CHAMPCAR/CART: Team Rahal breaks ground on race shop expansion

HILLIARD, OHIO . . . Team Rahal, a franchise member of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), will break ground later this week on a new multi-million dollar state-of-the-art race shop adjacent to the team's Hilliard, Ohio location.

The 22,000 square foot addition will serve as the base of operation for Team Rahal in the preparation of it's livery of Champ Cars for driver's Max Papis and Kenny Brack for competition in the FedEx Championship Series. The new race shop is the first phase of a planned 50,000 square foot expansion that will comprise Team Rahal's headquarters for years to come.

"We have experienced phenomenal growth at Team Rahal over the last few seasons and one of the results has been that we have outgrown our current facility," said three-time CART champion and team owner Bobby Rahal. "When we first began discussing the addition to our current shop it quickly became clear that our needs had grown to the point where we needed to design and build a race shop that will not only meet the needs of the team in 2001 but for years to come."

Fans of Team Rahal can follow the construction process with weekly photographic updates on Team Rahal's website, www.rahal.com <http://www.rahal.com> .

Columbus, Ohio based Reiner Construction will serve as the general contractor for the project. Founded in 1980 Renier Construction has grown to become one of Central Ohio's top commercial construction companies. Reiner Construction has completed high profile Central Ohio projects for a number of clients including American Electric Power (AEP), Ball Corporation, Ross Laboratories and The Galbreath Company. Completion of the Team Rahal race shop is expected midway through the 2001 CART season.

The current 30,000 square foot Team Rahal facility was built in 1984 and was originally designed for the Hilliard, Ohio based Truesports Racing team and their young driver Bobby Rahal. When Truesports disbanded in 1992 Rahal leased the building and moved the operation of his then Indianapolis based team Rahal/Hogan Racing into the facility.

Team Rahal is a franchise member of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). Headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio, the team co-owned by three-time CART Champion Bobby Rahal and CBS LATE SHOW host David Letterman currently fields a pair of Championship Cars for Max Papis and Kenny Brack in the CART FedEx Championship Series. The 90-member team enjoys primary sponsorship from Miller Brewing Company and the Texaco/Shell Alliance with the Shell brand.

-Team Rahal