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Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date:            UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400/March 2, 2003

Venue:            Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Robby Gordon’s NASCAR Winston Cup Performance History at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

 

Date

 

Start

 

Finish

Laps Completed/ Total Laps

 

Status

 

Money

3/3/02

 

12

 

37

324/325

 

Running

 

$76,906

3/4/01

 

40

 

34

252/267

 

Running

 

48,475

3/5/00

 

12

 

13

148/148

 

Running

 

65,675

TOTALS     Avg. Start: 21.3      Avg. Finish: 28                Laps: 724/740            Money: $191,056

NASCAR Winston Cup Points Position: 17th

NOTES:

  • This Week’s Race Car (chassis No. 103) is a brand-new car.  The Cingular team tested it at Kentucky last December and at Homestead in November.
  • Gordon’s teammate Jeff Green and the No. 30 America Online team tested at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last month
  • Gordon is scheduled to test at Atlanta Motor Speedway Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 25 and 26.  The team was originally scheduled to test at Atlanta last week but was forced to postpone the test due to inclement weather conditions in North Carolina that delayed the team’s return from Daytona.
  • Gordon and Greg Biffle are scheduled to get together Thursday in the desert area near Las Vegas for dune buggy racing through the sand dunes
  • Gordon won the first off-road race he entered in Las Vegas in 1985
  • Gordon started third and finished 14th in the Sept. 1996 IRL race at Las Vegas
  • Gordon finished second in the 1993 SCORE race at Las Vegas
  • The UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 will be broadcast live on FOX and PRN on Sunday, March 2nd at 3:00 p.m. EST.  Qualifying is scheduled for Friday, February 28th at 5:05 p.m. ET.

ROBBY GORDON QUOTES:

“The Cingular Wireless team was expecting a better showing at Rockingham than we had.  I think a lot of the Chevrolet teams were in the same boat.  We only had one hour of practice at The Rock with this new Monte Carlo and we were loose for the first time in a long time.  We thought that when we pulled off the tape, we’d tighten up and maybe be pretty good.  But with the limited practice we’d had with the new car, we were sunk when the race started.  Our car was so tight at the beginning and no matter what we did, it was still tight.  Then later in the race it was too loose.  We never found that happy balance on the Cingular Chevrolet and I don’t think many Chevy teams did, either.  Heck, only two Chevys finished in the top 15.  I don’t think anyone can say we had an advantage at Rockingham.

“Downforce is obviously important at Rockingham but it’s more important at Las Vegas.  We’re still playing with a new Monte Carlo that we’re still testing the waters with.  Hopefully, we’ll have more practice time at Las Vegas than we did at Rockingham and maybe we can put it to good use and see what the car needs.

“We were really excited about this car going into Rockingham and we know it will be good once we’ve figured it all out.  We just need a little time.  But time isn’t something you’ve got at Vegas.  Because Vegas lends itself to long, green-flag runs, if your car isn’t running well, you’ll be a lap down pretty early in the race.  We’ve got to try to get the Cingular car dialed in early and get to the front of the pack quickly.”

“I’ve got a big day planned on Thursday in the Vegas area.  Greg Biffle and I are planning on racing dune buggies out in the desert area.  It’ll be nothing but hard driving, sliding and jumping sand dunes.  We both have roots in that type of racing and I really miss it.  I get to go to Glamis for New Year’s each year and race across the sand dunes.  That’s basically what we’ve got going for Thursday about two hours from Las Vegas.  It will be a good time for us just to relax, play and race.

“My teammate Jeff Green tested at Las Vegas in January.  The America Online team learned a lot that they’ve shared with Kevin Harvick and my team.  We’re working well together as a team and hopefully we can continue to build a database and be competitive as the season goes on.  Las Vegas will be our first track like Kentucky, where we had a good test in December. 

“I like Las Vegas because it’s a pretty flat track and flat tracks have always seemed to be my favorite and best type of track.  I think that’s a throw-back to my Indy car days when we ran on the flatter tracks.  The Cingular Wireless team was competitive last year at Vegas and ran as high as sixth through the first few rounds of pit stops.  But as we went to make a green-flag pit stop, the caution flag came out and I kept going down pit road so I wouldn’t lose a lap.  I didn’t lose a lap but did lose about 20 spots.  Then a few laps later on the restart, I bumped into the rear bumper of the car in front of me and we knocked a hole in the left-front fender.  The guys did a great job of repairing the damage but we lost a lap to the leaders when it was all said and done. 

“I’m going to hang out on the West Coast after the Las Vegas race and visit with my family and friends and take care of some business matters.  I just opened Robby Gordon Off-Road Center and Four Wheel Parts in Anaheim, Calif.  I turned my race shop into this new store.  We put wheels, tires and suspension and lift kits on street-legal cars.  I’ve got one on my Chevy Suburban now.  I’m going to spend some time working on that new business now.  I’ve still got my race shop with my dad where we build our off-road trucks but I’ve turned another shop into this new business.”

 

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