June 29, 2001

Notes And Quotes From Cleveland Grand Prix - Practice And Qualifying Day

Johnny was 3rd quickest in this morning’s practice session with a time of 1:15:895. Johnny noted that “We had a good car, but the traffic was brutal. We went out on old tires so we could work on a good race setup. It was pretty smooth driving once the car settled in. This is a totally different car from Detroit. Paul went testing after Detroit and we’ve made some changes based on that testing information so it will take a little bit to balance that. The track is really green, but it’ll come in. All in all, I am very happy. I expect that we’ll do well in qualifying this afternoon. “

In 2000 at Cleveland, Johnny qualified 3rd and finished 2nd. Johnny has raced four times in Cleveland and has had two “Fast Five” qualifying efforts before today’s attempt. Prior to the 2000 finish, he finished 5th in 1998.

In the qualifying session this afternoon, Johnny qualified 3rd for tomorrow’s event with a time of 1:14:045. This is Johnny’s 3rd “Fast Five” of the year and the 26th of his career. Paul is on the pole with a time of 1:13:397 and Brian Simo is second with a time of 1:13:636. Johnny’s comments on the qualifying session were “We sure are glad to be back in the Fast Five since we’ve missed a few. We needed that bonus point to help stay in the championship lead. We were looking for a pole, but considering we were 1.8 seconds quicker than this morning, we’ll take it. We had a good car. The guys have worked hard and it’s tremendously more suited to me and my driving style than it has been. I think that shows in our times. We’ve still got more, I peddled around a bit out there. The track changed a bunch from this morning. So we’ll pick it up a little bit more tomorrow. I’m confident I’ve got something for Paul and Brian tomorrow in the race. “

Johnny was asked if there was any extra pressure to protect his lead in the points standings…his reply was “Well, I do have to finish. I don’t need to win the “bonehead move of the race” award. We’re just here to win. The points battle doesn’t really affect how I’ll drive or my strategy. I’m here to win and that’s all there is to it.”

The Cleveland race is televised Sunday on CBS at 3:30PM. It will be a one hour event shown on a tape-delayed basis.