CART SPRING TRAINING OPENS AT HOMESTEAD TUESDAY; VASSER, BOESEL GET HEAD START IN MONDAY TESTING HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Feb. 1, 1999) - All of the cars and drivers from the CART FedEx Championship Car Series will be at Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex Feb. 2-4 for the fourth annual Spring Training.

Jimmy Vasser's crew works on his Target Ganassi Honda during testing Monday. Vasser ran the fastest lap of the day, 211.3 mph.

Several of the teams took the 1.5-mile oval a day early, with Jimmy Vasser running the fastest lap of the session, 211.3 mph.

Raul Boesel also took several laps in the Team Kool Green Honda Reynard. He will be substituting for Paul Tracy in the March 21 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota. Tracy will serve a one-race suspension, forcing him to miss the Homestead opener.

The unique three-day event allows the teams to meet the media and fine-tune their racing machinery in preparation for the 1999 season, which gets underway at Homestead with the running of the March 21 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota.

Members of CART's Winners Circle will be permitted to attend this special mid-week event. Memberships to the Winners Circle cost $14.99, and will be will be sold at the Speedway Registration Building during Spring Training.

Richie Hearn prepares for Spring Training exercises at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Raul Boesel will sub for Paul Tracy in the March 21 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota. Boesel was at Homestead testing with Team Kool Green.

Spring Training opens with Media Day on Tuesday, Feb. 2. The Wednesday and Thursday schedules feature extensive testing, with sessions scheduled from 9-11:45 a.m. and 1:15-4 p.m.

Winners Circle members are also invited to a fan club meeting Wednesday afternoon, as well as tech talks and pit tours hosted by CART Assistant Technical Director Billy Kemphausen.

Tickets for the March 19-21 weekend featuring the CART FedEx Championship Series will also be on sale during Spring Training. The Speedway's 1999 opener also includes the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in Saturday's Florida Dodge Dealers 400, plus the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Series. For additional information, call (305) 230-5249, or visit the official Homestead-Miami Speedway website, www.racemiami.com, or the CART site, www.cart.com.