NEWMAN/HAAS/LANIGAN RACING LOOKING FORWARD TO THEIR RETURN TO THE STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG FOR THE HONDA GRAND PRIX; RAHAL TO MAKE INDYCAR SERIES DEBUT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 2, 2008) --- Of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing’s (NHLR) 105 victories and 106 pole positions in their previous 25 seasons of open wheel competition, 78 wins and 88 poles have come on road and street courses so it is only natural that they will feel more comfortable in their surroundings on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street course that will host the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, April 4-6.

Although long hours have been the norm since the team received their Dallara chassis on March 3, the learning curve will not be quite as steep as it was during the Gainsco Indy 300 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway oval. While nine of the 15 confirmed IndyCar Series races that NHLR will compete in are on tracks the team is completely unfamiliar with, the layout in St. Petersburg is one of the six they have limited experience on after having competed here in a 2003 Champ Car event. The IndyCar Series teams and drivers have raced here the past three years.

In NHLR’s 2003 race here Sebastien Bourdais became the first driver to win the pole in his series debut since Nigel Mansell won the pole for the ’93 Australian event – also while driving for then-named Newman/Haas Racing. Bourdais led 30 laps and became the first driver in the 25 year history of the series to lead the first laps of his inaugural Champ car race. He also set the fastest race lap but put too much pressure on himself to get back to the front after the team pit him out of sequence and contact ended his race. Also driving for the team was Bruno Junqueira who was second fast in provisional qualifying on Friday but his fastest lap in final qualifying (possible 3rd) was not allowed because he brought out a red flag when he spun and stopped on course. More red flags resulted in a seventh place start. In the race he dropped to 14th due a disengaged air hose on his first pit stop but he charged back to a third place finish

McDonald’s driver Justin Wilson and Hole in the Wall Camps driver Graham Rahal hoped to get 3.5 hours of valuable track time with NHLR at Sebring International Raceway yesterday but rain ended the test prematurely after each only ran 10 laps at testing speeds. The small taste of driving an IndyCar on a road course has each excited about this weekend’s event.

“I am looking forward to driving the McDonald’s Indy car on a street circuit and seeing how we stack up against everyone else,” said Wilson who won four races on road/street circuits in Champ Car and was the 2006 and 2007 runner up to the champion Sebastien Bourdais. “We’re not going to be at the very front right away but hopefully we can be a little bit closer and work up a setup and have an enjoyable race and a stronger performance as far as lap times against the others. Hopefully we will be closer to the pace and have a similar result to what we would do on a normal race weekend. We’ll see how things work out.”

Hole in the Wall Camps driver Graham Rahal will be making his IndyCar Series debut this weekend after missing the opening round of the season last weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway when the team was unable to repair his race car in time after he crashed during a test there earlier in the week. Rahal finished fifth in the 2007 Champ Car season-ending standings after 14 events on road and street courses. He is looking forward to his first road/street course event since last year’s season finale in Mexico City on November 11 where he ran third in the late stages of the race before he was passed and finished fourth.

“A lot of the drivers that I know like the (St. Pete) circuit and think that it is a great venue,” added Rahal, who became the youngest podium finisher in Champ Car history with a second place finish at Houston last year at 18 years, 3 months and 18 days old. “Being that it is right on the coastline I am really looking forward to being part of it. It will be a nice atmosphere and since it is a street course, it will be more comparable to what we are used to from running in Champ Car. I’ve watched the St. Pete races in the past but it’s always tough from a driver’s standpoint just to watch and expect to automatically have it figured out. Certainly that is going to be a little bit of a learning curve. Hopefully we can get a good result because we missed last week and we have a lot of ground to make up.”

The IndyCar Series will enhance its popular Firestone Fast Six qualifying format for road and street courses beginning with this weekend’s visit to St. Petersburg.. Single-car qualifying, which previously preceded the Firestone Fast Six shootout, will be eliminated on road and street courses in favor of group sessions that will progressively narrow the field to the fastest six, who will then enter a 10-minute shootout for the pole.

“From what I have seen so far, it looks very similar to Formula One and should be entertaining for the fans and challenging for the drivers,” said Wilson, who earned six poles on road/street courses while in Champ Car. “It will put an emphasis on being consistently quick and should be quite interesting. You’ve got to be quick to continue progressing. I’m looking forward to trying it out and see how I get on.”

“The new qualifying format is a good formula for excitement for the fans,” added Rahal who started as high as fourth place, three times in Champ Car last season. “I think that if you continue through all the segments, you are certainly going to get a lot of track time and a lot of time to work on the car because it is very Formula One-like in that you aren’t going to get to work too much on the car between qualifying and race day but overall I think it’s a good formula and a good way to add some excitement for the fans. Track time is key for us since we have ground to make up and if you continue through the process you’re going to get a lot more. For the newer drivers it’s a good way to learn the track more than just in practice.”

The 2008 IndyCar Series season continues with Round 2 of 16 -- the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on April 6 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. The 2008 schedule, one of the most diverse in all of motorsports, features races on ovals, permanent road courses and temporary street circuits, all broadcast worldwide through a comprehensive, long-term agreement with ESPN. All races in 2008 will be telecast in High Definition. The Honda Grand Prix will be televised on Sunday beginning at 2:30 p.m. EDT.



JUSTIN WILSON, driver of the #02 McDonald’s Dallara / Honda / Firestone:

AT ST. PETERSBURG: Will be his first race here, second in the IndyCar Series, second with NHLR and first on a street course in an Indy car. His first time behind the wheel of an IndyCar Series car on a road/street course was Tuesday when the team tested for three hours at Sebring International Raceway.

2006 & 2007 RUNNER UP TO THE CHAMPION: Finished runner up in the Champ Car championship to the driver he recently replaced, four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais, in 2006 and 2007. Was a championship contender until the conclusion of the penultimate race of each season. He also finished third to NHR drivers Bourdais and Oriol Servia in 2005.

FIFTH SEASON IN A U.S. BASED OPEN WHEEL SERIES: After competing in Formula One for Minardi and Jaguar in 2003, Wilson came to the Champ Car World Series as a rookie in 2004. In his four seasons of CCWS competition he won four races and six poles. He finished on the podium 15 times in 54 starts and led 409 laps.

FOUR WINS, SIX POLES AND 15 PODIUMS IN CHAMP CAR: During his four seasons in the Champ Car World Series, Wilson earned FOUR wins (2005 – Toronto, Mexico City; 2006 – Edmonton; 2007 - Assen), SIX poles (2005 – Portland, Mexico City; 2006 – Toronto, Mexico City; 2007 – Portland, San Jose) and earned 15 podium finishes in 54 starts. After an impressive rookie season with Mi-Jack Conquest Racing in 2004 where he finished 11th in the season-ending standings, he moved to RuSPORT for 2005-2007. He finished third to NHR drivers Bourdais and Servia in 2005 and runner-up to Bourdais in 2006 and 2007.

PERSONAL: Justin Boyd Wilson was born on July 31, 1978 (29) in Sheffield, England…He married the former Julia Coggins in England on 12-29-2006 and the couple reside in a suburb of Denver and are expecting their first child in June 2008…His father Keith was an amateur Formula Ford racer in England but retired before Justin was born due to a crash that broke his back and legs. Instead of taking interest in mother Lynne’s love of horses, Justin followed his father’s passion and began racing karts when he was eight…In order to help finance his 2003 season in Formula One, Justin created a company -- Justin Wilson PLC – and approx. 900 investors “bought shares of Justin” which raised $2 million. A portion of his earnings go toward repaying the debt…He has conquered the challenges of dyslexia and, if he wasn’t a race car driver, would be a designer of cars or etc. because he is curious about how things work or how to improve them…Hobbies include cycling, miniature golf, video games, karting and trying to fly one of his two RC Helicopters…He spends his free time plotting and completing home improvement projects as well as trying to find time to mow the yard between races…His typical day begins at 7 a.m. and he calls the U.K. and checks his email before spending an hour at his local gym with Julia. After lunch he rides his bike for 1.5 hours and devotes the remainder of the day to home projects, reading 50+ pages of NHLR engineering reports and hanging out with friends…At 6’ 3-1/2” he is the tallest IndyCar Series driver…Listens to Coldplay, Stereophonics, The White Stripes and dance music.

JUSTIN WILSON, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I am looking forward to driving the McDonald’s Indy car on a street circuit and seeing how we stack up against everyone else. We’re not going to be at the very front right away but hopefully we can be a little bit closer and work up a setup and have an enjoyable race and a stronger performance as far as lap times against the others. Hopefully we will be closer to the pace and have a similar result to what we would do on a normal race weekend. We’ll see how things work out.

ON THE NEW QUALIFYING FORMAT: “From what I have seen so far, it looks very similar to F1 and should be entertaining for the fans and challenging for the drivers. It will put an emphasis on being consistently quick and should be quite interesting. You’ve got to be quick to continue progressing. I’m looking forward to trying it out and see how I get on."



GRAHAM RAHAL, driver of the #06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara / Honda / Firestone:

AT ST. PETERSBURG: Will be his first race here and his first IndyCar Series race. His first time behind the wheel of an IndyCar Series car on a road/street course was Tuesday when the team tested for three hours at Sebring International Raceway.

WILL ATTEMPT TO MAKE HISTORY AGAIN: Will attempt to become the youngest winner in IndyCar Series history. Marco Andretti holds the record for his ’06 win at Infineon Raceway at 19 years, five months and 14 days old. Nelson Philippe holds the Champ Car record for his ’06 win in Australia at 20 years, two months and 29 days old. With his second place finish in Houston in 2007, he became the youngest Champ Car driver (1979-2007) to finish on the podium at 18 years, three months and 18 days.

ALSO IN 2008: Rahal competed in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona for the third time where he co-drove a Ford Riley for Michael Shank Racing with Justin Wilson, Oswaldo Negri and Mark Patterson. Started from pole and overcame several minor problems while running in the lead pack until Wilson hit curbing that led to extensive repairs but the team came back to finish sixth.

FORMULA ONE TEST: Drove a Formula One car for the first time when BMW contracted him to drive their BMW Sauber race car at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show for four days in January ’08 on a purpose-made Pit Lane Park track.

FIFTH PLACE RANK IN ’07 ROOKIE CHAMP CAR SEASON: Earned four podium finishes -- including becoming the youngest podium finisher in series history with second place in Houston -- to finish fifth in season-ending standings…Finished second in the Rookie of the Year standings to former Formula One test and race driver Robert Doornbos…Led three races (Cleveland, Mont Tremblant, Belgium) for a total of 18 laps led during the season and set the Fastest Race Lap in Australia for a season-ending total of 243 points…Nominated for Rookie of the Year by esteemed racing magazine Autosport along with fellow drivers Robert Doornbos and ultimate winner and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton.

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.

PERSONAL: Graham Robert Rahal, 19, 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)…Graduated from New Albany High School with a 3.8 GPA on 6-3-07 despite missing over 80 days of school that year due to racing. ESPN The Magazine covered his graduation… When not racing he likes to work on cars, hang out with friends and family or play other sports for fun…Is a self-proclaimed “Car Guy” and still has the first car he received when he was 16 – a Subaru WRX sti – and is in the process of turning it into a race car with a Cosworth race engine. He purchased an ’07 Atomic Orange Corvette Z06 with his prize money but later sold it and now has an ’07 Ron Fellows limited edition Corvette Z06 as well as an ’08 Chevy Trailblazer SS. In addition he has a 1964 Mini Cooper that he restored for his high school senior project. He also temporarily owned a Porsche GT3 and an Audi he earned by graduating high school with a GPA of 3.5 or above…To prepare for the physicality of racing he spends many hours doing cardiovascular training and weightlifting, skiing, running or bicycling…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 read 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.”

GRAHAM RAHAL, #06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I’ve watched the St. Pete races in the past but it’s always tough from a driver’s standpoint just to watch and expect to automatically have it figured out. Certainly that is going to be a little bit of a learning curve. A lot of the drivers that I know like the circuit and think that it is a great venue. Being that it is right on the coastline I am really looking forward to being part of it. It will be a nice atmosphere and since it is a street course, it will be more comparable to what we are used to from running in Champ Car. Hopefully we can get a good result because we missed last week and we have a lot of ground to make up.

ON NEW QUALIFYING FORMAT: “The new qualifying format is a good formula for excitement for the fans. I think that if you continue through all the segments, you are certainly going to get a lot of track time and a lot of time to work on the car because it is very Formula One-like in that you aren’t going to get to work too much on the car between qualifying and race day but overall I think it’s a good formula and a good way to add some excitement for the fans. Track time is key for us since we have ground to make up and if you continue through the process you’re going to get a lot more. For the newer drivers it’s a good way to learn the track more than just in practice.”