CHAMPCAR/CART: Road America Honda Driver Quotes

Sunday, August 16, 1998 Texaco/Havoline 200 DARIO FRANCHITTI (#27 Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda) Started 6th, finished 1st, first Champ Car-race win, ninth win for Honda in 1998: "The car ran faultlessly all day. There were no problems at all. We had plenty of power and great fuel mileage from Honda, and for the last part of the race, once I saw plus-ten on the pit board, I was just taking it easy and leaving a lot of margin for error everywhere. The guys and I are going to have a big party tonight. This win is for them, the first of many, I hope. BARRY GREEN (Owner, Team KOOL Green): "It was a perfect drive, a perfect crew, a perfect day. It was a very special race for Team KOOL Green. I did not like watching those last laps, but the finish was perfect. I am very grateful to all those who made this possible. Dario drove a great, great race." ALEX ZANARDI (#1 Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda) Started 11th, finished 2nd, now has an unofficial 80-point lead in the championship standings over teammate Jimmy Vasser: "Well, it was a great race after the first lap. But the first lap was very, very unfortunate. I came over the rise [in the road] and all I saw was a puff of smoke in front of me. I knew everyone would be getting on the brakes, so I locked up my brakes, flat-spotted my tires, but still ran into the back of Al [Unser] Jr. After our early stop [due to flat-spotted tires], we had to adopt a very aggressive race strategy and, fortunately, it paid off for us. Once again, I have to say I was very lucky today. " TONY KANAAN (#21 LCI/Tasman Motorsports Reynard Honda) Started 12th, finished 4th, (equaling his best previous finish); continues to lead series rookie standings: "I made a rookie mistake [his spin on lap 45] and it cost us a podium finish. It was a mistake on my part, but I guess fourth place is better than nothing. I feel bad for my team, they did a great job today." PAUL TRACY (#26 Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda) Started 17th, finished 6th: "I couldn't get any water all during the race. I was hot and just hanging on the last ten laps, just trying to get some [championship] points. The car wasn't perfect today, but I thought we might get a sixth-place finish out of it, and that's what happened in the end. It was another points-paying finish for us, and it's great to see Dario win. He deserved it." JIMMY VASSER (#12 Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda) Started 14th, finished 9th: "We had a lot of problems today, it wasn't a very good day for us. The dashboard acted up early, the gearbox was misbehaving, especially the 3-4 upshift, and we would be blown off on the straight because of it. And the handling was off. It was real loose going into the corners and then understeer coming out. So we hung on as best we could and got as many points as we could. I guess it wasn't to bad, all things considered, but we've had better days." GIL DE FERRAN (#5 Valvoline/Cummins/Walker Racing Reynard Honda) Started 5th, finished 16th, (43 laps, engine failure): "It's just so unfortunate. I really don't know what else to say. The Valvoline/Cummins car was running very strong, our pit stops were excellent and I thought for sure we had a really good chance for the race victory. When the engine failed, there was no warning at all, so I have no idea what happened. I just let go."