Charlotte, N.C. (July 4, 2010) – There were fireworks on and off the track as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series action heated up at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night. The 43-car field endured everything from a rain delay, to a red flag period, to a huge pile-up inside 15-laps-to-go. Robby Gordon steered his No. 7 SPEEDFACTORY.tv Toyota Camry through the field to a 12th place finish.

Rain washed out qualifying on Friday afternoon leaving Gordon to start the 160-lap race from the 32nd position. The driver was faced with the hard task of starting deep in the field where trouble usually begins. Gordon dropped back in the running order shortly after the green flag fell, allowing the SPEEDFACTORY.tv crew to work on his car while avoiding damage from any possible on-track incidents.
Early in the race, Gordon called into the team to report that his Toyota Camry was too loose on entry and tight through the center of the corners. The SPEEDFACTORY.tv crew jumped into action making several adjustments during the competition caution on lap 15. The SPEEDFACTORY.tv team utilized every chance they had to improve the handling on their Toyota Camry making a variety of changes from air pressure to chassis adjustments throughout the race.

By lap 103, Gordon was preparing to pull on pit road for a scheduled green-flag stop, but the driver of the No. 7 Camry caught a lucky break as the caution flag came out with just enough time for Gordon to get back on track and pit under yellow. Gordon told the crew that his SPEEDFACTORY.tv Camry was the best it had been all night and that they should only make minor adjustments. The driver stayed on track to collect five bonus points for leading the race, and pulled onto pit road by lap 107. The team packed the car with fuel, serviced it with four fresh Goodyear tires, and sent Gordon back on the track.

The “Big One” happened on lap 147 at Daytona International Speedway when more than a dozen cars were caught up in a chain reaction accident that started inside the top-five and caused the red flag to be displayed. Gordon was running around the 20th position, but pulled down in the grass to avoid most of the trouble. The No. 7 SPEEDFACTORY.tv Camry suffered minor damage to the right front, but the team was able to fix it quickly and get Gordon back on track to restart the race inside the top-15.

Gordon made one last charge on a green-white-checkered finish to cross the finish line in the 12th position after completing 166 laps, six more than the original scheduled distance. Gordon remains in the 32nd position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Owner Points.

“Our team did a great job tonight,” commented Gordon. “We struggled early in the race with the SPEEDFACTORY.tv Camry, but no one gave up and we all kept working hard fighting for position. My spotter did a fantastic job leading me through the field and keeping me out of trouble in the big wreck there at the end. It was definitely a good points day for us and that was exactly what we needed.”

Next weekend the Sprint Cup Series speeds into Chicagoland Speedway for another race under the lights. TNT will broadcast live flag-to-flag coverage of the 400.5-mile race beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, July 10. MRN and SIRIUS Satellite Radio will both provide a play-by-play broadcast of all the action from Joliet, Ill., beginning at 6:30 p.m. EST. Qualifying for the 267-lap event will be broadcast on SPEED Channel beginning at 6:00 p.m. EST on Friday, July 9. For news and updates, please visit ROBBYGORDON.COM or PLANETROBBY.COM, and don’t forget to check out SPEEDFACTORY.tv this week for another episode featuring all the action behind-the-scenes at Robby Gordon Motorsports!