Papis produces 100th Firestone CART win.

Team Rahal driver Max Papis gave the Firestone Racing program one of its sweetest victories today when he won the Honda Grand Prix featuring the Shell 300 at Laguna Seca Raceway.

That win was the 100th by a Firehawk-equipped driver since Firestone returned to the top forms of open-wheel racing in 1995. The string of victories began July 30, 1995 when Patrick Racing driver Scott Pruett won at Michigan International Raceway. Firestone dedicated its 100th CART victory to Alex Zanardi, who produced 15 CART wins while driving on Firehawks - the most of the 24 drivers who have ridden Firestone tires to CART victories since 1995.

Al Speyer, Bridgestone/Firestone Motorsports Director talks about the accomplishment: "There's a lot of joy and a lot of pride right now in the Firestone camp. We're thrilled to celebrate our 100th CART win; milestones like this are meant to be savored and we're sharing our joy with all those teams and drivers who made this celebration possible.

"We dedicate this win to Alessandro Zanardi, who gave us more wins than any other driver. We can't wait to seem him in person to thank him. There are 51,000 Bridgestone/Firestone employees and we all are going to enjoy today's momentous win for some time. Having it produced by our good friend Max Papis makes the win all the better for us. We know today's win was guaranteed since every driver is now on Firestone tires, but 62 of our 100 wins came in 89 races where we faced competition -and that's why the entire field is now 100% Firestone."

Max Papis was also very pleased: "I'm very proud the Firestone tires were underneath me and that I could get Firestone's 100th win. The tires worked perfect all race long, they lasted one and a half stints with no problems. I'm very proud to do this for Firestone."

Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Team Owner Chip Ganassi: (Note: TCGR drivers have produced 35 CART wins on Firestones, the most of all CART teams) "Racing is all about having good equipment and you couldn't be in this business if you didn't have good tires. We're pleased that we've had an association with Firestone; it's a fine company with great people to work with. We look forward to many more years working with them."