IRL: Galles ECR Racing Shows Its Colors At Texas

Albuquerque, NM, June 12, 2000 -Galles ECR Racing delivered in more than one way at the Casino Magic 500 on June 11 at Texas Motor Speedway. Not only did the team get a 3rd place podium finish, they also won both the lap leader award and the Coors Light Pit Stop award.

The teams 3rd place podium finish, coupled with the two awards, are attributed to the hard work and dedication of the Galles crew and their driver, Al Unser Jr.

There were 31 lead changes throughout the race, with Unser in the Galles ECR Racing Tickets.com Starz Encore Superpak Car leading 79 of the 208 laps. A telemetry problem forced Unser to pit early which put him out of pit sequence and moved him to the back of the field periodically throughout the race. But Unser charged his way up to the front of the pack each time and was in 4th position with 2 laps to go. On lap 207 Unser made a successful pass for 3rd place Buzz Calkins and clinched his podium finish.

"The problem with the telemetry definitely hurt us, but the way my car was performing, mixed with the awesome pit stops from my crew helped us finish where we did. I have never had as much fun in a single seat open wheel race car as I did during this race. I love Texas Motor Speedway, and I can't say enough for what my team has done to prepare the car and themselves for these races," said Unser.

Car owner Rick Galles was equally proud of his crew and driver for their performance on Sunday.

"These guys work hard on their pit stops, and today showed that. Even with our telemetry problem, we were able to finish well, and to me that is the mark of a strong crew. Not everything is going to go right all of the time, and if you can still perform even when problems occur, then you are going to come out on top.

Al drove an incredible race and I can't say enough for what I think about all of the drivers that were going wheel to wheel yesterday. Al was right when he said that this is the formula for the future. You don't get anymore competitive than this, and I am proud to be a part of all of this. We are going to have to work hard if we want to beat these guys, but I can tell you that they are going to have to work just as hard to beat us. I can't wait to see what happens next week at Colorado," said Galles.