Funai 250 - Mike Bliss Notes

Mike Bliss
No. 20 Rockwell Automation CHEVROLET
Richmond Quotes and Notes

Event: Funai 250 Date: September 5, 2003
Track: Richmond International Raceway TV: TNT 8:00 PM EST
Laps/Miles: 250/187.5 Radio: MRN 7:30 PM EST

QUOTES

Driver Mike Bliss on driving at Richmond International Raceway…
“I am real excited to be returning to Richmond. We came here in the spring and really struggled with our car. But we continued to work on it all weekend and by the end of the race were running in the top 10. Our teammate (Coy Gibbs) came here and tested a couple of weeks ago and brought back some good notes & some things we may try this time around.

I just can’t say enough good things about Richmond. It is such a great racetrack because you have the action of a short track and the speed of a large speedway. There are so many places you can run your car. By the end of the race, the top groove is as fast as the bottom groove. If your car is handling well, it gives you a couple choices on where to race people.”

Crew Chief Tim Shutt on racing at RIR…
“I always look forward to returning Richmond. In the past we have not had a lot of success here, but the team has worked real hard on this car and Mike is real focused for this race, so I am hoping for good results. Track position is key at this track, especially with the amount of lapped traffic that you deal with. The team will put a lot of pressure on their pit-stops this weekend to help Mike as much as we can to gain spots on pit road.”

NOTES

Last Race at Richmond…Mike Bliss and his #20 team struggled during their weekend at Richmond. After showing 22nd quick in the first practice, they went on to qualify in the 13th position. After a frustrating happy hour, the team through the book at it and changed everything under the hood. Spending most of the race in the 15th to 20th position, Bliss used four pits and the last 50 laps to charge to the front. With 14 laps to go, Bliss passed the #5 car of Brian Vickers for the 7th position. Two laps later, Vickers ran Bliss straight into the turn two wall. Bliss went on to finish 28th. With the damage to Vickers car, he dropped back to 16th.

History at Richmond… In the six events that Mike Bliss has competed in at Richmond International Raceway, he has seen mixed results. He has qualified as high as second (twice), but only has one top five to his record. His lone top five came last fall in the Truck Series race where he finished third. That race was won by one of Mike’s JGR teammates, Tony Stewart.

Chassis Info… This week the #20 team is bringing Chassis 1833. This will be the second race of the 2003 season for this car. Car 1833 made its debut at New Hampshire International Speedway where it was running in the fourth position until contact from Bobby Hamilton’s machine sent it spinning into the inside wall. Since then a new nose & left side have been added to the car.

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