Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: MBNA
America 400/Sept. 21, 2003
Venue: Dover (Del.) International Speedway
Robby Gordon’s NASCAR Winston
Cup Performance History at Dover International Speedway
|
Date
|
Start
|
Finish
|
Laps Completed/ Total Laps
|
Status
|
Money
|
|
06/01/03
|
38
|
9
|
400/400
|
Running
|
$99,747
|
|
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: 28.25
|
Avg. Finish: 16.75
|
Laps: 1,587/1,600
|
Money: $287,769
|
NASCAR Winston Cup Points Position:
12th (up from 13th)
NOTES:
·
This Week’s Race Car (chassis No. 116) was run in August
at Bristol Motor Speedway and in April at California Speedway
·
Gordon
led three laps in the June race at Dover en route to scoring a top-10 finish
·
Gordon
is scheduled to sign autographs at a Cingular Wireless store in
Greenville, S.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 23 from 5-7 p.m. The
address is 1451 Woodruff Road, Greenville, S.C., 29607.
·
Gordon
will sign autographs from 7-8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19 at the Dover Air
Force Base. This is a closed session for the military and
civilian base personnel, their family members and guests.
·
The MBNA Platinum 400 will be broadcast
live on NBC and MRN on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 1:00 p.m.
EDT. Qualifying
is scheduled for Friday, Sept 19 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.”
"In the June race, the Cingular car
started out too loose on new tires but every time the fuel burned
off, we had an awesome race car. We slowly worked our way back up
through the field after dropping to the back during the pace laps
when the telemetry equipment fell off and started dangling down
under the gas pedal. We had to pit even before the race started
but didn’t give up and kept working at it.
Kevin Hamlin gave me slight chassis adjustments and tire
pressure adjustments throughout the race that allowed us to post
laps as fast as the leaders. The only problem we had was near the
end when we didn’t need any handling problems. The car got really
tight on those long, green-flag runs late in the race and we lost
some track position. But we took four tires on that last stop because
we didn’t have anything to lose and that gave us enough to get past
two cars in the final lap and finish ninth."
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