CHAMPCAR/CART: NHR promotes Smith to Race Engineer

NEWMAN/HAAS RACING PROMOTES TEAM VETERAN TOM SMITH TO RACE ENGINEER

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. (March 1, 2006) --- Newman/Haas Racing (NHR), winners of six Champ Car World Series titles, including back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005, have strengthened their 2006 run at another championship by positioning the talents of Tom Smith as Bruno Junqueira's race engineer.

"Tom's experience and growth within Newman/Haas' engineering department these past 10 years should allow Bruno Junqueira's return to the Champ Car Series to be smooth, flawless and very competitive," said Carl Haas, co-owner with Paul Newman of Newman/Haas Racing.

Smith earned his mechanical engineering degree from Virginia Tech in 1992 and initially worked in the oil exploration field while also involved with road racing motorcycles and midget sprint cars. He joined NHR in January 1996 as a data acquisition engineer and oversaw race strategy and vehicle simulation. Tom also served as assistant race engineer for Sebastien Bourdais during both of his title-winning seasons. Smith replaces Frenchman Guillaume Rocquelin, who returned to Europe.

"Tom Smith andI have had a good relationship since I joined the team," said Junqueira. "He is calm, very good on strategy and is well respected by the team. We worked very well together at the Sebring test and I expect him to help me win many races this season!"

-nhr