CHAMPCAR/CART: Tracy runs fastest lap at Michigan

BROOKLYN, MI., (July 21, 2000) -- Team KOOL Green's Paul Tracy turned the quickest lap in today's practice at Michigan Speedway. Tracy, who is making his 10th visit to the 2-mile oval, clocked a time of 30.412 seconds for an average speed of 236.749 mph. Dario Franchitti, meanwhile, sped to the fifth fastest time with a lap of 30.749 seconds (234.154 mph).

Tracy's time was about two-tenths of a second better than Jimmy Vasser's track qualifying record from 1998, before the introduction of the Hanford Device. Tracy, like the other drivers, had the benefit of a tow from drafting behind other cars. Michael Andretti recorded the second best lap of the day in this morning's session with a time of 30.576 seconds (235.479 mph). Helio Castroneves, who was third in the morning, was third again in the afternoon with a quicker time of 30.592 seconds (235.356 mph).

The 25-car field returns to the track for practice tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. with single-car qualifying beginning at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Sunday's 200-lap race will be broadcast live on ABC-TV at 1:30 p.m.

PAUL TRACY, #26 TEAM KOOL GREEN HONDA/REYNARD/FIRESTONE:
(1st with a lap-time of 30.412 seconds / 236.749 mph)

"The Team KOOL Green car is working really good. You have to get the car to work well in a tow because the draft is always important in the race. You also have to be balanced to run well in traffic. My fast lap was run in traffic, so I thought that was great. The Honda motor is pushing me down the straightaway pretty good. We made a change to the car after this morning, which is why we got out late for this afternoon's session. We only got half the session in, but we seem to be making all the right moves this weekend to be on top of the timesheet. I really want to win a 500-miler because I've won on all the other kinds of tracks, but there's some luck involved. Hopefully, we've got the good luck back on our side."

DARIO FRANCHITTI, #27 TEAM KOOL GREEN HONDA/REYNARD/FIRESTONE:
(5th with a lap-time of 30.749 seconds / 234.154 mph)

"We had a bit of a fragmented session this morning. The KOOL car felt good straight off the bat. Though we never really had any sort of decent run going. We were just looking for a better feeling for the car in traffic. We seemed to get better in the afternoon. Your time all depends on how big a tow you get. We got a reasonable tow, but I think we have a well-balanced car for the race."