Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date:
MBNA Armed Forces Family 400/June
1, 2003
Venue:
Dover (Del.) International Speedway
Robby Gordon’s NASCAR Winston Cup Performance History
at Dover International Speedway
Date
|
Start
|
Finish
|
Laps
Complete/ Total Laps
|
Status
|
Money
|
09/22/02
|
28
|
17
|
398/400
|
Running
|
$78,346
|
06/02/02
|
12
|
8
|
400/400
|
Running
|
89,121
|
09/21/97
|
35
|
33
|
389/400
|
Running
|
20,555
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTALS:
|
Avg.
Start: 25
|
Avg.
Finish: 19.33
|
Laps:
1,187/1,200
|
Money:
$ 188,022
|
NASCAR Winston
Cup Points Position: 12th
NOTES:
- This Week’s Race Car (chassis No. 82) was last run at Loudon
in September 2002. It since has been reconfigured in the 2003
Chevrolet Monte Carlo body style. Gordon also raced this car
last year to an eight-place finish at Chicago and in the July
event at Pocono.
- Gordon tested the
No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet Tuesday at Virginia International
Raceway in preparation for the upcoming event at Infineon Raceway
- The MBNA Platinum
400 will be broadcast live on FX and MRN on Sunday, June 1st
at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Qualifying is scheduled for Friday, May 20th
at 2:35 p.m. ET.
ROBBY
GORDON QUOTES:
“Dover is a very
tough track but also a lot of fun because it’s so fast.
It seems like one big, banked corner. It’s a lot like Bristol.
We’ve got to have the right balance at Dover to keep a lot
of momentum going on our laps, but that’s hard to do. But
when you get it right, like the Cingular team did last June, it’s
a fun track to race on.
“Balance is important
to not going down a lap at Dover, but tire wear is also important.
Last June, our tires were good all day and didn’t really
fall off until near the end of a run, like they do at most tracks.
The concrete surface is much kinder to tires than the asphalt
and they don’t seem to wear out as much at places like Bristol
and Dover.
“If you’re
going to finish up front, you’ve got to pass a lot of cars
during the day. At Dover, the best place to get around guys is
on the bottom of the track because it’s the fastest way around
the place. But you can also pass on the high side. Late in the
race, the high side in turns three and four was really working
for me.
“The last time we
went to Dover, our car was very good but I had trouble getting
it to drive into the corners because it was too tight most of
the race. We made several chassis adjustments but couldn’t get
it loosened up for the whole run. But we were lucky because the
car was very good and fast even if it was tight. We missed something
on the shock setup because I felt every bump in the track during
every lap, so hopefully Kevin Hamlin and the guys can work out
the shock deal for me this time. Our pit stops were great that
day and helped us pick up a lot of track position. Track position
is big at Dover.
“Dover was a good
track for me last year and hopefully we can jumpstart our move
toward the top 10 in points. We’ve got some tracks coming
up that are very good for the Cingular team and we still want
to try to make some more gains in the points. We’re sitting
in 12th now but it would be great to get a little closer
to the top 10. That was our goal at the beginning of the year
but it seemed to get a little out of sight for a while because
we weren’t as consistent as we knew we could be. But hopefully
we’re back on track now.”