IT'LL BE ‘JUST LIKE HOME' FOR CANADIAN FRASER IN FLORIDA
     LAKELAND, Fla. – Although the weather here will be balmy compared with the chill in his native Nova Scotia, Scott Fraser will feel right at home in the Florida 200 at USA International Speedway on Saturday night.
     Fraser, tied for ninth in the overall American Speed Association (ASA) point standings, is also tied with Chris Wimmer for the top spot in the contest for rookie of the year. Each driver has 258 points after two races.
     Coming off a fourth-place finish at Irwindale, Calif., two weeks ago, Fraser was asked after testing at Lakeland if USA International Speedway reminded him of any other tracks.
     "Yes, it reminds me of one at home – Riverside Speedway in Nova Scotia," he said. "Although Riverside is only a quarter-mile and Lakeland is three-quarters, both have long straightaways, high banks and turns that are too small. But I've always run well at Riverside, and we had a good test at Lakeland.
     "Of all the ASA tracks I've run, USA International reminds me of Chicago."
     Chicago is where Fraser won the outside pole and finished eighth last year in his very first ASA outing. Throughout 2000, Fraser ran only six races in order to preserve his rookie status for 2001. In those six races he had two top-fives and finished lower than 11th only once.
     "There'll be one heck of a race at Lakeland because there's a lot of room and a couple of grooves on the track," Fraser said. "If everything goes well we hope to improve upon our Irwindale finish. We had a shot to win two weeks ago but my left-side tires went away.
     Is there any added pressure being among the top 10 in the points as a rookie?
     "No, we've dealt with that before," said Fraser, who has won numerous championships in Canada. "We don't let ourselves get intimidated because we're among different players. In all honesty, I probably put more pressure on myself because I'm never really satisfied unless we win."