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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.”