Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date:    Pepsi 400/July 5, 2003

Venue:            Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway 

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

                                                                                                                Laps Completed/

Date                        Start                       Finish                                    Total Laps             Status                    Money

2/16/03                   3                              6                                              109/109                   Running              $363,676

2/17/02                   12                            13                                            200/200                   Running                187,566

7/6/02                     4                              29                                            155/160                   Running                  84,431

2/18/01                   41                            37                                            173/200                   Accident                113,959

2/20/00                   18                            17                                            200/200                   Running                   99,725

2/16/97                   20                            16                                            200/200                   Running                   69,545

7/5/97                     26                            22                                            160/160                   Running                   26,915

2/17/91                   35                            18                                            196/200                   Running                   23,740 

TOTALS     Avg. Start: 19.87      Avg. Finish: 19.75             Laps: 1,393/1,429               Money: $942,642

NASCAR Winston Cup Points Position: 13^th

NOTES: 

• This Week’s Race Car (chassis No. 94) was last run in the Daytona 500 and Gordon won the Gatorade Twin 125 race with the car.  He also raced it in the July 2002 race at Daytona, qualified fourth and was running in the top 10 when Kurt Busch hit the No. 31 car in its pit stall and severely damaged it.  Gordon finished 29^th. 
• Gordon earned four consecutive IMSA GTS/GTO class wins in the 24 Hours of Daytona from 1990-1993
• Gordon will sign autographs at the Cingular Wireless retail store at Volusia Mall (across from Daytona International Speedway) on Thursday, July 3 from 12 to 1:30 p.m.
• Gordon has been in California since his win at Sonoma and is flying from California to Daytona Thursday morning
• Gordon is scheduled to throw out the First Pitch at the July 10 Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field
• The Pepsi 400 will be broadcast live on NBC and MRN on Saturday, July 5 at 7:30 p.m.  ET

ROBBY GORDON QUOTES:

“The Cingular team had a great weekend at Sonoma two weeks ago and we gained in the points.  We’re working very hard on getting back into the top 10 in points and we’re not that far away.  Daytona and Chicago could both be good tracks for us and we’ve usually run well there in the past.  We should be strong enough for a top five or possibly a win at Daytona but the key is getting through all the wrecks in one piece.

“The Cingular team had a great run at Daytona in February, winning the Gatorade 125 and finishing sixth, and we’re taking the same car this week.  We ran in the top five most of the day and ended up dropping back a spot at the very end.  We’ve scored top-10 finishes at both restrictor-plate races this year and we won the Gatorade 125.  So, I’m getting that experience in the draft that I need.  The key to getting even better is we need to work a little harder.  I was in the position to finish fourth at Talladega but I slipped back to 10^th.  We’ll continue to learn.  I’ve run enough restrictor-plate races to have some under my belt, but it seems like every time we go to a plate race, someone schools me somehow, someway, somewhere.  I try to learn every weekend and get better so I don’t make the same mistake twice.

“The Cingular Wireless team has been fortunate enough to finish both restrictor-plate races this year without any damage to our cars.  We’ve continued to develop that same car and the Richard Childress Racing engine department has been working really hard on the motors because there’s nothing like horsepower. 

Engine horsepower is huge at Daytona.  Richard Childress Racing is legendary for its engine program and I’ve had some pretty stout engines at Daytona and Talladega with the Cingular team.  You have to have a great engine because every little iota of horsepower is important.  Just a bit of horsepower can make a big difference in how good your car performs.  But then again, you’ve got to have a good body and the fabrication shop has been working hours and hours on our bodies.  We should be really good at Daytona this week.

“Every time we go to the track, we work as hard as we can to beat everyone, not just the DEI cars.  This is a very competitive sport but the No. 8 and No. 15 cars have probably optimized their restrictor-plate package better than anyone else at this time.  But we’ll continue to work hard on improving our package, as well, and hopefully get to the point they’ve reached.

 “Daytona is a race-team race.  It’s not just the driver that makes a team successful at Daytona.   You’ve got to have everyone doing the job during the pit stops, building the car in the body shop and making the right call on pit road. It’s also about what the R&D guys do, the wind tunnel tests and the straight-line tests that you put into the effort.

“You can have the best engine and fastest car on the track but if you don’t have some good luck at Daytona, you’ve got nothing.  You can pick the best line and go with the train of cars and draft well, but if somebody screws up, you’ve all got problems.  With as close as the 43 cars run at Daytona, if you make a mistake, you make that mistake for about 20 other cars, also.  You’ve got to be really strong at Daytona, but it’s nothing without some luck.”