>From IndyCar media relations

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Race Story -- Vasser Wins!

VASSER GRABS THIRD VICTORY OF SEASON AT TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 14, 1996) -- Jimmy Vasser and the Target/Chip
Ganassi Racing team have exhibited the poise and talent, and their
Target Reynard Honda the power for a dominating start in the PPG Indy
Car World Series season.

On Sunday at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach before a record paid
crowd of 88,000, Target/Chip Ganassi Racing utilized another trait that
is critical to a racing team's success -- luck.

With four laps remaining, Gil de Ferran's dominating run up front all
afternoon in his Pennzoil Reynard Honda came to a stunning end when an
exhaust hose disconnected from the turbocharger and stripped his car
of a majority of its power. As de Ferran faded, Vasser bolted from his
second-place position and captured the lead on Lap 102 of 105.

Vasser then held off Parker Johnstone (Motorola Reynard Honda) for his
third PPG Indy Car World Series victory in four events this season. The
triumph extended his PPG Cup lead over Scott Pruett (Firestone Patrick
Racing Lola Ford), who finished 11th, to 23 points, 67-44. Vasser also
gave the Honda engine/Firestone tire combination a victory in every race
this season.

"They say sometimes you'd rather be lucky than good and today, it seemed
like we were lucky," Vasser said. "We knew we couldn't catch Gil unless
he had a problem. The championship was obviously a goal of ours at the
start of the season, but you've got to take it one race at a time. This
is a great moment for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. The Honda engine and
Firestone tires are definitely the combination of choice."

De Ferran, chasing his second career victory, led 100 laps before
trouble struck and dropped him to fifth place. It was his second
top-five finish of the season and moved him to fourth in the PPG Cup
standings. He also gained a point Saturday when he earned the Marlboro
Pole Award with a course-record speed of 109.639 miles per hour.

"It was a shame. I lost the turbocharger,'' De Ferran said. "I had no
indication ahead of time. It was a sudden problem. The car was really
good."

Johnstone's runner-up finish was the best in his three-year career. He
topped his previous best of 11th, which he accomplished at Cleveland and
Vancouver last season.

"It wasn't lost on me on the closing laps that I had the 'Emperor of
the Beach' [Al Unser Jr.] behind me and a Honda in front of me that I
wasn't going to catch," Johnstone said. "I tried to make a run at Jimmy
at the end, but he was too quick and I didn't want to lose second place
by putting the car into the wall. Finishing second is a victory here
for us. In fact, to finish in front of Al Jr. at Long Beach, well, if I
never do anything else in racing. …"

Unser Jr. (Marlboro Penske Mercedes), the two-time defending champion
and record six-time winner at Long Beach, finished third for his second
podium appearance in the past three races. Unser Jr., third in the PPG
Cup with 39 points, was 4.409 seconds behind Vasser.

"We had a good run today,'' Unser Jr. said. "We started ninth and had to
protect our position. We were consistent and didn't make any mistakes.
I'll tell you, the competition in the PPG Indy Car World Series is
tough."

Following behind Unser Jr. was his Marlboro Team Penske teammate, Paul
Tracy. Tracy (Marlboro Penske Mercedes), who has battled bad luck all
season, finished a season-best fourth. Tracy, however, was not the only
driver among the top-10 who enjoyed a stellar outing.

Adrian Fernandez (Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda), Michael Andretti
(Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Lola Ford), Roberto Moreno (Data Control/Mi-Jack
Lola Ford) and rookie Richie Hearn (Ralphs/Food 4 Less Reynard Ford)
all posted season bests at Long Beach. Fernandez was sixth, Andretti
seventh, Moreno eighth and Hearn, making his debut in the PPG Indy Car
World Series, 10th.

The other top-10 finisher was rookie Eddie Lawson (Delco Electronics
High Tech Team Galles Lola Mercedes), who finished ninth for his second
consecutive top-10 showing.

Pruett took 11th and Bryan Herta (Shell Reynard Mercedes) grabbed the
final PPG Cup point position by finishing 12th.

While de Ferran was rolling up front for all but one of the first 100
laps, there was plenty of action unfolding behind him. He led the first
38 laps before pitting on the ensuing lap and relinquishing the lead to
rookie Alex Zanardi (Target Reynard Honda). Zanardi's lead was brief
as he and Bobby Rahal (Miller Reynard Mercedes) were involved in an
incident that knocked the Italian out of the race.

De Ferran regained the lead on Lap 40 and eight laps later the second
of three cautions came out that evolved into a confrontation between
Christian Fittipaldi (Kmart Budweiser Lola Ford) and rookie Greg Moore
(Player's Ltd./Indeck Reynard Mercedes). Fittipaldi and Moore made
contact and when the cars came to a halt, Fittipaldi took exception to
the mishap. Fittipaldi went over to Moore and pulled him out of the car
by the visor, resulting in a $5,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct.

De Ferran, who endured one final caution on Lap 71 while holding the
lead because of Robby Gordon's brush with the tire barrier in the
Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Reynard Ford, began to increase his lead
over Vasser. With 13 laps remaining, he owned an 8.31-second lead over
Vasser before trouble eventually struck and ended his victory bid.

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which attracted a record three-day
paid crowd of
211,500, will be replayed by ESPN on Monday, beginning at 1 p.m. EST.

The PPG Indy Car World Series returns to the ovals for round five as the
teams head to the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway
on April 28.