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INDYLIGHTS: Lucas Place Motorsports 1999 Indy Lights Driver Lineup

26 December 1998

LUCAS PLACE MOTORSPORTS SIGNS GEOFF AND ANDY BOSS FOR 1999

Lucas Place Motorsports is proud to announce the signing of brothers Geoff and Andy Boss for the 1999 CART PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship. The 1999 season will be Geoff Bosss third Indy Lights season and his second with Lucas Place. Andy Boss will enter his second year of Lights competition after a successful rookie campaign with Conquest Racing.

For most of the 1998 campaign, Geoff Boss was the top American driver in the series. His consistent finishes placed him as high as second to eventual champion Cristiano da Matta in the points standings. Geoff scored a career best finish of second at Long Beach and followed that up with a third at Detroit and fourth at Milwaukee and Laguna Seca. Lucas Place will begin winter testing in January at Phoenix International Raceway and Laguna Seca.

While at Conquest Racing, Andy Boss scored his best results on the ovals. Despite his lack of experience on these tracks, he finished fourth at Michigan and sixth at Nazareth. Like his older brother, Andy developed his racing skills in the Formula Dodge and Barber Dodge Pro Series ranks.

In 1992, the Formula Dodge championship came down to the final event of the year with Geoff and Andy first and second. Geoff took the title that year, but Andy came back and won it in 1993. Andy Boss was also the recipient of a free season of Barber Dodge (then Barber Saab) competition in 1994 after being recognized as an emerging talent. Andy competed in various series in 1996, including two Indy Lights races, while completing college at The University of Rhode Island and graduating with a history degree. He returned to Barber Dodge competition in 1997 while Geoff contested his rookie season in Indy Lights.

"I am very excited to work with Lucas Place and obviously with my brother," stated Andy Boss. "I have usually competed against Geoff and we have co-driven together at the 12-Hours of Sebring, but we have never been teammates in a situation like this. I am really looking forward to it."

As a result of his competitiveness in 1998, Geoff Boss was selected as a candidate in Tasman Motorsports driver tryout to replace the departing da Matta. "I had a very good test with Tasman, but I chose to come back for a second year at Lucas Place," said Boss. "I am pretty excited to be back with Burke Harrison and the whole team. I think that this continuity could give us an advantage next season. I am appreciative of the Tasman test, but Chris Lucas and Eric Place have worked very hard to put this team together and I want to be here. Circumstances have worked out to allow Andy to be my teammate and that is one of the many bright spots."

The Indy Lights championship is the ,official development series, of the CART FedEx Championship Series. In 1999, no less than nine drivers in FedEx series are winning graduates from Indy Lights competition. The list includes notables such as 1998 series champion Cristiano da Matta, Brian Herta, Paul Tracy, Greg Moore, P.J. Jones, and Tony Kanaan. The Indy Lights series is a "spec" series that places emphasis on driver talent and team preparation by using identical equipment. Nearly 30 full-time competitors representing close to a dozen different countries are expected to contest the 1999 season.