#7 Jim Beam Operation Home Front Coca-Cola 600
Pre Race Report

• #7 Stout in Challenge Race – A potentially strong starting position for the All Star Challenge race was rained out, relegating Robby Gordon’s Jim Beam Operation Home Front Toyota to the 32nd position for last Saturday night’s 40 lap dash. However a well-handling chassis set up and some very aggressive driving produced a strong 9th place finish and, perhaps even more importantly, valuable information for this Sunday’s 600 mile marathon.

• Jeremy Mayfield speaks out – In what has certainly been one of the longest weeks in Mayfield’s up and down NASCAR career, Mayfield vehemently denied any wrong doing following NASCAR’s decision to suspend the driver after testing positive for banned substances. Mayfield claimed that the test results were erroneous after having taken several doses of the allergy medication Claritin-D. In a rare public appearance, sanctioning body chairman Brian France spoke on this issue. “We have it on high authority that Claritin is a known hallucinogen making drivers think they are better than they really are.” When asked about this finding, Dale Earnhardt Jr. declined to comment.

• Planet Robby site readies for Dover – Robby Gordon’s flag ship unofficial web site is busy finalizing arrangements for what it believes will be the mother of all web site race coverage in the history of NASCAR. Web site moderators are planning to include live audio and video feeds for nearly all of the #7’s activities during the weekend. Web master and long-time Gordon insider - who goes under the nom de guerre ‘TOG’ - had this to say: “From the arrival of the recently wayward souvenir trailer on Friday to the departure of the team hauler on Sunday night, our cameras, microphones, tweets, IM’s, scanners, popcorn, cotton candy, margaritas, pulled pork and Jim Beam shooters will be there.” (Editors Note: TOG reminds members that donations of groceries are welcomed during the weekend extravaganza. He’ll be living at the track 24/3 and believes sustenance will be required in order to maintain his blistering coverage.)

Robby Gordon quotes: “Sadly, our qualifying effort on Thursday was poor, but like most weeks, we will continue to hook-up the car all evening and race our way to the front. With 600 miles to work with, we will have plenty of time to get ready for an aggressive run to the checkers. I just need to take care of some loose-ends first.” (Editors Note: Gordon lines up along side the #44 car of AJ Almendinger).

Kirk Almquist quotes: “NASCAR was kind enough to give us Friday off this week. I plan to do some bonding with the crew and take them to see the new Star Trek film. I hear that crew not only can change tires in less than 10 seconds, they can also beam 3 people from two separate ships onto one transporter pad. Sweet.”