NO. 7 SIRIUS DODGE POCONO ADVANCE
Media Contact: Amy Hunerberg No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T Pocono Raceway Pocono 500 12:30 p.m. (EST) June 9, 2002 500 Miles/200 Laps 2.5-mile tri-oval Pocono is a favorite: "I really like this track. Pocono is a lot of fun to drive. It's one of my favorite tracks on the circuit because every corner's different. It's a flat track, and I like flat tracks. It's pretty difficult to drive, but I took to the track pretty quick." Toughest part to getting around Pocono: "There's a lot of stuff going on. You gotta shift there down the front straight away. The toughest turn is probably the Tunnel Turn. You hear people talking about it all the time. But that was actually the turn I like the best. It's where I was making all my passes last year. It's a difficult track to get around, but if you get a good car like we did last year, it's a lot of fun, too." Key to getting around Pocono: "You just gotta have a good car. You gotta have one that turns good. Every corner is different. If you get through (turn) one and the Tunnel Turn, you gonna be loose in (turn) three, because three is a flat turn and it's longer than the other two. Last year, we got it to where it was good through one, good through the Tunnel Turn and a little bit free through that last turn and it worked out pretty good like that." Pocono Stats & Facts * This will be only Atwood's third visit to Pocono Raceway. During his last visit to the Monster Mile (fall 2002), Atwood started 18th and finished 9th. * In his first attempt at Pocono, Atwood qualified 13th for the 2001 Pocono 500 last spring. An engine problem ended his strong run, and he finished the day 38th. * Atwood had a strong qualifying effort in his second visit during the fall running of the Pennsylvania 500: he started 5th and finished 15th. * Atwood recorded his best finish of the season - 17th - in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 26. * The No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio crew spent two days at Michigan International Speedway this week testing for the Sirius Satellite Radio 400 at Michigan on June 16. Looking Ahead: Sirius Satellite Radio 400 Michigan International Speedway Testing for the Sirius Satellite Radio 400: "We were pretty good. The Sirius Dodge was pretty good right when we got on the track, so we didn't have to adjust a whole lot. I feel like it went well. WE had a car in race trim and a car for qualifying runs. Our race trim car was as good as the car I had here last year. I ran in the top 10, top 5 most of the day and finished 10th, so I feel pretty good. We'll be able to come back next week for the Sirius Satellite Radio 400and run pretty good." Importance of the Sirius Satellite Radio 400: "This is a huge race for us with Sirius Satellite Radio sponsoring the race. We want to do well for them and for Dodge, and hopefully we'll be able to come out of here with a good finish. That's why we came here (to Michigan) to test. I had a good race car here last year, so hopefully we can do good and make everyone at Sirius proud of our race team."