Friday, August 1, 2003
TODAY'S SCHEDULE (all
times local):
|
9 a.m. |
Indianapolis Motor Speedway public gates open |
|
10:30-11:30 a.m. |
True Value IROC practice |
|
12:30-1:50 p.m. |
True Value IROC practice |
|
2-4 p.m. |
NASCAR Winston Cup practice |
|
4:05-5 p.m. |
True Value IROC practice |
***
Timing and scoring monitors are located throughout the MCI
Media Center with up-to-the-minute times and speeds.
***
Brickyard 400 information is available on the World Wide
Web this week on the official Indianapolis Motor Speedway site,
http://www.brickyard400.com, and the official NASCAR site,
http://www.nascar.com. Included in the information will be practice summaries
and performance histories, qualifying results, Daily Trackside Reports, driver
quotes, race lineups and results.
IROC at Indy information is available on the World Wide
Web this week on the official Indianapolis Motor Speedway Brickyard 400 event
site, http://www.brickyard400.com, and the official True Value IROC site,
http://www.irocracing.com.
***
At 8:40 a.m., the ambient temperature was 73 degrees with
a relative humidity of 75 percent and south-southwest winds at 2 mph.
***
Jason McCord won the J.D. Byrider 100 Weld Racing USAC
Silver Crown event last night at Indianapolis Raceway Park. J.J. Yeley started
from the pole and led the first 93 laps before McCord passed him on Lap 94 and
led the final seven laps to take the win.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regulars Carl Edwards and
Jason Leffler finished third and 19th, respectively. NASCAR Busch
Series driver Mike Bliss finished 27th.
***
Brickyard 400 fans will have the chance to meet Robby
Gordon, driver of the No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, from 5-7:30 p.m.
tonight at the Cingular Wireless store, 7225 U.S. 31 South, Greenwood, Ind.
***
Former NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series champion Mike Skinner attempt to compete in all three
NASCAR events in Indianapolis this weekend. Skinner will drive the No. 15 VOKAL
Clothing entry for Billy Ballew Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series event tonight at Indianapolis Raceway Park. He will also drive the No. 7
Kleenex car in the NASCAR Busch Series event at IRP Saturday night. Skinner
will also attempt to qualify the No. 01 U.S. Army-sponsored Winston Cup entry
for MB2 Motorsports in the Brickyard 400.
MIKE
SKINNER: "I guess you
could say that I have a full weekend. I hope to have a good run for VOKAL in
the truck race on Friday night, a good run in the Kleenex car on Saturday night
and a good run for the U.S. Army on Sunday in the Cup race."
The
NASCAR Winston Cup Leader Bonus stands at a record $210,000 and is available to
points leader Matt Kenseth. The $10,000 bonus is available following every
NASCAR Winston Cup race. If the points leader does not win the race, the bonus
rolls over to the next week. The last driver to claim the bonus was Sterling
Marlin following his win at Darlington in March 2002, 51 races ago.
Bobby
Labonte claimed the previous record-high NASCAR Winston Cup Leader Bonus at the
Brickyard 400 in 2000 when he was awarded $190,000 by winning the race while
also leading the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings.
The
Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association has set up a concierge desk at
the front of the media center, just to the right of the media center office.
The ICVA will provide city information, directions and restaurant reservations
throughout the weekend of the Brickyard 400.
Ricky Craven's PPI Motorsports pit crew will pull double
duty this weekend in Indianapolis. In addition servicing the No. 32 Tide
Pontiac for Craven at the Brickyard 400, the Tide team will work with NASCAR
legend Darrell Waltrip when he races a Tide-sponsored NASCAR Craftsman Truck
entry tonight at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Waltrip's truck will carry a
special paint scheme to raise awareness for Give Kids The World, a non-profit
resort for kids with life-threatening illnesses.
***
UPS and Federal Express parcel pick up is near the east
gate of the garage area.
***
At 10:30 a.m., the beginning of the first True Value IROC
practice, the ambient temperature was 80 degrees with a relative humidity of 69
percent and southwest winds at 8 mph.
***
At a press conference this morning in the Trackside
Conference Room, officials with Ford Racing announced new five-year
partnerships with Roush Racing, Robert Yates Racing and Wood Brothers Racing,
and addressed the new 2004 Ford Taurus and 2004 F-Series truck, which were
unveiled Thursday at the Ford Fan Appreciation Day at the RCA Dome.
DAN DAVIS (Director, Ford Racing): "The five-year
agreements that we're announcing are an extension of a strategy that we at Ford
have pursued over the years. As the sport becomes more technical, partners are
really important, and we're looking at establishing long-term agreements with
all of our key programs. I think it's a good way for Ford to show its
commitment to race teams. Loyalty is something that we just take extremely
seriously at Ford. We like to reward loyalty, and these three organizations
have been so loyal to us that I felt it was important for Ford and Ford Racing
to demonstrate our loyalty to them. We ready to put our money where our mouth
is. We're ready to sign contracts that are good contracts, that says we'll put
our money where our mouth is. We've picked our dance partner, and for Ford
Motor Company and in NASCAR, these are our dance partners. We like these dance
partners, and we want to hash out agreements with them, and we can do
development work with these teams and get more technical support, and we know
it will stay in our family."
GREG SPECHT (Operations Director, Ford Racing):
"What this means to me from an operations standpoint is tremendous. I think
that was exemplified with the development of the '04 Taurus and the '04 Truck
Series that was unveiled last night. The development of the Taurus was very
much a joint effort between Ford Motor Company and our key teams, which are sitting
here. The end product shows what this team is capable of doing, not in terms of
performance of the vehicle, but the timing in that we are able to hand over the
car to NASCAR this coming Wednesday, which is a month ahead of schedule. We can
only do that when you have a long-term contract with teams the caliber of
Robert Yates Racing, Roush Racing and Wood Brothers Racing."
EDDIE WOOD (Principal, Wood Brothers Racing): "I'd
just like thank Ford Motor Company for having the confidence in our race team
to extend us another five years. Our family has been racing Fords since the
beginning - I guess it's 53 years, which is long before me - but it's something
we're really proud of. We've never raced anything but Fords."
JACK ROUSH (Principal, Roush Racing): "We're really
proud to be part of Ford's inner circle now. I'm never happy to stand second in
line, but we do stand second to Eddie and Len (Wood) in terms of service. Ford
is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and Wood Brothers has been
there 53. We've got a paltry 36 here in service with Roush Racing. The
five-year agreement will make the Ford people feel comfortable, and that's
good. When Ford feels comfortable, everything works. We need to meet the
challenges as technology comes in from overseas, both carmakers and race teams,
and we need to
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