Tony Ave Milwaukee story

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ove Olsson (847) 362-7723 (submitted via fax to Atlantic communications)

AVE STARTS ON FRONT ROW ENROUTE TO A FOURTH PLACE FINISH AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (June 1, 1997) - - KOOL/TOYOTA Atlantic hotshoe, Tony Ave, once again outran most of the better financed teams in Atlantic competition, this time at the Milwaukee Mile. Ave, driving the Shuler Design/fisher Dynamics/Olsson Engineering Ralt RT-41, scored a tremendous qualifying time which placed him on the outside pole, despite running across oil on the track that was laid down from another competitor. "I knew I had a shot at the pole, but when I got on the oil the car went totally sideways and scrubbed off too much speed," said Ave. "Considering how close I hit the wall, we were lucky to start from second place." During the race, Ave briefly held a lead, but was forced to fall back before completing a full leader lap when the car became less controllable in traffic. "Everything felt great while I was running with the leader (Alex Barron) in clean air," said Ave. "I even used traffic to grab the lead once, but as soon as I caught the next group of cars, my car lost all of its downforce and it took all I could to hang on to it. "Our lack of testing surfaced, but I think we also showed we are closing in on the bigger teams." The young Indy car hopeful maintained his pace and finished in fourth place - the best showing this season for the Olsson Engineering Atlantic entry.

                                        #     #     #