Check out a short list of favorites for Sunday's Monterrey Grand Prix in Mexico.

	Andretti

Michael Andretti
In his second season with Team Motorola and 19th of his Champ Car career, the 39-year-old racer said "in early March, it's time to go racing!"; tested in the offseason and feels Monterrey is a challenging course to begin the season and see if the testing results are going to pay off; is the leader of active Champ Car drivers with 41 victories, 32 poles, 290 starts and 6,517 laps led; captured 1991 championship, finished second five other times and was third with 147 points last year; was fourth in last year's inaugural Monterrey Grand Prix.

Townsend Bell
The 2001 Dayton Indy Lights champion enters his first full CART season; the California native ran two races for Patrick Racing last year, both on ovals; finished 13th in his inaugural CART event at Eurospeedway in Lausitz, Germany, then a week later earned his first championship point with a 12th finish at Corby, England; considered a pre-season favorite to win Champ Car's Rookie of the Year honors; Patrick Racing enters its 30th year of competition as one of the most successful teams in the history of Champ Car racing with 45 wins, three Indianapolis 500 wins and two national championships (1976 - Gordon Johncock and 1989 - Emerson Fittipaldi).

Kenny Brack
Followed up his 2000 Rookie of the Year campaign with a solid runner-up finish in the CART championship; led the series with four victories -- Japan, Milwaukee, Chicago and Germany, six poles and led 621 laps; was the dominant driver on ovals with six podium finishes and 581 laps led; his 163 points were the most points for a Team Rahal driver since owner Bobby Rahal scored 196 en route to the 1992 championship; Brack has moved to Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Brazilian Bruno Junqueira as teammate; the Swedish driver was fifth in Mexico last year.

Scott Dixon
His victory at Nazareth made him the youngest driver to ever win a CART, Formula One or Indy Racing League event, at age 20 years, 9 months and 14 days; the 2000 Dayton Indy Lights champion went on to capture the $50,000 Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year award and finished eighth overall in the championship with 98 points.

Mario Dominguez
Signed by Team Herdez to drive in the 2002 CART season was a delight for the 26-year-old native of Mexico City; has an extensive background in open-wheel racing, starting with go-karts in 1987 where he won multiple championships; a former champion with the Herdez Team in the Mexican Formula 3 series; will be competing for the Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year award; finished fourth in the 2001 Dayton Indy Lights series with PacWest Lights after scoring 120 points, two poles and three podium finishes.

	Fernandez

Adrian Fernandez
Is the only owner/driver in the Champ Car series; ranks fourth among active CART drivers in career wins with seven; the race at Monterrey will be a homecoming for the Mexico born driver and his 146th start; started and finished 19th at Monterrey last year in team's debut; will run a Honda Lola/Bridgestone combination.

Dario Franchitti
Is anxious to go racing after getting married in the off-season; excited about the season-opener in Monterrey, Mexico where he finished ninth last year after starting seventh; has new race engineer this year in Allen McDonald who joined Team KOOL Green from his previous position as techincal director at PacWest (prior to that McDonald was engineer for the Arrows, Stewart and Brabham Formula One teams); Franchitti finished seventh in last year's championship standings with 105 points; both, he and teammate Paul Tracy were entered to drive a pair of Team Green Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone cars in the Indy Racing League sanctioned 86th Indianapolis 500 on May 26 [it will mark Franchitti's debut in the Indy 500]. Cristiano da Matta
The defending champion of the Monterrey Grand Prix and winner of three races last year, including the final two events in Australia and at California Speedway where he brought home a $1 million bonus; earned points in 13 races which gave him a respectable fifth place in the championship with 140 points; teams up with fellow Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi at Newman/Haas Racing which enters its 20th season in the series (the most successful active competitor with 61 victories and 63 poles); Da Matta was a winner in all past circuits he competed in, 1998 Daytona Indy Lights champion, also in Formula Fords and go-karts. Shini Nakano
Enters his third season of Champ Car competition, and second year with Fernandez Racing (owner/teammate Adrian Fernandez); making his 38th CART start; finished 18th at Monterrey last year after starting 27th; best road course finish in 11 Champ Car starts was 11th at Portland, Oregon in 2000. Max Papis
The 32-year-old Italian driver moved from Team Rahal to Sigma Autosports; Papis was one of five racers with multiple victories last season; took the checkered flag at Portland, Oregon and at Laguna Seca where he established a CART record for driving to victory from the furthest starting position on a road or street course (25th); has three career Champ Car victories. Paul Tracy
The 32-year-old Canadian along with teammate Dario Franchitti will launch their fifth season for Team KOOL Green in the Champ Car series; Tracy followed a strict training regimen in the offseason with remarkable results by a fitness program of 40-miles bicycle rides; winner of 18 CART races is optimistic for a positive start to the season; finished a strong third at Monterrey last year after starting 15th; Team Green entered Tracy and Franchitti in the 86th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 26 [it will be Tracy's return to the Memorial Day classic for the first time since 1995].

	Vasser

Jimmy Vasser
Joined Team Rahal along with 25-year-old driver Michel Jourdain Jr. of Mexico City; both racers logged nearly a thousand miles of pre-season testing as the team finalized its preparations for the 2002 CART season; Vasser is considered a pre-season favorite to contend for the championship; he logged the fastest laps on the first two days of testing; Jourdain ran among the top five on both days he tested and has kept in shape in the offseason with conditioning between tests at Laguna Seca and Homestead-Miami; Team Rahal led the CART series with six wins last year, laps led (843) and captured seven pole positions, all team records; but it came short of capturing the biggest prize, the championship as Kenny Brack and Max Papis finished second and sixth, respectively; Vasser is one of three Americans competing in the CART series (Michael Andretti and Townsend Bell are the others); he finished sixth in the Monterrey GP in 2001.