CHAMP CAR MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 28, 2003

Ryan Hunter-Reay

Paul Tracy

PAUL TRACY: Thank you.

PAUL TRACY: Yeah, I mean, it's just -- everything is happen something quick right now, been so busy with media after the race and a little party on Sunday night and flying out in the morning just got back, yesterday, arrived yesterday morning and all the flights were cancelled out of LAX. Had to rent a car and drive to Vegas. Been a little long couple of days. Been a couple days to basically turn my laundry around and head back over to Fontana.

PAUL TRACY: I had a lot of mechanical failures there and I am really just very happy that we were able to complete the Championship run before going to Fontana because it would be so -- it has always been a difficult race for me. But it's not from the fact of not running well there, I have never qualified that well, so to speak, but I always was at the front because of the Hanford winning. It's always very easy to move your way to the front. But we're just very satisfied with Player's/Forsythe Racing, that we were able to wrap it up and really have the moment wrapped up early.

PAUL TRACY: Pretty much I have a lot of engine failures. I had one crash in the inaugural race there and then every year after that I have -- had suffered an engine failure which happens at those type of races. I don't see that happening so much this year now that we have the Ford-Cosworth motor. It is a 1,200 mile motor, but when you had all these development engines, Honda, Toyota, Ford, all of that, we were revving the things up to like 16,000 RPM and running them at the max all day and stuff would let go. I just really had a lot of engine failures at that race.

PAUL TRACY: Really just a whole range of emotions. I started -- before the start of the race I had a good warmup and I was confident that I could make a good start. I knew going into it that there was going to be some type of a team strategy play from Newman/Haas and obviously that became a factor at the first corner and the way the start went off, Bruno led the thing away from -- instead of the pole position guy leading it away. So when I got spun around at the first corner, I mean, from being -- going from being confident to having a good result to really pissed off, and then just trying to work my way back to the field and then I had Tag spin in front of me and then drive into me. I backed up into another car and damaged the suspension trying to get out of the accident to really just disappointment after that, that knowing that okay, we're pretty much out this race, I am going to lose a lot of laps, I don't know if we can fix the car and then you know, then again later in the race seeing Bruno crash to being elated, you know, just unbelievable feeling of happiness. I had every range of emotion that you can possibly have in a two-hour time period.

PAUL TRACY: I am not trying to take anything away from what Scott has done or what anybody has done over there, but I mean, from my standpoint, I have driven the maximum effort that I think I have in my whole career. The competition level is still tough, Top-5 or 6 and really the guys that -- maybe the guys that are saying that they are not even driving anymore. They are all retired. So I mean, I am not trying to take anything away from what anybody does over there, whether -- if you are a Champion at the top level, you have to work hard at it.

PAUL TRACY: You always dream of winning Championships, but as the time went on and things, you know, you keep trying and keep trying and I have always given 110% effort all the time into my driving and every time it is time to go racing and qualify, I put it all out on the line. I don't think anybody can take that away from me. But there comes times in your career when you think man, I won all these races, but am I have going to win a Championship, how do I do it. Finally now it's come. So I am just relieved that it's come. It taken a long time, but you know, it is worth the wait.

PAUL TRACY: I think -- I guess really -- I don't feel that much different as a person. I guess from my standpoint now that I have got the Championship, the weight of the pressure that people put on you saying well, you haven't won a Championship; when are you going to win a Championship - well, they can't say that anymore. So I don't have that pressure on me anymore. I have won tons of races and led tons of laps and I am in the Top-5 in every category of everything that there is to do, but people would always say: Well, you haven't won a Championship. That puts a lot of weight on you. That just felt like it has been taken off now.

PAUL TRACY: I think one of the key things is that the people behind the team, that are behind the scenes Bob Bexon and Jerry Forsythe, they believed in me for a long time as a driver. I worked with Bob who was running the KOOL -- he was in charge of KOOL when I joined Team KOOL Green, then he moved back over to Player's after about a year and a half. From that point in time he was a big believer in me and wanted me to come to Player's, but I was, you know, always in the middle of a contract and just didn't come together. We tried a couple of times, but it just wouldn't come together. Once I came to the team, they basically told me whatever you need, or you feel you need, to win the Championship just tell us what you need. I have never been in a situation with any team where they basically said to me, who are the people you want, what are the cars you want, who are the guys you want to work with. It's always been come and we will tell you what you are going to do. I guess they allowed me to get the people around me that I was comfortable with and obviously getting Tony Cicale and then Todd Malloy on the team who worked with me at Team Green, people that I am very close with, I struck up a good relationship with Neil Micklewright. Him and I get along very well. And then my other engineers Mike Pawlowski, I have got a great relationship with him and all of us just clicked and really that was the difference. They just put a whole package around me of what I thought that I needed and it all worked out.

PAUL TRACY: It really is. Having won the races in Canada and won two out of three in Canada this year and top it off with a Championship is a great feeling. I can't wait to -- I will be up there next week on Thursday to do a media tour up there and just can't wait to see what the response has been like.

PAUL TRACY: I think looking at how the season went, I mean, we had basically my career has always been hot/cold, hot/cold. It's never been kind of luke warm the whole time. We started off the year with three wins and we went to Europe and had basically three races. We scored three points. We had a mechanical failure, gearbox failure in England; went to Germany and we were uncompetitive. We chose the wrong aero package to go there. And then came back to Milwaukee and we were running up front and we had a wheel fall off after the last pitstop. That's kind of how the season went. Then we would go hot and cold; then hot and old cold. There were a few races, the middle there, where we scored some third and fourths, but it wasn't just on even keel the whole time.

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Thanks for having me on.

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: It's starting to sink in. It is just -- it's such an honor to be among the list of Champ Car winners finally and this has been something that I have dreamed of something since I was eight years old and just all the hard work that's gone into it, you know, finally we got one in the win column at the top level of open-wheel racing in America. So I couldn't be happier at the moment.

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Actually, the good thing is we have actually did a testing there, two days of testing actually, a day and a half, really, and I really haven't tested that much this season and everywhere we have tested we have done fairly well. Now here we go into Fontana having some miles under our belt, and I am quite comfortable with the track and it's always been a great event. My teammate is the former Champion of the race, so I look forward to it a whole bunch. Hopefully we'll get that Reynard on the top of the podium again.

PAUL TRACY: Well, you know, I think we hope that it's not going to get cancelled because there's still some other people in the Championship that are fighting for position but I think what -- the most important thing is we need to think about the safety of the fans. I drove through there yesterday because I couldn't get a flight. I had to drive back from Los Angeles and really the fire is only about ten miles away from the track, one of the fires. The smoke is very heavy in the air and it's basically almost like being in fog. So the air quality is not good. I think the most important thing we need to worry about are the fans in the stands and the drivers on the track and you know, -- I didn't spend any real time because I was driving, but I understand there's a lot of falling ash that's coming out of the air and all of that's going on the track. As far as I know right now, we're planning to go ahead, but it is all going to be a very touch-and-go subject. We just have to wait and see what is going to happen; how much the winds make the fire progress more. It is just too far out right now to make a decision.

PAUL TRACY: No, I mean, I am always up for a race. Really, this last race for me, you know, I got such a big help from my teammate, you know, I was basically out of contention at Surfer's and my teammate started pretty well back in the field and Patrick Carpentier, he was moving up to the field and ultimately led to Bruno's crash by putting a lot of pressure on him trying to pass him and Bruno crashed. I kind of owe him, so I am going to go work this weekend and we're going to try to get Pat in the winner's circle again this year for the second time and see what we can do to help him out.

PAUL TRACY: Absolutely. I have made my career in Champ Car. I have been a supporter of Champ Car and I am looking forward to coming back next year and having the #1 on the car, driving for Jerry Forsythe and he's one of the principle guys behind taking over this company and hopefully moving it into the next dimension. I think him and Paul and Kevin, they have got a lot of big plans for the series. They plan to keep their star drivers and keep their up-and-coming drivers like we have with Ryan and A.J. coming up and really make this into something that a lot of people can be proud of.

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Absolutely. I still do. I always have just when I have been there on equal ground with the guys that come from Europe I think I have stood my ground and more, you know, Mid-Ohio you can't really think anything at Mid-Ohio, it wasn't a fluke for sure. It is a tough track and there's passing opportunities there. We ran a great race and finished third. Then when it came down to it in Surfer's, I had to protect my lead. I went side-by-side with Jimmy once into the chicane and several times throughout that race with the conditions and everything like, that I mean, it was a very trying race, so I just think around the -- the whole season has shown that Atlantics is a viable proving ground for guys coming up since A.J. and others, for sure, it's been more so.

PAUL TRACY: Well, I kind of touched on it earlier. I think the biggest factor was when I came to this team is that they allowed me to put together like I said, the people that I was comfortable with and believed in me and you know, I went out there and won the Championship the way that I drive. That's racing to the maximum every weekend. You can say I did it my way because I didn't go out there and race for points, or cruise around to collect points. I went out and gave it everything I had every weekend and sometimes I won and sometimes I failed. It was definitely at the end of the season the last five races was just -- there was a see-saw battle. Bruno would have a big weekend and then I would go home dejected and say okay, I have got to come back next weekend and I have got to raise my game another level. I'd come back the following weekend and win. Then I'd say, okay, I got him now, and then I am sure he went home and said the same thing to himself and would come back the next weekend and win. So we both, every weekend, responded back and forth, almost like -- like a sporting match. We just raised our game every weekend in the last four, five races.

PAUL TRACY: Well, everybody has got their own style of racing. For me, the way I have driven my whole life, is to go out there and try to win and try to do -- put it all out on the line every time. I had guess you can't -- a leopard can't change its spots, I guess. This is the way I am. As much as people told me throughout the year you have got to do this and you have got to do that, I can't change the way -- change what my natural instincts are. Some people are guys that will not take risks and go out there and finish in the points every weekend. Some guys are natural risk-takers. I guess that's the category that I am in. I go out and I give it everything I have. I take chances. Sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don't. But it's hard to teach -- hard to change your -- what your natural instincts are.

PAUL TRACY: Actually I haven't even talked to her because I haven't even been able to get a hold of her. She's in Florida. She's going to be at Fontana on Thursday. I talked to my dad. He's just overjoyed. My sisters and stuff, and I had aunts and uncles at the race, so I haven't actually been able to get a hold of my mom.

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: That was huge. Just all the ups-and-downs we have gone through this season as a new team, you know, former Champion in Jimmy and myself being a real young rookie, just the whole extremes of it all, then it all coming together in a race like that, so much drama, and Paul winning the Championship the same day, couldn't be any happier for him, for a deserving Champion, congratulations to him. Just to do it for American Spirit, a rookie team, with some Reynards, with the slim budget, everything like that, it's unbelievable really. I can't describe it. To hear the American National Anthem up upon the top step of the podium was just -- was a feeling that I have never felt in my life. I am on a high right now but I am ready to go back and do my job this weekend here in Fontana.

PAUL TRACY: Yeah, for sure. We would like to -- I want to run that number next year. I think that's what everybody's dream is, is to run that number. We have had -- the team is having some discussions with Newman/Haas, if they will relinquish the number for this last race since it's Player's last race and finish the season off for those guys with it like, that which would be nice.

PAUL TRACY: I think he would like to have that #1 on there for sure.

PAUL TRACY: Well, for me, I just told myself I wasn't going to lose it and then once I got my hands on that trophy I just -- everything -- all my emotions came out of me. Basically you know, a 13-year ride of emotions. Everything, like I said, after the race, I mean, everything that happened in that race was like, you know, just a flashback of my whole career, packed into two hours. Starting off good and then bad and out of it and back in it and then Champion. It was just a very emotional day for me and the whole team. They have been working hard for eight years to try to win another Championship. Finally it all came together.

PAUL TRACY: Can you say that again.

PAUL TRACY: There's a lot of highs. Really, I mean, there's so many race wins and there's so many places that I have achieved great things. I can't really put my finger on one thing that's the pivotal moment. But I mean, this is -- the end goal is the Championship. Now I have achieved that. I am hopeful that my motivation is still high. My -- I feel I am driving as well as I have ever driven and like I said, I am motivated to continue driving. So I think I am right now at 34 I am in the prime of my career. I feel like I can win more Championships.

PAUL TRACY: Well, I think it's a combination of everything. You have got to have -- the package is important. The Series is very strict on what you can and can't do. Obviously the rules are very tight, so the Series has somewhat become mostly a spec Series, it's put a lot more -- everybody has the same engine. Everybody has the same tires. There's nobody with a horsepower advantage or a fuel-mile advantage or a different turbo that's better, so -- or whatever. So it's put a lot more into the driver's hands and the team's hands. The team that does the best job will ultimately end up winning races, and the driver that does the best job. So that's what gives me a lot of satisfaction is that you know, I can't say, well, we didn't -- you know, our engine wasn't as good as so and so engines or he had better this or better that. Everybody else pretty much has the same stuff. I can say that myself and our team, we just did a better job than everybody.

PAUL TRACY: I think it's going to be great. They have been talking about it for years and years. It was actually one of the reasons why I moved out here because I felt that I thought that we were going to be racing out here about five years ago and we would be doing a lot of testing. So it cut down on a lot of travel in the winter because this -- this is a good climate out here for testing. If that all comes together, I think it's going to be a great race not only for Champ Car but also for the city of Las Vegas.

PAUL TRACY: I am back in last Vegas now. I just arrived in L.A. yesterday morning. My flight was cancelled to Vegas so I had to rent a car and drive from the 10 to the 15 and then right through San Bernadino and there was fires on either side of the highway in the hills. A lot of smoke and a lot of helicopters flying around and fire trucks and you can see a lot of trucks going up and down the fire roads up and down the side of the mountains. I can see firsthand, pretty catastrophic.

PAUL TRACY: When you are over in Australia and the -- you know, you don't really get a sense of what is really going on over here until you see it firsthand. You just -- nothing is the same seeing it in person.

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Yeah, big questionmark for us since the race is ended on Monday, I heard that airport might be closed. That wasn't the case, but I am in L.A. quite frequently flying in, you couldn't even see the ground coming in. That goes to show you I have been watching some of the footage in Australia, the tires, and like Paul said, the biggest concern is just for the people right now that are going through all this. Racing comes second to it all. We'll see how it goes. We are here, I just got in about an hour ago, and I just talked to my team manager and said something about the city government having a meeting about it today. So I guess we're all sort of just waiting see what the word is.

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: No, I think everything is here. Everything is fine for the most part. From my understanding so far.

PAUL TRACY: I haven't actually had a chance to talk to Jerry Forsythe about that issue yet. But he's coming out on Friday and I just really -- we have to see what happens there with the race and what is going on. As far as that's concerned, I haven't had a chance to talk to him about that.

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: No, not at all really. I haven't -- I just got in just now, so you are the first people I am talking to actually.

PAUL TRACY: As far as I know I mean, I know that they have something lined up. I know that Player's will retain it's half ownership in the team and continue to do, I think they are going to continue to do hospitality, which they are allowed to do, to entertain clients, certain customers, and as far as I know on the sponsorship, they have a program lined up for next year. That will be announced after the season is over and everything is in step for Player's and they get their maximum exposure and then make an announcement in the off-season.

PAUL TRACY: I think he's done a really great job. He took over the situation and really I have had some people say he's like -- like a guy who showed up at an accident scene and was able to save the thing at the site and now we need to move it to the next level. And continue to build from here. The thing -- CART was really in a bad way a couple of years ago and he came in and he took it over and made things happen. Got the teams to stay and for the most part, a lot of the drivers to stay and brought some new drivers in and new teams and facilitated a lot of the deals that have come together. Now with the changing of ownership and new direction going in, it's time for him -- he is prepared to step aside and just consult and move on.

PAUL TRACY: Well, I think there's not a lot of obstacles. I think they have got a schedule pretty much planned out. It will be 15 to 17 races in big markets. They have a game plan of what they want to try to do with Motorock. Really, now it's just taking it to -- taking the marketing and the promotion to the level that it needs to be at and that's what it's all about. I think the product is good, you know, the races are good, the venues are good. It just needs to be marketed and get the awareness out there.

PAUL TRACY: Well, I mean, it means a lot to me because when they hired me on the team that was the objective and I along with that -- you missed a lot of the conversation earlier, it's really the only team that I have ever been involved with when I joined the team basically they said, tell us what you want, whatever you need, we need to win this Championship and whatever you want or think you need, tell us and we'll get it for you. It's really the only team that I have had that has allowed me to do that and place the people around me that I had confidence in and they had confidence in me, you know, from Tony Cicale to Todd Malloy to all the engineering staff was basically hand-picked to go around me and people that I have worked with in the past. Really, I mean, along with that, now they have given me all this freedom to do that, now I have got to deliver. So there was a lot of pressure that went along with that and constant pressure throughout the year. We started off the off-season not so great testing -- I wasn't as quick as I wanted to be, but everything was coming together and then we started off the season with three wins in a row and as the year went on, I mean, you know, you build confidence, but then you get towards the end of the year, the pressure just starts to build. Every time that we would have a good race then the last few races, last five or six races, was really just a racheting effect of our team against Newmann/Haas and we would respond and then they'd come back the next weekend and raise their game and they would respond, and then we would come back the next weekend and, we would raise our game every week. With that, the pressure built every week. To finally achieve that in Fontana the way the race went, it was really -- the race was almost like a recap of my whole year .

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Yeah, that has been tough, just all the ups and downs with this new team. We got everybody together just a few days before spring training and hadn't done much testing at all. I think that has been a factor to some of our sporadic results, but like you say, when we had it right, everything came together and we did a great job in Mexico City, we were quick. Some places the Reynard just wasn't competitive. But then again, you know, I don't want to hide behind the Reynard too much just because in some places we were way off the pace when other guys at Conquest were on it. It's been a big learning year for everybody involved. Probably not Jimmy, but he's had to adapt quite a bit to a team like this, with a very tight budget and everything. It's been tough in a lot of ways but that makes the success of this past win that much better when we both get on the podium like that and for me to get up on the podium for the second time this season with this team is just such a great honor. It's unbelievable.