Event Preview Fact Sheet

 

Event/Date:    New England 300/July 20, 2003

Venue:            New Hampshire International Speedway

 

Robby Gordon’s NASCAR Winston Cup Performance History at New Hampshire International Speedway

                                                                                                Laps Completed/

Date                        Start                       Finish                    Total Laps                             Status                    Money

09/15/02                 29                            17                            207/207                                   Running              $76,731

07/21/02                 24                            7                              300/300                                   Running                 84,081

11/23/01                 31                            1                              300/300                                   Running             203,924

7/22/01                   36                            25                            299/300                                   Running                 76,999

9/14/97                   26                            24                            299/300                                   Running                 37,575

7/13/97                   42                            34                            296/300                                   Running                 26,225

 

TOTALS      Avg. Start: 31.3     Avg. Finish: 18    Laps: 1,701/1,707                                   Money: $505,535

 

NASCAR Winston Cup Points Position:  15^th

 

NOTES:

• This Week’s Race Car (chassis No. 99) was run at four other tracks this year, including Richmond where Gordon came from three laps down and posted a fourth-place finish after starting 32^nd. The car also raced at Darlington, Charlotte and Pocono earlier this season. 
• Gordon’s first NASCAR Winston Cup win was at New Hampshire in November 2001
• Gordon and the No. 31 Cingular Wireless team are testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Monday and Tuesday
• Gordon finished fifth at Loudon in 1993 in the PPG Indycar World Series and ninth in the Aug. 1995 CART race at Loudon
• Gordon is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial First Pitch in the Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field on Wednesday, July 23.  He also threw out the First Pitch in the Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field last Thursday.
• Gordon is participating in a media tour on behalf of Watkins Glen International Tuesday, July 22 in Buffalo, N.Y.
• The New England 300 will be broadcast live on TNT and MRN on Sunday, July 20 starting at 1:30 p.m. ET.  Qualifying is scheduled for Friday, July 18 at 3:05 p.m. ET.

 

ROBBY GORDON QUOTES:

“I’m really looking forward to going back to New Hampshire again this year.  The Cingular team was really good there at both races last season.  We won there in 2001 and we’ve still got a good set-up and baseline for that and many of the flatter tracks.  My teammates Steve Park and Kevin Harvick tested at Milwaukee recently in preparation for Loudon.  Milwaukee is a flat track and a lot of the information they compiled there should be able to help us at Loudon.

 

“They changed the New Hampshire track last year and I’m not really sure what that was all about.  By them laying down that sealer, lowering the bottom groove and changing the track, the drivers were forced to run on the apron and we weren’t able to run a rear bar to help the car’s handling.  I think that change to the track put cars where they’d be at sharper angle to the wall, to be honest.  I didn’t like the change.  But that’s just one guy’s opinion.

 

“The key to running well at Loudon is making the car handle.  It’s got to roll through the corner well so you can get off the gas and be able to get back into the gas without the car going sideways on you.  Brakes are very important at Loudon, also, and we’ve got to make sure to conserve them as much as possible.  But I think the Cingular team is going to be able to put it all together this year.  Loudon suits my driving style and we’ve been competitive each time we’ve raced there.  Hopefully, we can go back and race for a victory again.

 

“Things are coming together for the Cingular team now and we seem to be jelling well.  We’ve had some really good runs this year and we’d be back in the top 10 in points if it weren’t for getting messed up in that accident at Daytona.  Kevin Hamlin and I are communicating well and everyone seems to be on the same page.  We knew all year that we had a really good team and a great bunch of guys but now we seem to have put the entire package together.  We still have a goal of finishing in the top 10 in points this season and having a place at the table in New York in December.”

 

-30-