Saturday, April 19, 2008
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach - Streets of Long Beach, Calif.
Series Finale - Champ Car World Series

McDONALD'S® DRIVER WILSON EARNED HIS SEVENTH CAREER POLE AT THE TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH; HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER RAHAL TO START NINTH

1st: Justin Wilson 1:06.902 / 105.898 mph
9th: Graham Rahal 1:07.703 / 104.645 mph



Justin Wilson, No. 02 McDonald’s Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “I knew the McDonald’s car was working well and I was on a really good lap early in the session. We came into Turn 9 and a car spun between 9 and 10 and it was quite frustrating because I know I was up four‑tenths on my previous lap, which was probably pretty good. I was expecting to be in the mid‑6’s at that point, but there was a car in the way and I had to back off. After that I had overshot my tires and was sliding around a bit more. We had to push hard and the team was telling me there was a lap time I had to beat, so I was just very pleased to sneak one in there in the last few seconds and get my car on pole again. We're going to try the best we can to go out on a high, which is quite an emotional event for everybody, being the last Champ Car race. It's a shame, but… We want to do the best we can, and if we’re good enough we'll be there, and if it's not good enough, maybe Alex (Tagliani) will be there. It's going to be a fun race. I'm focused on trying to win. I want to win for myself and the team, McDonald's, and also (wife) Julia and (seven-day old daughter) Jane back at home. It's been an amazing week for myself, so I'm sure I’m of the world right now. It would be great to see this off with a win tomorrow. I feel like I'm performing well. I'm feeling good. It's also down to the individual lap. I think it was my fifth lap, I was not thinking about anything. My mind was completely blank, and I was up quite a lot. At that point I was in the zone and got into it because it takes a little bit to recompose yourself at that stage and go again, knowing that you've got to push hard to beat Alex. There is always some pressure from a guy who's won the championship four years in a row. But it's more so here and more so in qualifying than any other time. Now I feel like I've proven myself, and it's getting easier every day. But once we go to the IndyCar Series, it's a totally different animal and it's a different set of rules. I feel like I'm starting with a fresh sheet of paper there.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his fifth race here and first in the McDonald’s Champ Car for NHLR. He made his Champ Car debut at this track in 2004 and started 11th and finished sixth. He started fifth in 2005 and finished fourth. He earned his highest start and finish in 2006 of second place. In 2007 he started seventh and finished fourth…So far in 2008 he qualified 17th but started 15th in the IndyCar Series season-opener in Homestead due to two cars having their qualifying speeds disallowed. Dropped one lap down when he was hit by Will Power on a restart after approx. 22 laps and had to pit to replace a deflated tire but rallied to finish 15th…Started third in his street course ICS debut in St. Pete but alternate fuel and tire strategies dictated by intermittent rain led to a ninth place finish after he led a total of 18 of 83 laps…He is ranked 15th in the point standings with 37 points…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.



Graham Rahal, No. 2 Medi | Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: "Today was kind of a mess. We can’t seem to find a set up for the car that we want, or that I like. It’s been a difficult couple of days so hopefully we can start to get some things figured out but there is not much time left. That (qualifying) session was a joke. We had all these guys in front of us and also guys stacked up behind us. Viso was right behind us and he’s ticked off. Everybody was fighting for track position out there and I had the guys in front of me doing the same thing. Its tough to pass here; we’ll just have to try to take an alternate strategy and make up some positions that way because I doubt we’ll be able to get to the front only due to passing. All the drivers are so similar in terms of lap times that its tough to get by. We need to finish to get some points. The biggest thing is that we need to cross the finish line tomorrow – especially if this race is for points.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his second Champ Car race here and first event since becoming the youngest winner in major open-wheel racing in North America after winning in St. Pete on 4-6-08 at 19 years, 93 days old. Started fifth here last year but the pit strategy of others and slow fuel flow on one stop limited his finish to eighth place. He made one start in the Champ Car Atlantic Series here where he started seventh and finished fifth.



TEAM HAS 6 WINS, 14 PODIUMS & 11 POLES IN LONG BEACH: NHR/NHLR has SIX WINS, 14 PODIUMS and 10 POLES here. (WINS by Bourdais 2005-2007 & Mario Andretti 1987, 1985, 1984; 2nd place finishes by Junqueira 2004, Cristiano da Matta 2001, Nigel Mansell 1994, Michael Andretti 1989; 3rd place finishes by Junqueira 2005 & 2003, Bourdais 2004, Mansell 1993.) (POLES by WILSON 2008, Bourdais 2006-2007, Junqueira 2004, Mi. Andretti 1995, Mansell 1993, Mi. Andretti 1992, Mi. Andretti 1991, Ma. Andretti 1987, Ma. Andretti 1985, and Ma. Andretti 1984.)



The morning warmup will take place from 9:05-9:35 AM PT while the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will begin at 1 p.m. local time. Fans can watch all the racing action on ESPN2 beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT. It will also be broadcast live on IMS Radio Network at 4 p.m. EDT and XM
Radio 145.