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2005 CHAMP CARS - LAS VEGAS

• McDONALD'S DRIVER BOURDAIS EARNED FOURTH WIN IN THE PAST FIVE RACES WITH TONIGHT'S VICTORY IN THE CHAMP CAR HURRICANE RELIEF 400 IN LAS VEGAS; PACIFICARE DRIVER BROUGHT THE TEAM CONSECUTIVE 1-2 FINISHES HERE
• OVERALL: Bourdais led a total of 53 laps in the 166 lap event and overcame an early-race setback when his shock cover flew off his race car and reduced his downforce approx. 200-300 pounds. On Lap 123, he made contact with the back of Paul Tracy's car when the Canadian quickly decelerated in an apparent attempt to come into the pits. In the driver's meeting prior to the race, it was agreed that the competitors would put two wheels below the white line on at a specific part of the track to signal that they were going to slow down and enter the pits. Servia challenged Bourdais and Tracy throughout the race and led six laps although he was within 0.5 to one-second of the leaders for the majority of the race.
• Sebastien Bourdais, No. 1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "Well, the least I can say it's not been a smooth ride, I guess. We lost the front hatch on the early stage when I was behind Oriol, just before the first pit stop. From there on, I knew it was going to be pretty difficult. You know, the car was kind of draggy. It wasn't as fast. We lost quite a bit of downforce. We were wearing out the tires a little more than we were supposed to. The car was like a rock, really. When I was behind PT, it was just fine because obviously you don't have any pressure. But when I was running by myself, the car was a little slower, for sure. I was just more concerned about the level of downforce really because I'm pretty sure we lost a couple hundreds of pounds. Over the length of the stint we're using the tires significantly faster than anybody else. I had to just keep on my toes to just adjust the car. Every time I was starting to understeer a little, I had to do something, then it would oversteer. I would correct it all the time. It was a nerve- wracking race. I'm so glad it's over. I was a little bit afraid that it was going to be a tough race, but somehow I was able to stay in the tow of Tracy. I was getting ready to finish second because he was battling pretty hard to stay in front, even when he was saving fuel. I don't remember which stop it was, it must have been the third stop or something like that, just dragged me all the way up there in traffic, nearly stuffed me in the wall coming off turn two. Then I went to the left. Then he dragged me all the way to the left going to the white line. But he stayed there. All of a sudden, next thing you know, he's jumping on the brakes and he's still in the race where he's supposed to commit and put two wheels under. I was so surprised, I didn't even have time to brake before we made contact. I was right in his gearbox. It's a miracle we made it through. Quite a bumpy ride for the McDonald's car but, all in all, a very good result for the team. They got the reward for their hard work. I'm pretty sick of all this controversy with him because I think Tony Cotman made it pretty clear, he had a public statement at the end of the race saying Tracy was in the wrong, he didn't commit to the pits, and I had no idea he was going to pit. What can I say? The facts are talking for themselves. Once again, there's hiccups on the way with him. But all I can say is we extended the lead for the championship, and that's all that really matters now."
• - FAST FACTS: Was his 15th win in the series, fourth in the past five races and fifth this season...Was his second race here. Started third last year and led 100 laps which included a wheel-to-wheel battle with his teammate Junqueira for the final 15 laps en route to a 0.066- second margin of victory over his teammate. Bourdais and Junqueira swapped the lead four times in the final seven laps as well as ran wheel to wheel for the final 20...Bourdais won four out of the past five race this weekend after victories in Edmonton, San Jose, Denver and Las Vegas....Leads the point standings with 310 over second place Oriol Servia's 243 (+67).
• Oriol Servia, No. 2 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "It's kind of frustrating (finishing second). Now my head is just going over the last 15 laps, what could I have done different, what if I would push it (push to pass) longer on the restart, you know, maybe pass him, then he would not have been able to pass me back. But at the end of the day, at that point you're just doing what you can. They were going to tell him on the radio whenever I was going to push it. He knew just pushing it as much as I was going to push it, he was going to stay ahead. I think it was pretty difficult at that point to get around him. I was able to go beside him, but then, you know, the juice was over, the push-to-pass was over, he was on the inside, had shorter line. There's not much I could do. It was good fun. At the beginning of the race, I was saving a little more fuel than both of them (Sebastien and Paul Tracy), hoping that maybe towards the end and on the third stop there was going to be a yellow on that three-, four-lap difference, then it would have been golden, two laps ahead of everybody. It would have been nice. We're gambling a little bit there. At the end, it was impossible to overtake. We touched wheels also. So I had both side pods marked. It was pretty exciting at 200 miles an hour. It was good race, and I'm very happy for the team to finish 1-2 again. For the championship, I don't know exactly how the points are, but obviously I must be a little better, a little more solid in second place. It's a good weekend for the PacifiCare team."J J - FAST FACTS: It is his seventh podium finish of the season, the 12th of his career...It was his second race here. Started last in the 18-car field after a car problem did not allow him to attempt to qualify. Gained approx. 10 positions at the start, led four laps but finished 12th...Is ranked second in the standings with 243 points to leader Bourdais' 310 (-67) while Paul Tracy is ranked third with 216 points.
• - NEWMAN/HAAS RACING FACTS: NHR has won THREE races (Bourdais 2004 & 2005, Mario Andretti 1983) and earned a total of SIX podium finishes (2nd -- Servia 2005, Junqueira 2004, Ma. Andretti 1984) in Las Vegas.... Beginning with Cristiano da Matta's victory in Australia of '01, NHR has won 30 of the past 64 races...Since they began competition in 1983, Newman/Haas Racing is the most successful team competing in the Champ Car World Series and the second most successful overall open-wheel racing team competing today. Marlboro Team Penske (MTP) has earned 124 open-wheel wins and is in their 38th season while NHR has earned 89 and is in their 23rd. During the years that NHR has been in existence (1983-current) MTP has earned 85 wins while NHR has earned 89 wins (includes MTP's 7-24 Milwaukee win). Perhaps the most impressive detail however is the fact that NHR ran only one driver it's first six seasons (Mario Andretti) while MTP ran two-to-three drivers per season. From 1989 to present, NHR has been a two-car team while MTP expanded from a two car team to run three cars for three of those seasons.

• POLE, BOURDAIS: "Well, it feels very good for the McDonald's team. It just felt like there was a mechanic on every single piece of tape on the car, you know, pushing me around. It's pretty much a good summary to what happened today. I think it's all to their credit what kind of performance we got in this qualifying. I'm kind of taking myself out of the picture really because in qualifying, just really put the foot down and it's all about the team effort. Obviously they proved to be extremely good at that. During the race it's a bit different story, and you have to have a good ending in traffic. Hopefully we'll be able to achieve that again as well as we did last year. It should be a good race. It was really spectacular last year. I'm not looking forward to another one like that. We'll see what we can get out of this weekend. It's just a bit of a nerve-wracking race really because anything can happen. Obviously, it's really tough on the car, extremely difficult on the engine. I'm not too concerned about the Bridgestone tires, they're just fine. Mechanically anything can happen. That would be the most single painful thing we can encounter during this end of the season, not to finish a race. Hopefully we can have our nose clean and a reliable car and move on and get closer to winning the championship.
• 2ND, SERVIA: " it was great. I think we already in practice showed that we were probably going to be up there. No surprises. The car was very good even with the wind. We knew that no other team was going to beat us, with or without wind strategy. We went out there with the big wind. It was very good. I'm just very happy. The car felt actually quite decent in traffic earlier, so I think once now we change it a little bit for the race, going to be even better. Again, the race is very long. Is the last lap that counts, so we need to get there safe. That's the main thing. Hopefully we can put the PacifiCare car again in the top of the podium."
• 3RD, VASSER: "The boys in the shop did a tremendous job over the last few weeks to try to make the cars as slippery as possible, even down to putting special waxes on the underwing. Whether they work or not, who knows, but it's the effort that counts, making the body fit work. I think it shows in PKV, with myself and my teammate Cristiano da Matta on the second row, it shows a lot of hard work has paid off, at least for qualifying. I do know also we need to do a lot of work for our race setups tonight. We weren't all that happy in today's afternoon session. But, you know, all credit to the guys in the shop, they did a great job. "

• NEWMAN-HASS PREVIEW
• McDONALD'S DRIVER BOURDAIS AND PACIFICARE DRIVER SERVIA AIM TO RETAIN 1-2 STANDING AFTER THIS SATURDAY'S CHAMP CAR HURRICANE RELIEF 400 IN LAS VEGAS

  LAS VEGAS (September 21, 2005) --- In three open-wheel races held in Las Vegas, Newman/Haas Racing (NHR) has won two with their hardest fight taking place last season on the 1.5 superspeedway at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The team's toughest competition came from within as McDonald's driver Sebastien Bourdais and PacifiCare driver Bruno Junqueira ran wheel to wheel for the final 20 laps at speeds of 200 mph with a margin no larger than 0.1-seconds between them. Bourdais took the checkered flag a mere .066-seconds ahead of Junqueira in what was one of the fiercest battles in recent Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford history. Prior to their long awaited return to Las Vegas in 2004, the series raced on a temporary track around Caesar's Palace in 1983 and 1984 and NHR driver Mario Andretti finished first and second respectively in those events. Champ Car's most recent winner, Oriol Servia, is looking forward to the 166-lap Champ Car Hurricane Relief 400 for many reasons.

  "I think just going to Las Vegas in general is always good," said Servia who earned his first series victory at the previous race in Montreal. "It's good for the series, good for the fans, good for the drivers. It's just a very different race in a very cool city. The event, it's always good fun. I know it's an important race for PacifiCare also. Last year they put a great show, Sebastien and Bruno. I hope this year we can do the same. Maybe we could reverse the order which would be welcome for all of us."

  Servia's win in Montreal moved him ahead of previous second place ranked Paul Tracy in the season standings but he only has a four point advantage (215-211) over the Canadian with four races remaining in 2005. Although he struggled with his previous team in Las Vegas last year, his six podium finishes in the past eight races for NHR have him optimistic of a strong run although he realizes hard work is mandatory to keep the results coming.

  "In Las Vegas last year my previous team had a little issue in qualifying," said Servia who started 18th in the 2004 event and finished 12th. "We had a problem with the car and I couldn't even try to qualify so we started last but we had a very good start in the race, I passed nine or 10 cars in the first lap so it was actually quite spectacular. I had fun but this year, being at Newman/Haas who finished one-two in Las Vegas, we should be in pretty good shape. Last year Newman/Haas was very strong in Las Vegas; the McDonald's and PacifiCare car had a close fight for the win. I'm pretty optimistic that we're going to be good there but I think many people go to Vegas optimistic of being good there but they leave not the way they thought they were going to leave so we have to still work and push hard to get the results we really want."

  In addition to attempting to win their first back-to-back titles in their 23rd season, NHR is also trying to win back-to-back 1-2 finishes in the season ending standings after Bourdais and Junqueira brought the team its first 1-2 finish ever. Servia currently trails Bourdais by 61 points (276-215), and is four ahead of third place Paul Tracy (215-211), 11 ahead of fourth place Justin Wilson (215-204) and 51 ahead of fifth place A.J. Allmendinger (215-164) with races in Las Vegas (superspeedway), Korea (street course), Australia (street course) and Mexico City (road course) to go in 2005. After being the "most recent Champ Car winner" for the past month, Servia is glad to get back to work this weekend.

  "Since the last race there was a pretty big break so we went testing and I went back to Spain a couple of times," said the Spaniard who was busy with media obligations in his native Barcelona. "I was very surprised how much coverage my win in Montreal created in Spain. It was a nice break but I'm looking forward to getting back to racing in Las Vegas and bring another good result for the PacifiCare team."

  If history is any indication, NHR hopes to again been competitive on the only Superspeedway event of the season and earn their third consecutive on this type of course. McDonald's driver Sebastien Bourdais drove to victory on the superspeedway in Lausitz, Germany in 2003 and in Las Vegas last year. Consistency has been the key to his championship bid this season as he has won four of the 10 races, finished in the top-five in nine as well as completed all but one of the 1,017 laps run this season (pit speed penalty in Milwaukee put him one lap down to the leaders). He is quick to acknowledge the hard work of his crew in his competitiveness.

  "The result last year in Las Vegas was definitely a big team effort," said Bourdais, who will attempt to increase his 61-point advantage over second place this Saturday night. "The engineering office definitely spent a lot of time thinking about what was going to be the best option especially for the race setup because it was pretty easy flat and everybody was able to make it easy around the place. It was about having the proper amount of downforce and being able to go through traffic with your foot on the floor and that's what we achieved and we had a really spectacular 1-2 with very exciting finish of the race. But I'm not too excited to try and do that again it's just really nerve racking. We'll see what happens but it was quite a race and hopefully it's going to be easier this year but I'm not quite sure about that really."

  Dicing with a competitor at speeds around 200 mph is not for everyone and Bourdais was thankful he was fighting for the win with his teammate for the last 20-odd laps.

  "I don't know if I'd want to do it (race wheel-to-wheel) with just anyone," added Bourdais, who led 100 of the 166 laps last year. "I think I'd be nervous to do it with anyone other than Bruno -- or Oriol now. It was really close, I was on the apron and Bruno was a few inches away from my wheel, sometimes even less so it's quite nerve racking. You know how difficult and dangerous it can get out there so you don't really want to be side-by-side for 20-something laps. It was tough; I had serious thoughts about backing off at some point especially with the championship situation but once you're in the car you just can't do that so you just have to keep going."

  At this weekend's race it will mark the first time that Champ Car's Power-to-Pass will be used on the oval at Las Vegas. The mechanics of the Power-to-Pass will be slightly different this weekend with drivers getting their standard 60 seconds of additional horsepower, but that power will come in 10-second bursts. Therefore, in essence each driver will have six 10-second 'shots' of extra power to use during the event. Both Bourdais and Servia believe this could be a factor in the late stages of the 166-lap event.

  "I think you're going to have to be smart and use it at the right time because everybody is going to go by you," said Bourdais. "It's going to be a matter of when to use it and how to use it.JThe car is really stuck on the track with the aerodynamic package we run there. There is a bit too much downforce to slow the cars down."

  "I thought it made sense last year not to use Push to Pass because usually you have Push to Pass until you go off throttle (to deactivate it) and in Vegas your on the throttle the whole race so it should be an interesting transition," added Servia. "I think it's a little strange but if everybody has it, I'm sure it will be fun. Everybody will probably wait to use at the end of the race because you don't want to use it too early then not have it for the last lap which is when it counts but who knows, maybe that will be too late. It's a new factor and the good thing is that I'm in the best team and they'll tell me what to do I don't have to think, just drive."Proceeds from this weekend's Champ Car Hurricane Relief 400 will go to the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund. Champ Car presenting sponsors Bridgestone and Ford are contributing to the relief effort in a number of ways over the race weekend, with Bridgestone also donating monies that include a portion of the event's Bridgestone Pole Award to the fund. Champ Car will be conducting online auctions of one-of-a-kind items on its official website, www.champcar.ws, with proceeds from the sale going to the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund.

  The Champ Car Hurricane Relief 400 will take place Saturday night, with the green flag coming upon the conclusion of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race, which gets the green flag at 6:15 p.m. Pacific Time. Qualifying and practice will all take place on Friday. Coverage of the race will be shown on SPEED Channel on a tape-delayed basis, Sunday, September 25. The broadcast will open with a 30-minute qualifying recap beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, with race coverage immediately following.

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