CHAMPCAR/CART: Gateway Team Rahal Track Talk - Saturday

"AS THE TRACK TURNS"
DRIVERS DROP IN QUALIFYING AS TRACK CHANGES

<pre> PRACTICE TIMES - Saturday, September 16, 2000 Driver Lap Time Speed 1. Juan Montoya 25.353-sec. 180.334 mph 2. Jimmy Vasser 25.368-sec. 180.227 mph 3. Paul Tracy 25.500-sec. 179.294 mph 12. Kenny Brack 25.799-sec. 177.216 mph 14. Max Papis 25.884-sec. 176.634 mph

</pre> Saturday morning looked promising for Team Rahal as Papis and Brack both cracked the top-four. Papis was fastest turning a lap at 25.312-sec./180.626 mph on the last lap of the practice session. Brack ran steady and improved his quick time from Friday with a lap of 25.410-sec./179.929 mph.

The promise of the morning turned to disappointment in the afternoon. Warming temperatures played havoc with track conditions. Brack was first of Team Rahal drivers to take to the track. The warning signs were there as most of the drivers just prior to Brack were posting times two to three tenths of a second slower than the morning session. Brack's fast lap of 25.799-sec./177.216 mph put him 11th on the grid. Brack battled a push in the corners that robbed the Shell car of precious time. He would slip to 13th after the next two drivers but would end up starting 12th when Mauricio Gugelmin failed technical inspection for failing to make weight.

Papis was the last car to take to the track and like Brack the push dropped him out of contention for the pole. Papis' fast lap of 25.884-sec./176.634 mph put him 15th on the grid. The Gugelmin DQ moved him to 14th, a disappointing starting position after being fastest in two of the three practice sessions.

The pole position went to Juan Montoya, his sixth pole of the season. Montoya has captured five of the last six oval pole positions with the exception being Michigan where he won the race.

#7 Max Papis - Miller Lite Ford Cosworth/Reynard

"What a disappointment. When I had my warm-up laps I thought was on my way to a great qualifying run, but when I got on my qualifying lap I had a big push in the turns. I had to get off the throttle twice in the corners. The car just pushed and pushed towards the wall. The track changed so much from this morning. I was looking forward to qualifying after running so well on Friday and Saturday morning. We had a good car on Friday on our full tank runs. It looks like we will have some serious work to do in the race."

#8 Kenny Brack - Shell Ford Cosworth/Reynard

"The conditions really changed from this morning. I had a big push in the corner and the car wouldn't turn. It is strange because the Shell team was fast all weekend until now. If is frustrating for the entire team. We came here thinking we could qualify well and now we have to be smart on Sunday and work our way up. I suspect there isn't going to be much passing in the race so the pit stops and managing your fuel will be very important."