Race No. 4
Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota
Nazareth Speedway — Nazareth, PA
April 30 - May 2, 1999
Friday Quotes from Nazareth: | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Practice Position: 3rd |
| GREG MOORE | |
| We tested here and we went 20.5 [seconds] and I thought we had a pretty good car. But yesterday, we were 25th and this morning we were 14th, so it was obvious we still had a lot of work to do. We made some changes and the weather was good, so we made some gains. We're still not where we want to be, but we're heading in the right direction. Qualifying up front will be important. | |
 | Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Practice Position: 10th |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| We are right there except for with Helio (Castro-Neves). It looks like that Lola is pretty good out there. We spent most of the day running on full tanks and the car was okay. | |
 | Marlboro Penske Mercedes Practice Position: 23rd |
| AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| We're not where we want to be yet with the Marlboro Penske Mercedes, but we have tomorrow to continue working on the car. Today we were focused on putting a lot of miles on our Goodyear tires so we're ready for long runs in the race. The ankle has not been a problem at all. The only change we made to the car was to soften the throttle spring a little bit, otherwise it's business as usual. Driving the Marlboro car is really the best therapy for me. Once the adrenaline gets going the pain goes away. It's actually harder for me to get around on my crutches than it is to drive the car. | |
 | MCI Worldcom Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota Practice Position: 13th |
| CRISTIANO DA MATTA | |
| The balance of my car was not working as well as this morning's session. For the race, we need to improve the rear grip of the car and get it back to the way it was. The wind wasn't too strong out there and has not played an important role during the session. I hope it stays that way. We have been doing well up until this afternoon. The car had been getting better and better. Conditions changed, and it changed the way the car handled. I'm disappointed, because I know we have a better car than the time shows. But we still have one more session before qualifying to get back to it. | |
 | Pioneer Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota Practice Position: 22nd |
| SCOTT PRUETT | |
| We're not where we want to be, but we're working on it. The wind and changing conditions are a factor for us, and when conditions continue to change it's sometimes harder to track your progress. It's definitely harder to prepare the car for a new session. | |
 | PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes Practice Position: 2nd |
| MARK BLUNDELL | |
| Basically, for me, it's a case of having to adapt immediately to these wings at this track because we only tested them at Phoenix [International Raceway]. I'm a little bit against the [new] wing package. It's O.K. now, but Sunday is another matter. But we're all professionals here and we'll all make the most of what we've got. We haven't had a bad race car underneath us [early in the season], we've just had some bad luck, to be perfectly honest. It's just a case of putting some testing miles under our belts. We know we're going to go forward and we know we're going to get back to our winning ways. We've got the people and we know we're going to be there. We definitely have more grip today, but I'm still struggling with keeping the back end under control while braking. We'll address that between sessions. | |
 | Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford Practice Position: 20th |
| MICHEL JOURDAIN | |
| In the afternoon the car developed some push, but we couldn't fix the problem, because our main concern was that the limiter was on, in the main straight. It happened because the gear box was shorter than we needed, but the team will work on this and hopefully tomorrow the car will performance better. We definitely need to take advantage of using the Lola chassis, which seemed to be the best in short ovals. | |
 | Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford Practice Position: 19th |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| [on the new wings] I guess the best way to describe them is by asking how much you don't hate them. They are okay. I don't really think the cars are a lot of fun to drive. They are difficult and not as satisfying to drive but everybody is in the same position. There are twenty-five guys out there who have to race in the same condition and someone has to win so it might as well be us. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Practice Position: 14th |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| I'd say as a group Team KOOL Green is reasonably happy with the way the day went. We're playing it pretty conservative right now. We improved the car a little bit from this morning and we'll keep chipping away at it. Tomorrow morning we'll work on our qualifying setup so we should be in good shape for the afternoon qualifying session. But qualifying and the race are two completely different things that require two different setups on the car. It's going to be a difficult race. I was talking with a couple of other drivers, and I don't think anyone has made a pass out there yet. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Practice Position: 5th |
| PAUL TRACY | |
| I'm pretty satisfied with the car Team KOOL Green has given me. We'll just keep working at the setup and compensate as best we can for the new wings we're running here. We'll learn as much as we can and try to make smart decisions with the setup every time. We steadily improved the car throughout the day and I think we could have gone a little faster, but to end up fourth fastest today is good. Of course, we know we'll have to go faster tomorrow. | |
 | McDonald'sForsythe Championship Racing Team Reynard Honda Practice Position: 16th |
| TONY KANAAN | |
| We're improving the car. We made a big change from the test that we did here, and we are getting there step by step. We've never really had a good car on a one-mile oval, but we are getting there. It's been a lot of work for us. I am feeling a little bit more comfortable with the wings. I don't think you are ever going to feel that comfortable with those kinds of wings, but that's what we have so we can't complain. We have to work hard to get the setup right for what we have now. | |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford Practice Position: 6th |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| I need to find more consistency in the car and that's what we are working on. I feel like we had good speed and we can put a good lap together for qualifying but we are looking at constancy right now. | |
 | Hogan Racing Reynard Mercedes Practice Position: 1st |
| HELIO CASTRO-NEVES | |
| We've been working so hard and so far it's been very good. When you're running by yourself, it [the new aerodynamic package] is great, but when you're running in traffic, it's tough. I have a pretty good car right now but when I'm behind someone, it's very tough to pass. We just have to keep running and running and be comfortable in the car. Everybody has to be patient and be careful. The Lola is a good car, but Team Hogan has done a great job. Especially in Japan, we found a good setup and we've been going well ever since. I think there's still more to come. The traffic was terrible. I kept looking for a clean lap, but I never could find it. | |
 | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Practice Position: 8th |
| PATRICK CARPENTIER | |
| When we improved the front, then the rear was not so good. And it was the other way around as well. We're still chasing it. We always had a good way to set up but now we need to find a new way. The team is working hard, hopefully we can find something that works. | |
 | Hollywood Reynard Mercedes Practice Position: 9th |
| MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| I'm still not happy with the understeer on the race car. I had a lot of push today, again. The high line on this track is a no-no; there is no downforce on that line. | |
 | Epson Bettenhausen Motorsports Reynard Mercedes Practice Position: 26th |
| SHIGEAKI HATTORI | |
| I was fighting the car all the way around the track. I found that the low downforce wing package makes the car very unstable to drive. I feel very bad for the team because I know they are working very hard for me. We just need more experience. (The Bettenhausen team subsequently removed their car from competition this weekend concerns abou their performance and their need for more testing.) | |
 | Team Gordon Reynard Toyota Practice Position: 24th |
| ROBBY GORDON | |
| Not a great performance for Team Gordon. We've been trying to find grip all day leaving turn two. I don't know what the deal is, we just havenšt solved the problem. The car keeps wanting to step out in Turn Two and that frustrates me. I've been playing it a little conservative, just trying to get a feel for the way the new wings react around here, but I'm not comfortable at any rate it's not to a point where I want to push it yet. Bottom line is, we probably don't have a car for the pole right now, which is okay. We just have to get on it and try to find a good race setup. | |
 | Team Kool Green Team manager |
| BARRY GREEN | |
| It looks to me like things are going well with the new wing. I think all the drivers are behaving well and adapting very well to the new wings, but it's probably a bit early to say. We'll have to see how things go in the race. Qualifying is going to be important, but that's no different than it has been here in the past. This is a tough little race track to pass on, especially when the cars are all so closely-matched. Engineering-wise, everything is going great. Paul and his engineers Tony Cicale and Tino Belli are working and understanding each other better and better, and I think that's showing up in Paul's competitiveness here this weekend. And Dario and his engineer Don Halliday are continuing to work well together. | |