Weekly
Racing Journal
Race/Date: MBNA
Armed Forces Family 400/June 1, 2003
Location: Dover
(Del.) International Speedway
Start Position: 38th
Finish Position: Ninth
Points Position: 10th (gained two positions)
Race Recap:
Robby Gordon and the No. 31 Cingular Wireless
team broke into the top 10 in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings
Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway with a ninth-place
finish after battling back from the rear of the field.
Gordon started the 400-lap event at a disadvantage after the NASCAR-mandated
telemetry equipment fell underneath his feet in the car during the
pace laps. The team pitted to remedy the problem but Gordon fell
to the rear of the field before he even took the green flag. The
first caution flag waved on lap two and Gordon drove over debris
that flattened his right-front tire during the incident that brought
out the caution. He pitted on lap four for fresh tires but still
managed to gain seven positions to 35th.
Gordon soon radioed
in that the Cingular car was very good but slightly tight exiting
the corners. Team Cingular pitted under caution on lap 40 for two
tires, chassis adjustments and fuel, gaining 12 spots to 19th.
Those chassis adjustments fine-tuned the car just enough to enable
Gordon to post laps as fast as the leaders and he powered into the
15th spot by lap 100. Gordon led three laps of the race
following a pit stop on lap 116 but the Richard Childress Racing
(RCR) machine was too loose on new tires and Gordon slipped back
to 16th by lap 139. Crew chief Kevin Hamlin and
Team Cingular continued to work on the handling and Gordon claimed
the 11th position by lap 219. He moved into the 10th
place 60 laps later and pitted for the final time with nine laps
remaining for four fresh tires to give him more grip for the final
shootout. That strategy paid off and Gordon picked up two positions
in the final two laps to bring home a ninth-place finish.
Robby Gordon Quote
"What a run for the Cingular Wireless
Chevrolet. We have needed a top 10 for a long time and have been
good enough to get it, but bad luck or circumstances have bitten
us lately. We started out too loose on new tires today 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. The Cingular
team 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. We picked up a lot of ground in the points to 10th.
We just need to stay consistent and it will come to us. We made
a goal at the beginning of the year to finish in the top 10 in points
and we’re slowly inching our way there. But it was a great
run for us. We struggled all weekend long. We knew what
our problem was, but unfortunately we found it with about ten minutes
left in Saturday’s practice, so we knew we were going to be
pretty good today. I’m very proud of everyone on this Cingular
Wireless team. They worked their guts out."
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