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Highland Park, Ill. (March 29, 2002) – The 2002 CART Toyota
Atlantic Championship got off to a soggy start over two weeks
ago in Monterrey, Mexico, with Dorricott Racing’s Jon Fogarty
sliding to victory in Round 1 of the new season. During the
month off, teams and drivers have been preparing for what
appears to be a shootout for the checkered flag at the Toyota
Grand Prix of Long Beach that will take place on Sunday, April
14th, 2002. The race at Long Beach will see even more new
teams and drivers enter the fray in one of the most
prestigious open-wheeled development series in the world.
-QUEBEC DRIVER RETURNS-
After earning three top five finishes last year, including his
first podium visit which came at Chicago, Stephan C. Roy
(Brooks Associates Racing/Port-A-Cool Swift 008.a) will return
to Atlantic racing at Long Beach. Roy’s return will fill a
void as he is the only Atlantic driver that hails from the
Canadian Province of Quebec. With upcoming races in
Trois-Rivieres (Roy’s home town) and Montreal, the return of
the Quebec driver will have a positive impact for the series
and to the local Atlantic fan base in the region.
“I am very happy to be back on the track in 2002,” explains
Roy. “I was afraid to miss the season but I am definitely
pleased to be back with the people of the Brooks/Port-A-Cool
team with whom I was associated with in 2000 for my first
Atlantic season.”
After driving races last year with P-1 Racing, Duesenberg
Brothers Racing, and Hylton Motorsports, Roy will join up with
John Brooks, owner of Brooks Associates Racing, for nine of
the remaining ten events in the 2002 season. Roy hopes to find
the additional funding to run the season finale in Denver.
Roy will team with the first driver from Puerto Rico to
compete in Atlantic competition. Victor Gonzalez Jr. (Brooks
Associates Racing/www.gopuertorico.com Swift 014.a), with
support from gotopuertorico.com, will make his debut on the
streets of Long Beach. Gonzalez Jr. got his first experience
in the car last October when he tested with Brooks at
Buttonwillow Speedway. Now Gonzalez Jr. will get the chance to
race against some of the best up and coming drivers in the
world.
-HYLTON’S BDPS 1-2 PUNCH-
While in Monterrey, Mexico, Hylton Motorsports let the cat out
of the bag on who would join Ryan Hunter-Reay (Hylton
Motorsports/U.S. Print Medlock Ames Winery Swift 014.a) on the
2001 defending championship team. That cat was Roger Yasukawa
(Hylton Motorsports/Autobacs Ueno Clinic Pacific Creative
Swift 008.a), who will begin his Atlantic career close to
home. The Los Angeles born driver, along with Hunter-Reay,
were both top drivers last year in the Barber Dodge Pro Series
with Yasukawa finishing fourth in the Championship and Hunter-Reay
fifth.
¨It is time for Hylton to step-up to a two car team and I am
pleased Roger is a part of that. He is a proven front-runner
and a terrific representative for our team and our sport.¨
Hylton continued, “Roger and his teammate Ryan (Hunter-Reay)
have some history racing against each other in the Barber
Dodge Pro Series; so I am sure they will work well together
and make a very strong combination.”
Yasukawa will pilot the #9 entry for Hylton which Brazil’s
Hoover Orsi carried to the 2001 Championship. Hunter-Reay will
remain in the defending championship team’s designated car #1.
-ALSO DEBUTING AT LONG BEACH-
In addition to Roy, Gonzalez Jr., and Yasukawa, more drivers
will get their season underway at Long Beach after missing the
season opener in Monterrey, Mexico. DeWayne Cassel (JPT
Motorsports/Tyco ADT Swift 014.a) will attempt to be the
Atlantic Championship’s first African- American driver to
compete in the series since Willy T. Ribbs raced sparingly in
the 1980s. California’s Steve Romak (Romak Iron Works/Auto Spa
Swift 008.a) will make his first Atlantic start along with
fellow California driver, Scott Lampkin (Crossover
Motorsports/Dynapack Chassis Dynamometers Swift 008.a).
Finally, Bob Siska (RJS Motorsports Swift 008.a) will return
to action at Long Beach. The Atlantic veteran has been racing
in the series since 1996 making himself and David Cutler (P-1
Racing/AMD Dell Broadcom Microsoft Swift 014.a) the senior
members of the 2002 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship.
-WINNER’S CURSE?-
When Jon Fogarty (Dorricott Racing/Thomas Fogarty Winery &
Vineyards Swift 014.a) won the season opener in Monterrey,
Mexico, he set himself up for a tough challenge that many
talented drivers before him could not complete. Since the CART
Toyota Atlantic Championship became a unified series in 1991,
no driver has ever won the season opening race and continued
on to win the Championship in the same year.
Mark Dismore won the season opening race at Long Beach in 1990
and went on to win the Pacific Division of the series while
Brian Till captured the Atlantic Division title. Drivers who
have won the season opening event, but failed to cash in on
the Championship include David Rutledge, Dan
Wheldon, Alex Tagliani, Memo Gidley, Anthony Lazzaro, Tony
Ave, Patrick Carpentier, Greg Ray, Stuart Crow, Russell
Spence, and Jimmy Vasser.
In addition to that, Buddy Rice is the only driver since the
Atlantic became a national series in 1991 to win the race at
Long Beach and the Championship in the same year. Rice
captured the 2000 Championship while driving for DSTP
Motorsports.
-FIREBIRD TESTING-
A large contingent of Atlantic teams took the opportunity to
join Chuck West, owner of Worldspeed Motorsports, in a two day
test on March 27th and 28th at Firebird International Raceway
outside of Phoenix, Arizona. The traditional early season
test, which usually falls before the first race of the year,
came in the middle of the long break between Monterrey, Mexico
and the prestigious race at Long Beach.
West, who organizes the yearly test, invites other teams to
join him in a final push to get ready for the event at Long
Beach. Joining West and his driver, Alex Figge (Worldspeed
Motorsports/Redline Glycomax Ironclad Swift 014.a) were
Dorricott Racing’s three cars with Luiz Diaz (Dorricott
Racing/Telmex Swift 014.a), Alex Gurney (Dorricott Racing/Behr
Castrol Swift 014.a) and points leader, Jon Fogarty. Hylton
Motorsports took part in the test for the first time this
season as a two car team with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Roger
Yasukawa along with Brooks Associates Racing’s tandem of
Stephan C. Roy and Victor Gonzalez Jr. Although they are not
starting their season at Long Beach, Sierra-Sierra Racing with
Mark Devilles (Sierra-Sierra Racing Swift 014.a) was on hand
to test along with JPT Motorsport with DeWayne Cassel.
The test got additional support with representatives from
Swift Engineering, TRD, along with Yokohama Tire on hand to
supply the teams with the tires for the two-day test.
Scuadra Fortia and their two drivers, Waldemar Coronas (Scuadra
Fortia/Aviacsa Standox Maizoro Swift 014.a) and Eduardo
Figueroa (Scuadra Fortia/Aviacsa Standox Maizoro Swift 014.a)
tested at Buttonwillow Speedway in California during the same
time period.
-LOOKING AHEAD TO LONG BEACH-
The results from the season opener in Monterrey, Mexico make
it difficult to gauge where everybody stands heading into Long
Beach. Monterrey’s new venue, coupled with a slick track that
caught most teams off guard, will be a far cry from what teams
are looking at on the streets of Long Beach. The track
conditions in Monterrey were complicated even more when the
skies over the area cut loose with a torrential downpour right
before the race. This indicates the only thing the teams can
take with them from Mexico to Long Beach is their equipment
and points earned.
Of the returning Atlantic drivers, Joey Hand (DSTP
Motorsports/BG Products Swift 014.a) should be the one to beat
when the cars take to the track on Friday, April 12th. Last
year’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was Hand’s first race
in an Atlantic car and the California rookie driver led the
first five laps of the race before succumbing to Atlantic
veteran drivers, David Rutledge and
Hoover Orsi. Hand ended up third in his first Atlantic race
and on his first visit to the circuit at Long Beach.
“Long Beach is the race that everybody wants to win, and I
want to win it bad,” said Hand. “Long Beach is a true street
race and the track suits my style. It’s a kart racer’s track
-- very tight, and not a lot of room for error. Most
importantly, you really have to hustle the car, go over the
curbs, and let it out right to the wall to lay down a fast
lap. It’s exactly the type of place I grew up racing on. This
is also the first time I’ll be racing on a track that I’ve
raced an Atlantic car at before, which should play in our
favor. I’ve really been waiting for this one since last year
and we’re looking forward to a great weekend in Long Beach.”
In fact, Hand showed a talent for learning new tracks quickly
during the 2001 Championship and even more so, temporary
street circuits, which usually are not race ready until the
very first practice session of the weekend. Hand enters Long
Beach with a two race win streak on temporary street circuits
dating back to last year. Hand won races on the streets of
Vancouver and Houston last season and now heads to Long Beach
with knowledge of Long Beach’s 1.968-mile layout this time
around.
Dorricott Racing should be strong in Long Beach as well,
although they won’t have extra experience and knowledge of the
track that they had in Monterrey. The Dorricott team ran for
many years at Long Beach while competing in the CART Dayton
Indy Lights Championship, so they will be on equal footing
with veteran Atlantic teams for this event.
Michael Valiante (Lynx Racing Swift 014.a) and Grant Ryley
(Lynx Racing/Northwest Speedwerx Cupertino Electric Swift
014.a) should be a factor as well. Like Joey Hand, Valiante
debuted at Long Beach last year as well and found instant
success placing fourth while driving for Lynx. Ryley qualified
fifth last year for the race while driving for Worldspeed
Motorsports, but a gearbox problem early in the event forced
him to retire just two laps into the race.
Ryan Dalziel (Michael Shank Racing Swift 008.a) may be spotted
in the hours before the Long Beach race doing a rain dance.
Dalziel tore through the field from his 10th place starting
spot during the rain soaked race in Monterrey, Mexico, on his
way to a close runner-up finish behind Jon Fogarty. Dalziel,
who hails from Lanarkshire, Scotland, found himself right at
home racing in the rain at Monterrey while others struggled
with the slippery conditions. Dalziel’s teammates, Rodolfo
Lavin (Michael Shank Racing/Corona Modelo Swift 014.a) and
Sepp Koster (Michael Shank Racing/Blue Bay Golf Resort Utert
Respons Swift 008a.) will try to improve on their 7th and 13th
place showings in the season opener.
The CART Toyota Atlantic Championship is one of the world's
premier open-wheel development series and the top rung on
CART's "ladder system", which features a $1,000,000 year-end
points fund and $100,000 race purses. It is also noted for its
long history of graduating its stars into CART competition.
Among the drivers who have graduated from the Atlantic Series
are CART Champ Car stars Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser,
Patrick Carpentier, Alex Tagliani as well as former series
champions Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan and Jacques Villeneuve.
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Ricardo
González
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