Event
Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: Pontiac Excitement
400/May 3, 2003
Venue: Richmond (Va.) International
Raceway
Robby Gordon’s NASCAR Winston Cup Performance History
at Richmond International Raceway
Date
|
Start
|
Finish
|
Laps
Completed/
Total Laps
|
Status
|
Money
|
09/07/02
|
11
|
28
|
397/400
|
Running
|
$66,686
|
05/04/02
|
37
|
34
|
309/400
|
Accident
|
66,081
|
09/09/00
|
DNQ
|
|
|
|
|
05/06/00
|
36
|
37
|
282/400
|
Brakes
|
23,350
|
09/06/97
|
4
|
42
|
7/400
|
Engine
|
22,185
|
03/02/97
|
24
|
28
|
396/400
|
Running
|
21,215
|
02/24/91
|
35
|
26
|
288/400
|
Running
|
3,525
|
TOTALS Avg. Start: 24.5
Avg. Finish: 32.5 Laps:
1,779/2,400 Money: $203,042
NASCAR Winston Cup Points Position: 16th
NOTES:
- This Week’s Race Car (chassis No. 99) was last run at Darlington.
Gordon also raced it at Phoenix, Atlanta and Richmond in the second
half of the 2002 season.
- The Cingular Wireless Chevrolet will carry
a special orange “reverse” paint scheme this weekend
at Richmond. The same paint scheme also will be run in The Winston
Open and the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
- Gordon will fly to Indianapolis immediately
following Saturday’s race to begin preparations for Sunday’s
opening practice for the Indianapolis 500. He is filling in for
Dario Franchitti in the No. 27 Alpine/Archipelago/Motorola/Budweiser
Dallara/Honda/Firestone for Andretti Green Racing.
- The Pontiac Excitement 400 will be broadcast
live on FX and MRN on Saturday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m. EST. Qualifying
is scheduled for Friday, May 2 at 3:05 p.m. EST
ROBBY
GORDON QUOTES:
“I’ve had good runs at Richmond but
it always seems like something bad happens to me there. I always
end up getting run over by someone or something. Last year in the
first race, we were really good but ended up having a piece of debris
shoot through the windshield and dash. We lost a lot of spots repairing
that. In the September race, we again were very good and ran in
the top 10 for a good while before NASCAR black-flagged us and we
had to pit under green due to an engine problem late in the race.
I was a bit confused over that deal because we were definitely maintaining
the minimum speed. Like I said, it’s always something at Richmond.
“I’ve qualified fourth at Richmond
and know the Cingular Wireless team can do just as well this time
around. We have a handle on our short-track program lately and
have a good package at those tracks. I’d put Richmond in the
same league as Martinsville, Bristol and Loudon except that Richmond
is a smoother track — it’s kind of a mix of those tracks.
The Cingular Wireless Chevy has handled well at those tracks lately
and I think Richmond will be good to us. We’ve just got to
concentrate on making the car rotate well through the corner without
being loose on entry.
“Brakes are so important at Richmond and
braking in Winston Cup racing is totally different than it is in
the CART Series. In CART, you can drive the car into the corner
as hard as you want, hit the brakes and then turn the thing. Winston
Cup cars like to roll into the corner. I think we’ve got a
good program and we’ll hopefully qualify and race well.
On the Indianapolis
500:
“As much as I’m looking forward to
racing at night at Richmond, I’m pretty pumped up about leaving
Richmond for Indianapolis. The big Indy/Charlotte double begins
when the checkered flag waves Saturday night. I’m flying out
to Indianapolis after the race. Sunday is opening day for the Indy
500 and it’s my first time in an Indy car since last year’s
Indy 500. One cool thing about Indy is that we have so much practice
time before qualifying and it won’t take us more than a day
or so to get ready for qualifying. I’m confident that we’re
going to be strong and contend for the pole. Andretti Green Racing
has shown they’re a strong race team, so with their knowledge
and my experience, we should be a contender in the Indy 500.
“This will probably be the first time ever
that I run a car at Indy on opening day. Even when I was driving
for A.J. Foyt, he never ran us on opening day but we ran on Monday
(second day). We’re actually going to have to run opening
day this year just so we can get comfortable with the car, make
sure the seat fits and all those types of things. But I’m
confident we’ll have a shot at the pole, as well. We were
really strong last year and ran inside the top five during the race
but had the pit fire and still finished eighth.
“I’m really excited about running the
Double for a number of reasons. Obviously, the Honda engines are
very strong. The Andretti Green Hondas come out of California,
HPD, so it’s like getting a factory ride, basically, at least
from the engine side. The team has won a race this season, Phoenix
with Tony Kanaan, so the Green team knows how to run well and now
Michael has inherited that team with the same group of guys and
the same people running it. I think it’s going to be a lot
of fun, especially if you look back and think of the rivalry that
Michael and I have had over the years in Indy car racing. It just
shows that all that matters is performance on the race track so
hats off to Michael for letting me drive the car, as well.
“I know I keep saying this over and over
but Richard Childress is an ace. He’s one of the best team
owners I’ve ever driven for. He understands that I’m
a race car driver and I want to race cars. The Cingular team understands.
I’ve met with my Cingular guys and they’re all good with
it. They like watching me race so they weren’t going to hold
me back. I think I can give both sides a good effort.
“I understand the Dallara (chassis). I
know it’s a new Dallara but they give you a pretty good program
to work with to get the balance of the car right and I think the
Dallara has a broader window of a sweet spot than the G-Force (chassis).
The G-Force is a good car but I think the Dallara has a broader
sweet spot which may make it a better race car for the race.”
-30-
|