Race No. 14

Miller Lite 200
Mid Ohio Sports Car Course — Lexington, Ohio
August 13-15, 1999

	Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes
GREG MOORE
It's too bad we had to exit early because we were running third at thetime and I think the Player's team would have been right up there with theleaders. It was a tough day butwe should be fine for the second qualifying session tomorrow.

	Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford
MICHAEL ANDRETTI
We were running real good then I caught Max Papis on my fast lap which costus. I was a half-second up going into the final turn and that's where Icaught Papis. It's too bad because the tires were perfect. If I hadn't runinto him I would have run a 105.8 (second lap). DO YOU THINK YOU CAN MAKEA RUN AT DARIO'S TIME? I don't know about a 105.3 (second lap), but wewill give it a shot. THIS TRACK IS KNOWN AS ONE OF THE MOST PHYSICALLYDEMANDING ON THE CIRCUIT. HOW DO YOU COPE WITH THE ADDED STRAIN THE TRACKPUT ON YOU? Everybody has the same problem. You just need to be carefulthat you don't drive too hard and wear yourself out before the end of therace.

	MCI Worldcom Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota
CRISTIANO DA MATTA
The car is good, maybe some little adjustments here and there. It was =loose on new tires, but I think if we can get that right tomorrow we can =improve by at least a few tenths. There's a reasonable gap between the =top half of the field. Of course I wanted it to be closer, but there's =definitely room for us to make a difference tomorrow.

	Pioneer Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota
SCOTT PRUETT
It's a tight field out there. There's not a whole lot of room between the Pioneer car and second place, which is good. A little movement could be a lot. I was disappointed in our run, because we were never able to get a clean lap on my tires. I'd get a good run going, then hit slower traffic and lose momentum. I was never able to make it up during the session. But we have a good read on the car, and I'm confident our direction will help us improve tomorrow.

	Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford
ROBERTO MORENO
The session wasa bit disappointing for us. Early on we had a wire loom catch fire. It isdisappointing not only because we were not able to post a quicker time, but,I want to get all the seat time I can. We are just going to have to workharder and try to improve out time for tomorrow.

	Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford
MICHEL JOURDAIN
The car is completely different from when we tested here. We are makingimprovements and have been all day but then that the end of the session Iended up in the tires. I feel good about tomorrow though.

	Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford
MEMO GIDLEY
We had alittle problem with something sealing up right in the back of the car.After that, we got it fixed, made a few changes, and went back out. I waspushing a little too hard, a little too soon, and made a little mistake andended up in the tires. CAN YOU TAKE ME THROUGH THE AFTERNOON SESSION . . . On our second set of tires we were really bring the car along. We werejust getting after another fast lap and we ran out of fuel. But I would saythat tomorrow we can be in the top ten without a doubt.

	Miller Lite Team Rahal Reynard Ford
MAX PAPIS
We had a lot ofpush in the car during qualifying. The track was also a lot more slipperythan it was when we tested here a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately on myfast lap, I ran into traffic. But other than that, I think the Miller teamis going in the right direction and I think we can improve our time onSaturday.

	Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford
BRYAN HERTA
I am pretty happy sofar. The track was a bit more slippery out there than I remember it being.You know, we have not really worked on the car much from a setup pointtoday. This is basically the way we unloaded the car off of the truck. Weshould be a lot better tomorrow. YOU MENTIONED THAT IT GOT SLIPPERY OUTTHERE ON THE TRACK . . . Yes, it did. Particularly when it startedsprinkling during the session. Just a few raindrops on the concretesections would make the track very slippery. It was a little tricky outthere during the session. YOU HAVE HAD A PRETTY DIFFICULT SEASON UP TOTHIS POINT. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE SUCCESS HERE? It feels nice. Sometimes this year our successes have been few and farbetween. It's been tough. So, it's good to be off to a strong weekend.

	McDonald'sForsythe Championship Racing Team Reynard Honda
TONY KANAAN
We had to fight with the weather. (There was light rain at the startof qualifying.) It wasn't a bad qualifying, and unfortunately we can'tcontrol the weather. We had a couple of good runs, and the track gotbetter the last five minutes. Unfortunately, everybody's tires were goneat that point. I think I could do better than what I did. I'm nottalking about setup, but about myself. It was those kind of conditions,like winning in a lottery. The only thing that's changed since wetested here is the track. I think we have a decent car. It'sconsistent and for the race, that's what you need.

	Patrick Racing Tecate Swift Ford
P.J. JONES
Westill have a lot more work to do. The potential is there but we have notfound it yet. HOW MUCH DOES THE REYNARD DIFFER FROM THE SWIFT IN REGARD TODRIVING CHARACTERISTICS? It's way different. We are on a whole newlearning curve. But, the car is a lot better. DID ADRIAN GIVE YOU ANYWORDS OF ADVICE? Not really. He did the testing out here a month ago butthe track is completely different. We just need to work a little hardergetting the car tuned. ARE YOUR AND ADRIAN'S DRIVING STYLES SIMILAR ENOUGHWHERE YOU MAY GIVE HIM A CALL TONIGHT FOR SOME INSIGHT? Well it's hard forhim laying on the couch to give us much insight. We will probably go overhis notes and see what he did here last year and see what we are doingwrong.

	Team Gordon Swift Toyota
ROBBY GORDON
I'm really happy with the effort we've put together thisweekend. We've been fast from the moment we unloaded the car and thetop ten qualifying position shows just that. Even without the raintoday I think we would've had a strong showing. I've been told this isthe best-ever road course qualifying in Toyota history and I'm happy tobe the driver to help them reach that goal. Their motor has slowly beencreeping up on the rest of the field. More and more you're noticing usqualifying in the fast group on Saturday afternoons. For the racetomorrow we're going to run like crazed dogs, this is where we want tobe and we're going to try and make the most of the opportunity.