From: Michael Powell 

MENARDS INFINITI PRO SERIES PRE-RACE QUOTES

dreamerscandles.com 100, Oct. 11, Texas Motor Speedway

FORT WORTH, Texas, Monday, Oct. 6, 2003 – Quotes from selected Menards
Infiniti Pro Series drivers about the dreamerscandles.com 100 Menards
Infiniti Pro Series event Saturday, Oct. 11 at Texas Motor Speedway:

DANE CARTER (No. 41 Panther Racing Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “I am very
excited about the opportunity to race at Texas. I am confident that the
Panther crew will have just as good a car prepared as they had for my test.
I am amazed at how ‘stuck’ the car is. I am really looking forward to
racing in the Pro Series car.”

TAYLOR FLETCHER (No. 9 Olive Crest Foundation/SSM
Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “I am really looking forward to the final race
of the season at Texas Motor Speedway. The Sam Schmidt Motorsports team and
I have made great strides since Chicago as I get accustomed to the car and
the team. I tested here last year in an IRL (Panoz) G Force car, but the
test was cut short when we lost an engine. I was, however, able to get a
taste of what an awesome track this is. After running this track at over
215 mph in an IRL (IndyCar Series) car, I am sure that the Menards Infiniti
Pro Series race will be a real barnburner. There is going to be a lot of
side-by-side racing and battling for the lead the whole time. I know Sam
(Schmidt), Michael (Crawford), Blair (Perschbacher) and Albert (Gray) will
give me a great car, so we will be looking for a strong finish in
Saturday's race.”

ARIE LUYENDYK JR. (No. 5 Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “I like running at
Texas a lot. The racing is close, and it produces racing two- and
three-wide the whole time we are out there. I'm excited for the opportunity
to go back this year and hopefully pull out a win. We are going with the
same setup as we had for Chicago, and that was a good weekend for us, so
the car should be equally as good. Texas is typically like the other
1.5-mile ovals, but the front straight has two corners. You have to be
careful not to get into the grass when you are racing side by side. It goes
from pretty low banking to really high banking around the track, which
produces a lot of g-forces in the corners.” (About Arie Luyendyk Sr.
competing in the Firestone Legends of Indy event at TMS): “It will also be
exciting to run the same weekend with my dad. We had that opportunity last
year at Michigan. He's not racing the big cars this time, but it will be
fun watching him drive around the track.”

THIAGO MEDEIROS (No. 36 Genoa Racing Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “I've
been to Texas before. I was at the last race last year, watching the race.
It's a very nice track and very high-banked. I've never driven on that type
of track before, but hopefully it will be good for us. I want to win the
last race of the year. I'm going to need to use the draft and be there on
the last lap.”

G.J. MENNEN (No. 25 Automatic Fire Sprinklers Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone):
“On a personal level, Texas is a huge race for me. My wife is a Texan. My
dogs are Texans. We lived in Austin for years. I consider this a home race.
Lots of my family and friends are in the area. As far as the race goes, we
have made tremendous progress in the last two races. Hopefully, we can
carry that momentum in to the weekend and have both AFS Racing cars finish
in the top five. That would be a great way to finish the season.”

GARY PETERSON (No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers
Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “As a team, we are looking forward to Texas.
With G.J. Mennen's fourth-place finish at the California Speedway and my
fourth-place finish last year at the Texas (Motor) Speedway, I believe we
are both ready for a strong finish in Texas next week. It's been a rough
year for our team, so we would really enjoy a good finale.”

BRAD POLLARD (No. 99 Arrow Karts/Motorsport Ranch/SSM
Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “I'm excited going into Texas after
successfully completing my first Infiniti Pro Series race in California.
Now that I'm a little more familiar with the car, I should be able to
perform more solidly for the team and sponsors. Sam Schmidt's crew always
prepares a great car, and I am feeling positive about my opportunity in
Texas. The Lone Star State is where I won the Southwest Formula Mazda
Series and National Division championships in 2002. I have competed at
Texas Motor Speedway on several occasions. I look forward to seeing all my
friends and sponsors there.”

JEFF SIMMONS (No. 20 Western Union Speed Team/Duesenberg Dallara/Infiniti/
Firestone): “The championship is decided, so now we have to focus on
holding second. The Western Union Speed Team is determined to do its best
in Texas. We have to put an older motor in until we can figure out why our
California one wouldn't pull. The explanations I've been given so far
simply don't add up, but it won't distract me from what I have to do.”

MARK TAYLOR (No. 4 Fulmar Panther Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “I am
looking forward to having a teammate at Texas, and hopefully, we can end
the season with a win. The test at Texas with the Pro Series car went well,
and I feel it helped me prepare and feel fairly comfortable getting into
the IndyCar (Series car). It was a great experience to test the IndyCar
(Series car), but my focus will be on completing the Pro Series season with
another Panther win.”

CORY WITHERILL (No. 92 WSA Healthcare Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “We’re
coming to the last race of the year, and hopefully, we can pull off a
first-place finish in Texas. Last year, we almost won the race but couldn’t
get by A.J. Foyt IV on the final lap. We had a good car last year, so I’m
confident in my team that we’ll have another good one. Like any other race,
we’re just going to get out there, go fast and try to win our first race of
the season.”

IRL Menards Infiniti Pro Series

dreamerscandles.com 100

At Texas Motor Speedway

6:00 p.m. (EDT), Saturday, Oct. 11, 2003	 

Car	Driver	Hometown	Car Name	C/E/T	Entrant	Chief Mechanic

3	TBA	TBA	Brian Stewart Racing	D/I/F	Brian Stewart Racing	Mo Larsen

4	Mark Taylor (R)	London	Fulmar Panther	D/I/F	Panther Racing	Chris Griffis

5	Arie Luyendyk Jr.	Scottsdale, Ariz.	TBA	D/I/F	Sinden Racing Service 	Tim Shank

9	Taylor Fletcher (R)	San Clemente, Calif.	Olive Crest
Foundation/SSM	D/I/F	Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Albert Gray

11 	Rolando Quintanilla	Nuevo Laredo, Mexico	TBA	D/I/F	Roquin
Motorsports	Jose Benavides

12 	Matt Beardsley	Breckenridge, Colo.	Land Title	D/I/F	Beardsley
Motorsports	Darrell Soppe

14 	Ed Carpenter	Indianapolis 	Futaba/Delphi/A.J. Foyt Racing	D/I/F	A.J.
Foyt Enterprises	Jack Starne

20	Jeff Simmons (R)	New York	Western Union Speed Team	D/I/F	Keith
Duesenberg Racing	Garry Orton

24	Billy Roe	Indianapolis	Team ISI	D/I/F	Kenn Hardley Racing	Mark Olson

33	Tony Turco (R)	Hamilton, Ohio	Ethanol	D/I/F	Brian Stewart Racing	Dave Metcalfe

36	Thiago Medeiros (R)	Sao Paulo, Brazil	Genoa Racing Special	D/I/F	Genoa
Racing	Rick Waldeck

41	Dane Carter (R)	Brownsburg, Ind.	Panther Racing	D/I/F	Panther Racing	Chris Griffis

91	Aaron Fike	Galesburg, Ill.	RFMS/Hemelgarn Racing	D/I/F	Hemelgarn 91
Johnson Motorsports	Chuck Buckman

92	Cory Witherill	Los Angeles	WSA Healthcare	D/I/F	Hemelgarn 91 Johnson
Motorsports	Chuck Buckman

99	Brad Pollard (R)	Bakersfield, Calif.	Arrow Karts/Motorsport
Ranch/SSM	D/I/F	Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Tim Whiting

Legend: Chassis: D=Dallara. Engine: I=Infiniti. Tire: F=Firestone.
(R)=Rookie. Issued: 10/6/03





--- Internet Rex 2.29