McDONALD’S® DRIVER BOURDAIS SETS HIS SIGHTS ON “THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY” AT THIS WEEKEND’S GENERAC GRAND PRIX AT ROAD AMERICA; MEDI | ZONE DRIVER RAHAL HOPES TO REPEAT STRONG TESTING PERFORMANCE HERE ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (August 8, 2007) --- Road America was the site of the Newman/Haas Racing’s first victory in 1983 by Mario Andretti which was appropriate since the picturesque four-mile track was also the catalyst of what has become a storied career in racing for Carl Haas, whose first experience with the sport came here. Now in their 25th season of Champ Car competition, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) hopes to add to their 101 wins and 103 poles at the track that has brought them the most success of all tracks they have competed on. This year’s Champ Car Generac Grand Prix at Road America will mark the 25th event for the series at the permanent road course and it will be the 24th for NHLR. Although they have earned nine wins, seven poles and 19 podiums at this track, the team hasn’t won here since Bruno Junqueira drove to victory in 2003 despite having competitive and, sometimes, dominant cars here in recent history. The proximity of the course to the team’s Lincolnshire, Ill. base makes it a “Home Event” and a win here would be celebrated by many. “Elkhart Lake is definitely our garden,” said Bourdais, driver of the No. 1 McDonald’s race car. “It’s the closest race to our shop and a lot of the families of the team members come for the race and it’s definitely, more than ever, a family atmosphere. It would be really good to win the one that the McDonald’s team never won. There would be a big celebration if we could finally get a win at Elkhart Lake after having such a good car there.” In the three previous events Bourdais has run at Road America, he was a contender for pole every time but only won it once (2004) while intermittent rain limited his start to second place on two other occasions. He finished second to then-teammate Junqueira in 2003 but strategy played a large role in the events in 2004 and 2006 and he finished third. After starting from pole in 2004, a miscue on a restart that had the pace car in the middle of the track, the timing of the caution flags and fuel strategy dictated his third place finish. In 2006, he was fastest in both practice sessions run in the dry but both qualifying sessions were determined by strategy in the rain. He led 28 laps and built two 12+ and 15+ second leads over second place and repeatedly set the fastest lap of the race but race strategy limited him to a third place finish. “We’ve had some pretty good showings at Road America but unfortunately for some reason we haven’t been able to put it to together and win,” said Bourdais who set the quickest time at the test held here in mid-June. “It has been a little frustrating from time to time, especially last year when we seemed to be running away with it and every time there would be a yellow, A. J. (Allmendinger) came out on top. But that’s what racing is all about; sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.” In nine races so far this season, the highpoint for Bourdais has been four wins while the low point has been three DNF’s (did not finish). He crashed in Las Vegas, succumbed to an electrical failure in Cleveland and was hit from behind by Robert Doornbos in Toronto but has held the top spot in the point standings since Round 3 in Houston for all but one race (Toronto; hit by Doornbos) although his maximum lead has only been 20 points over second. Three straight San Jose wins looked possible at the previous race when he took the lead from polesitter Justin Wilson but he stalled during a full course caution while second and finished fifth which reduced his lead to only 10 over Doornbos (216-206). Here at Road America last year he had an outside chance to clinch the title but he knows this year’s fight could last all season. “For the championship, a win there would be just like any other win,” said Bourdais. “The most important thing for the McDonald’s team is to just put the car up front and have a good finish -- in the top-five if possible. It’s what we’re going to need to focus on for the rest of the season and hopefully if we can do that we should be in pretty good shape for the championship. It’s pretty hard to put together the perfect lap on the four mile track. In the meantime, it flows very nice when you feel confidence in the car and you feel good. It flows from one corner to another and before you even know it the lap is over. It’s an awesome feeling to do a qualifying lap right in Elkhart Lake. It’s really, really enjoyable.” Medi | Zone driver Graham Rahal is also looking forward to returning to Road America. Although he is only 18 this will mark his fourth professional race here. He competed in two Formula BMW events here in 2004 and one in Star Mazda in 2005. In 2006, the fight for the Champ Car Atlantic championship between Simon Pagenaud and Rahal didn’t conclude until the season finale. Rahal started third but didn’t have a chance to challenge Pagenaud after he retired due to an electrical failure and ended the season runner-up. After setting the second fastest time at the test here in June, he is hoping for a better result this weekend. “In testing we were very strong and Sebastien and I had two of the quickest cars there,” said Rahal, who is featured in the current issue of ESPN The Magazine. “I think the Medi | Zone team can close the gap to Sebastien and have not only a shot at the podium but also at a win, which is exactly what we need to do.” Rahal has earned two fourth-place starts this season in Cleveland and Edmonton as well as a second place finish in Houston and third in Edmonton. He led the Cleveland and Mont Tremblant races and ran as high as second in three others. He currently is ranked eighth in series standings with 145 points heading into Round 10 of 14 at the fastest track of the season, and one that suits his driving style. “I think the best parts of the track are the carousel and the kink which are the areas you hear about the most,” said Rahal of the four mile permanent road course. “It’s definitely very challenging; it’s very, very fast. It’s the fastest place we go by far. The length doesn’t really stand out for me because of the speed you travel. Lap times are still pretty quick even though it’s a four mile course. If you look at it in the big picture, there are three places where you go almost 190 mph and that’s a lot. I think that for us we figured out a lot of things with this car that will work to our advantage so we’ll see what happens.” Friday night the stars of the Champ Car World Series will be taking time out of their weekend to take to the track, not in their turbo-charged racing machines, but with their bike to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. In addition to Bourdais and Rahal, other drivers scheduled to participate include Paul Tracy, Robert Doornbos, Jan Heylen, Bruno Junqueira, Oriol Servia and Dan Clarke. After the event CARA Charities will be holding their “Taste of Road America” tailgate party to benefit Champ Car Ministries and other charitable causes. “I’ve been doing quite a bit of training, especially lately,” said Rahal in reference to the cycling event. “Before the race weekend, I’m going to cycle as much as possible because I don’t want to embarrass myself -- that’s the key. Lance has always been a hero of mine. I’ve always been big into cycling and watching him is basically the reason. As a kid growing up, he was The Man. It’s kind of a dream of mine to meet him so it’s just great to help his foundation. I’m trying to get several people to ride.” Practice and qualifying will take place on Friday and Saturday with the Champ Car Generac Grand Prix at Road America starting at 2:00 p.m. CT on Sunday. Live coverage of the race will be provided by ABC at 3:00 p.m. ET. THREE PODIUMS IN ELKHART LAKE: Will be his fourth race here. In 2006, he finished third despite having a dominant car all weekend. Was fastest in practice sessions run in the dry but both qualifying sessions were dictated by strategy in the rain. Set the fastest lap in Saturday’s wet qualifying to earn a second place start. Led 28 laps and built two 12+ and 15+ second leads over second place and set the fastest lap of the race (repeatedly) but race strategy limited him to a third place finish. Started from pole and led 13 laps in 2004 but a miscue on the restart that had the pace car in the middle of the track, the timing of the caution flags and fuel strategy (3 mandatory green flag stops) dictated the outcome and he finished third. He had been in the lead before the ragged restart and dropped to third as a result. Started and finished second to teammate Junqueira in 2003. LEADS 2007 POINT STANDINGS BY 10 PTS: Crashed in final qualifying in Las Vegas season-opener and started 16th in the 17 car field. Overcame two unscheduled stops for punctured tires and charged into third place but brushed a wall and had to make another pit stop. Returned to the race in 11th place but his day ended when he made contact in Turn 4 on the 31st of 68 laps…Led 58 laps and won from pole in Long Beach to rebound to a third place rank…Was the provisional polesitter in Houston and set the fastest lap time in final qualifying but CCWS ruled he had interfered with the lap time of Power and took away that lap. He started second but took the lead at the start by cutting the chicane and was told to give the position up to Wilson on the next lap but regained the lead on Lap 14 and only relinquished it after pit stops. Set the fastest race lap en route to victory…Started third in Portland and brought the team their 100th victory in dominating fashion. After his third place start he temporarily dropped to fifth but stretched his fuel two laps longer than race leader Wilson on the first stint and closed an +18-second deficit to take over the leader after the second stop, which he held through his third and won by a 13.5 second margin over Wilson…His 11 point, pre-race lead over second in the standings was reduced to three after he did not finish the Cleveland event due to engine failure after leading 27 laps and running second at the time. He also started from pole and set the fastest race lap…Qualified third in Mont Tremblant and took the lead on the first lap when polesitter Gommendy’s car wouldn’t start and second place Power stalled. Led the first 27 laps but spun on the wet track on slick tires and dropped back to 11th but recovered to finish second to Robert Doornbos…Earned both points for fastest qualifier in Toronto to start the race from pole with a two-point lead over Doornbos but was hit by him with five laps to go while fifth and retired in ninth place. Doornbos was able to continue to finish sixth and take over the points by two over Power and three over Bourdais…Qualified second in Edmonton but took the lead at the start and led until his first stop when he dropped to third to avoid a car while trying to leave his pits. Ran two laps longer and regained the lead after the second stop to win after setting the fastest race lap…Was the provisional polesitter in San Jose and started second but took the lead going into Turn 1 although Wilson regained the position a few turns later. Bourdais stalled the car under the first caution while trying to save fuel and dropped to eighth but regained a few spots to finish fifth while race winner Doornbos closed to within 10 points…Leads the standings with 216 to Doornbos’s 206 (+10). HISTORY MAKING THIRD CONSECUTIVE TITLE IN 2006: Became the first open wheel driver to win three consecutive championships since Ted Horn accomplished the feat from 1946-1948 and only the second in the 98 year history of the sport. Both Horn and Bourdais clinched their titles in the penultimate event but Horn was unable to attempt four after he died in a crash in the season finale…Bourdais earned seven wins, seven poles and finished on the podium 11 times in 14 races. FOUR IN A ROW RARE IN SPORTS: Bourdais has the rare opportunity to win four consecutive championships this year if he can again capture the Vanderbilt Cup for the fourth time since 2004. No Champ Car driver has ever won four straight titles. Four in a row is very rare in professional sports in fact it has never been done in either NASCAR or NFL and it hasn’t been accomplished in the last twenty years in the NBA, NHL or MLB. FOX SPORTS BEST NON AMERICAN ATHLETES: Recently made a list complied by Fox Sports of the 10 best non American athletes. Others on the list include reigning F 1 champ Fernando Alonso, Brazilian soccer stars Ronaldinho and Adriano, golf stars Luke Donald (England) and Padraig Harrington (Ireland) as well as four others. 27 WINS IN 68 RACES (39.7 percent): (’03 – England, Germany & Cleveland; ’04 – Monterrey, Portland, Cleveland, Toronto, Denver, Las Vegas, Mexico City; ’05 – Long Beach, Edmonton, San Jose, Denver, Las Vegas, Australia; ’06 Long Beach, Houston, Monterrey, Milwaukee, San Jose, Montreal, Mexico City; ’07 Long Beach, Houston, Portland, Edmonton). He earned his 20th victory in his 49th start with a win in Milwaukee which beats the former record of 79 starts to reach 20 wins, held by Foyt. Mario Andretti (80), T. Bettenhausen (96) & R. Mears (97) are the only other drivers to reach 20 wins in 100 starts. 28 CCWS POLES IN 68 RACES (41 percent): (’03 – St. Pete, Monterrey, Germany, Cleveland, Australia; ’04 – Monterrey, Portland, Toronto, Elkhart Lake, Denver, Montreal, Laguna Seca, Mexico City; ’05 – Monterrey, Toronto, San Jose, Montreal, Las Vegas; ’06 – Long Beach, Monterrey, Milwaukee, Edmonton, San Jose, Denver, Montreal; ’07 Long Beach, Cleveland, Toronto). Sebastien Bourdais, #1 McDonald’s Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “We’ve had some pretty good showings at Road America but unfortunately for some reason we haven’t been able to put it to together and win. It has been a little frustrating from time to time, especially last year when we seemed to be running away with it and every time there would be a yellow, A. J. came out on top. But that’s what racing is all about; sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. “For the championship, a win there would be just like any other win. The most important thing for the McDonald’s team is to just put the car up front and have a good finish -- in the top-five if possible. It’s what we’re going to need to focus on for the rest of the season and hopefully if we can do that we should be in pretty good shape for the championship. It’s pretty hard to put together the perfect lap on the four mile track. In the meantime, it flows very nice when you feel confidence in the car and you feel good. It flows from one corner to another and before you even know it the lap is over. It’s an awesome feeling to do a qualifying lap right in Elkhart Lake. It’s really, really enjoyable. ON ELKHART BEING THE HOME RACE FOR THE TEAM: “Elkhart Lake is definitely our garden. It’s the closest race to our shop and a lot of the families of the team members come for the race and it’s definitely, more than ever, a family atmosphere. It would be really good to win the one that the McDonald’s team never won. There would be a big celebration if we could finally get a win at Elkhart Lake after having such a good car there. ON THE RIDE FOR THE LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION: “It’s been pretty difficult for me to train much these last few months due to traveling for Champ Car and the F1 tests. The last time I cycled was a while ago and I’m probably not really up for it but anything we can do to help is always appreciated. I did it the first two years and enjoyed it. Last year it was pouring rain but we were still out there. It was good fun. Obviously Lance is a great champion. He has done a lot of things for the charities and to raise money for cancer research.” IN ELKHART LAKE: Will be his fourth race here and first in a Champ Car. Finished runner-up to the champion in the Atlantic standings in 2006 after the fight went to the Road America finale and he retired in 20th due to an electrical failure after starting third. Also competed in two Formula BMW events here in 2004 and once in Star Mazda in 2005. SO FAR IN 2007: Had an electrical problem in Friday’s qualifying in the season-opening race in Las Vegas and had to qualifying his backup car on Saturday due to crashing in the morning practice. Started 10th but had to make an evasive move to avoid a swerving Dan Clarke who hit him prior to Turn 1 on the first racing lap. Retired in 17th place… Qualified fifth in Long Beach but pit strategy of others and slow fuel flow on two pit stops led to an eighth place finish…Started sixth in Houston and finished second to bring the team it’s first 1-2 finish since Las Vegas in 2005…Started eighth in Portland but struggled to pass Dan Clarke and went off course twice while trying and ultimately finished ninth…Earned his highest start of fourth in his home race in Cleveland but a battle with Doornbos for position led to being hit from behind by Tracy and he went off course and subsequently to the rear of the field. Came back to lead four laps for the first time in his Champ Car career and had a late race battle with leader Tracy but had to pit for five gallons of fuel and finished eighth…Started ninth in Mont Tremblant, pitted for his last stop after he led seven laps but a shifting problem led to a stalled car and he rejoined the field 10th. Finished seventh to tie with Oriol Servia for eighth place…The team struggled in Toronto and Rahal started 15th but an evasive move to avoid a pile up on Lap 1 led to him hitting the wall and a subsequent stop for a new front wing. Had to pit again for another front wing later in the race after running as high as second. Retired in 11th place after he made contact for the third time due to a broken steering rack…Started fourth and finished third in Edmonton…Started sixth, ran as high as fourth and finished sixth in San Jose after he charged back from a problem (stalled) on his first pit stop that dropped him to 13th…Is ranked eighth with 145 points. ALSO IN 2007: Rahal competed in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona (water pump failure) and 12 Hours of Sebring (battled back from opening lap crash to finish sixth in GT2 class). RUNNER-UP TO 2006 ATLANTIC CHAMPION: Rahal finished second in the 2006 Champ Car Atlantic championship after a title hunt that concluded in the season finale. Led 129 laps to champion Pagenaud’s 31. He earned a series-high five wins (42 percent), four poles (33 percent) and six podium finishes (50 percent) in the 12 events and at 17 years old was the youngest race winner in series history (Monterrey, Mexico on 5-21-06)…He led the most laps (129, 32 percent) and set a series-high five fastest race laps …He was awarded the BBS of America Rising Star Award. DID YOU KNOW: Graham Robert Rahal, 18, was born in Columbus, Ohio on 1-4-1989 and resides in New Albany, Ohio…The 6’2” driver is one of four children of Bobby Rahal, three-time open wheel champion, Indy 500 winner and Hall of Fame race car driver…Has two sisters (Michaela and Samantha) and one brother (Jarrad)…He graduated from New Albany High School with a 3.8 GPA on June 3, 2007…When he is not racing he likes to work on cars, hang out with friends and family or play other sports for fun…To prepare for the physicality of racing he spends many hours doing cardiovascular training and weightlifting, skiing, running or bicycling…He drives a 2007 Atomic Orange Corvette Z06 and his favorite type of clothing is anything made by Puma…His favorite food is sushi and his weaknesses are ice cream and white chocolate mocha drinks at Starbucks…His favorite books are those written by Lance Armstrong (and anything he reads other than for school)…His favorite thing to watch on TV is any Ohio State Buckeye game, his favorite actor/actress are Owen Wilson and Eva Longoria and favorite movie is “Wedding Crashers.” ABOUT MEDI | ZONE: MEDI | ZONE is a leader of medically supervised weight loss, weight maintenance, wellness and performance programs, products, and services as well as the exclusive provider of the leading cutting edge health, wellness and performance systems by Dr. Barry Sears, the best selling author of the Zone Diet series. MEDI | ZONE owns and operates medically supervised weight loss, weight maintenance, wellness, and performance centers. Graham Rahal, #2 Medi | Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “We planned for last year’s Atlantic finale at Road America to be a good weekend for us. We thought we had a strong shot at winning after having some success there in the past but it didn’t go our way though after we had a problem with a stuck throttle sensor. Hopefully this year it will be better. I think we’ve got a good car. In testing we were very strong and Sebastien and I had two of the quickest cars there. I think the Medi | Zone team can close the gap to Sebastien and have not only a shot at the podium but also at a win, which is exactly what we need to do. I think the best parts of the track are the carousel and the kink which are the areas you hear about the most. It’s definitely very challenging; it’s very, very fast. It’s the fastest place we go by far. The length doesn’t really stand out for me because of the speed you travel. Lap times are still pretty quick even though it’s a four mile course. If you look at it in the big picture, there are three places where you go almost 190 mph and that’s a lot. I think that for us we figured out a lot of things with this car that will work to our advantage so we’ll see what happens. ON HOME RACE FOR TEAM: “A lot of these guys grew up going to Road America being that the track is so close. And of course the track is close to Carl’s heart so its nice to go there and have a good results. For myself as well because I know that Road America was always my dad’s favorite track. It’s always nice to go back there. ON ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION RIDE: “I’ve been doing quite a bit of training, especially lately. Before the race weekend, I’m going to cycle as much as possible because I don’t want to embarrass myself -- that’s the key. Lance has always been a hero of mine. I’ve always been big into cycling and watching him is basically the reason. As a kid growing up, he was The Man. It’s kind of a dream of mine to meet him so it’s just great to help his foundation. I’m trying to get several people to ride.”