just in front of the rear wheel. I'll have to look at the replays to say for sure. I do know I checked my mirrors coming out of (Turn) Two, and he was at least eight car lengths back. Regardless, it's a bummer to end the weekend this early. The car was a lot better than at the last street course in Toronto, but it's still a handful on full tanks. We're chipping away at it. Hopefully, Mid-Ohio will be an improvement.