CART: Newman/Haas completes final test at Homestead
pr...@motorsport.com
Miami-Homestead Oval today.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (May 17, 2002) --- Christian Fittipaldi completed the
final day of testing for the 2002 CART FedEx Series today at the
Miami-Homestead oval today and is pleased with the progress made on
Newman/Haas Racing's short oval setup.
"We ran a lot of miles again today and made some progress," said
Fittipaldi who completed a total of 260 miles (in two cars) around the
1.5-mile short oval today with a best lap time of 27.03. "We ran almost
600 miles over two days and were able to get through a big list of things
we wanted to try. At the end of the day we made some long runs with a
good amount of fuel and ran some consistent times. We are heading in the
right direction and we will see how well we stack up to the others when
we get to Milwaukee. You don't have to be very far off in this series to
be at the back of the grid. I think we are in a much better position
after our test in Milwaukee and the test here."
Next on the agenda for Fittipaldi is a media tour next Tuesday, May 21 to
promote the inaugural CART Denver Grand Prix set to be held Sept. 1.
Earlier this week, Fittipaldi was in Portland to promote the upcoming
G.I. Joe's 200, where he drove to a spectacular third place finish in the
2001 event despite limited visibility due to rain after dropping to 19th
place while trying to avoid a spinning car. The race will be held on
June 16. After his press tour in Denver, Fittipaldi will travel to
Charlotte to compete in the Busch Grand National event on Saturday, May
25.
Next up in the series will be the Miller Lite 250, round 4 of 20 in the
CART FedEx Championship, which will take place on June 2 at the historic
Milwaukee Mile. Havoline driver da Matta, who is currently third in the
Championship standings with 27 points to leader Dario Franchitti who has
34, and Lilly driver Fittipaldi, who is in 10th place with 15 points,
will attempt to bring Newman/Haas Racing its seventh victory at the
track.
Newman/Haas Racing, owned by actor/race car driver Paul Newman and racing
entrepreneur Carl A. Haas, is the most successful team competing in the
2002 CART FedEx Championship Series championship with 62 race wins and 63
pole positions. For more information log on to www.newman-haas.com,
www.texaco.com/racing or www.cart.com. The 20-race schedule will be
broadcast by new television partners CBS, Fox and the Fox-owned Speed
Channel.
-nhr-
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