Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods - Scott Riggs Notes

Dorothy and The Tin Man to Give Riggs Boost in Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Oct. 6, 2004)) - In conjunction with a special program featuring The Wizard of Oz's colorful cast, the Tin Man and Dorothy will ride on the hood of Scott Riggs' No. 10 Valvoline Chevrolet in this weekend's Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Appropriately, the program will be a featured part of the high-speed action during the 400-mile NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race in the home state of Dorothy and Toto and it's only fitting the ever-rusting tin woodsman will ride aboard a car owned and sponsored by one of the world's largest producers of lubricants.

"His head is a funnel and he's made of oil cans -- the Valvoline car is where he needs to be," joked Riggs. "It will be neat to have him riding along with me out there. I think he's looking for a heart in the original story and this Valvoline crew definitely has heart, so we should make a good team."

Following a test session at Kansas Speedway last month, Riggs was optimistic that the Tin Man would be impressed with the team's performance.

"You never really know how good you are until you get to the racetrack and compare yourself with everyone else," explained Riggs. "But we seemed to have a good car during the test, especially in qualifying mode. We made a couple of changes toward the end of the day that allowed us to pick up over three-tenths so that was a good feeling."

"The biggest thing we need to have happen is to be good off the truck," he continued. "If we qualify as well as we think we can and get the car dialed in, the Tin Man and I can cross the finish line up front."

In addition to Riggs, Nextel Cup Series drivers Jeff Gordon, Elliott Sadler and Brendan Gaughan will have characters from the land of Oz highlighted on their racecars as well. To commemorate the program, Action Performance, the leader in licensed motorsports collectibles, is producing limited edition die-cast replicas for each participating driver.