From: Michael Powell 

Bowtie Bullet Points: Chevrolet Notes for the IRL Chevy 500

Texas Motor Speedway

Round 16 of 16, Indy Racing League IndyCar Series

Sunday, Oct. 12, 2:45 p.m. CDT

TV: ESPN (live), 3:30 p.m. EDT

* Texas Shootout

Sunday's Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway promises to be another
Texas-style shootout as five drivers vie for the 2003 IRL championship and
the $1 million prize that accompanies it. Chevy's Sam Hornish Jr. is the
hottest driver on the IRL circuit, having scored three

victories and two runner-up finishes since he debuted the Gen IV Chevy Indy
V8 on July 27 at Michigan International Speedway. Hornish and the Pennzoil
Panther Racing team have climbed from eighth to fourth in the championship
standings, and come into the season finale just 19 points behind the
leaders.

* Manufacturer Race

Chevy can overtake Honda for second place in the IRL Engine Manufacturer's
Championship with a victory in the Chevy 500. Chevy trails Honda 99 to 96
in the standings coming into the season finale. If a Chevrolet driver wins
and a Honda driver finishes second, the two manufacturers will be tied with
106 points. Chevy would claim the second spot on the tiebreaker with four
victories to Honda's two wins.

Since the Gen IV Chevy Indy was approved for use by all Chevrolet teams at
Kentucky Speedway in August, Chevrolet has scored 37 points in the
Manufacturer's Championship to 31 for Toyota and 20 for Honda.

* May the Fours Be with You

Students of numerology may find significance in Hornish's links to the
number 4: Hornish drives the No. 4 Pennzoil Panther Racing Dallara, powered
by the Gen IV Chevy Indy V8. Currently fourth in the point standings, this
race will be Hornish's 44th start in the No. 4 Chevrolet Dallara. Panther
Racing has won four IRL races at Texas Motor Speedway, and a win on Sunday
would be the team's fourth straight victory in the fall event at Texas.

* The View from the Top

"Texas Motor Speedway is a track that rewards horsepower, and the
record shows that the Chevy Indy V8 has been performing very well in that
department," said Joe Negri, GM Racing IRL program manager.
"Chevy engines again had a perfect reliability record in the 400-mile
race in Fontana, and we hope to finish the season with another strong
performance. We have been working hard on improving power, reliability and
fuel economy for every event, and the Chevy 500 is no exception. If this
race follows the pattern of previous IRL races at Texas Motor Speedway, it
will come down to which driver and team does the best job in the final
laps."

* Bank Shot

Texas Motor Speedway is one of six 1.5-mile ovals on the IRL schedule, but
each of these tracks has its own personality. According to GM Racing
chassis and aerodynamics specialist Kevin Bayless, TMS's towering 24-degree
banked turns - the steepest on the IRL circuit - require a special setup
for maximum speed.

"You must minimize drag to run fast at Texas Motor Speedway,"
Bayless explained. "The banking allows the chassis to have less
downforce and consequently less drag. The Texas track is smooth and wide,
so teams can focus on making the car as aerodynamically efficient as
possible.

"The IRL mandates a minimum 10-degree rear wing angle, a 1-inch wicker
(spoiler) on the rear of the wing and 1/2-inch wickers on the end plates at
Texas," Bayless noted. "All of the teams with Chevy engines use
Dallara chassis, and I anticipate they will have around 2,000 pounds of
downforce for qualifying and approximately 2,100 pounds of downforce for
the race - depending on the weather and track conditions."

* Race, Ride and Win

Chevy will host 50 finalists in the Chevrolet-sponsored "Race, Ride
and Win" contest at Texas Motor Speedway this Sunday. One lucky
finalist will have a chance to win the grand prize: a 2003 Chevrolet
Corvette. Race fans were given the opportunity to participate in the
contest by visiting participating Chevrolet dealers across Texas (Abilene,
Amarillo, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Lubbock, McAllen, Tyler and
Wichita Falls) and Oklahoma (Oklahoma City and Tulsa) to obtain a game
card. The contest gave fans the chance to win one of over 8,000 prizes,
including 2004 season passes to Texas Motor Speedway, tickets to the Chevy
500 IndyCar Series and Silverado 350 NASCAR Craftsman Truck races, and
Chevy racing gear.

* Racing Around

If Chevrolet finishes ahead of Ford in Saturday night's UAW-GM Quality 500
NASCAR Winston Cup race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Chevrolet will clinch its
23rd Manufacturer's Championship in NASCAR's "modern era" (since
1972). Chevy leads the NASCAR Manufacturer's Championship with 213 points
and 14 victories.

Corvette C5-R racers Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell clinched the drivers'
championship in the GTS class at the American Le Mans Series street race in
downtown Miami.

Chevrolet is the only manufacturer currently competing in the IRL, NASCAR
Winston Cup, NHRA and American Le Mans Series.

* About GM

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest vehicle manufacturer,
employs 342,000 people globally in its core automotive business and
subsidiaries. Founded in 1908, GM has been the global automotive sales
leader since 1931. GM today has manufacturing operations in 32 countries
and its vehicles are sold in more than 190 countries. In 2002, GM sold more
than 8.6 million cars and trucks, nearly 15 percent of the global vehicle
market. GM's global headquarters is at the GM Renaissance Center in
Detroit. More information on GM and its products can be found on the
company's consumer website at www.gm.com.


--- Internet Rex 2.29