USAR Race Information
Hello All Media Outlets, I apologize for the delay....I was waiting on some drivers to call me back for quotes and such. I have four releases within this emial....each has a FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE statement at the top of the article and a -30- at the end to keep them seperated. The four releases are titled as follows: 1. Gill Grabs ProCup Championship....Again 2. Robertson Wins Top Rookie Honor 3. Team Gill Grabs Goodyear Honor 4. Gill Celebrates Third Title As always, call or email if you have any questions. Tim Southers FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tim Southers USAR Media Relations 770-719-0204 usar@bellsouth.net www.usarprocup.com Gill Grabs ProCup Championship..Again Lakeland, FL (Nov. 23, 2001) - Every season the reigning champion is described as the man to beat on the track if you want to win a championship. For the 150+ USAR Hooters ProCup Series competitors who participated in 2001, Bobby Gill was the defending champion and, by all accounts, the man to beat. Now it appears competitors will be repeating that comment in 2002, after Gill won the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Hooters 300 Saturday night at USA International Speedway and in the process won his third consecutive USAR Hooters ProCup Series championship. Gill entered the day 19 points behind Hal Goodson. Goodson had won the previous two Four Champions Championship Series events and vaulted into the lead for the final race of the season. Gill qualified third, his second-best qualifying effort of the season. He quickly took the lead from pole-sitter Steven Christian on lap 12 and never looked back, leading a total of 223 of the 301 laps completed during the race. "We had a really good car tonight," said an ecstatic Gill in victory lane. "The car was good all day in practice and qualifying. I want to thank Steve Dulzienski for all of his hard work. He doesn't get paid the big money other crew chiefs make but he takes pride in what he does and he does a great job for the team. Duz gets the car prepared the right way." The remaining top-five finishers all collected their best finishes in the championship series. Brian Vickers finished second and Mardy Lindley followed in third. Mario Gosselin, the 1997 USAR Hooters ProCup Series champion, finished fourth and Lee Tissot completed the top five. "I want to congratulate Bobby on winning the championship," Vickers said. "We would have liked to have won the championship this year but we reached some goals this year for the team and we are happy with what we accomplished. I also want to congratulate Toby on winning the Miller Lite Rookie of the Year Award. I know from experience how prestigious an honor it is to win in this Series." Christian regained the top spot under caution when he beat Gill out of the pits and led from lap 107 until lap 150; Gill regained the lead on lap 151. Christian appeared to have the car to stay with Gill until mechanical problems slowed him down. Christian was able to stay on the lead lap and finished ninth. Bill Plemons, Jr. assumed the top spot under caution on lap 226 and led until lap 233 when Brian Vickers took the lead. Vickers led for the next 14 laps, before Gill took over for the final time on lap 248. Goodson struggled all day, qualifying 25th and finished in the same spot, 7 laps down, at the end of the race. Goodson and Vickers finished tied for second place in the final point standings. Gill finished the season with 729 points while, Vickers and Goodson each finished with 673 points. Lindley finished fourth and Shane Huffman finished fifth in the final point standings. The race was slowed eight times by caution with only a pair of multi-car incidents. On lap one caution was given to the field when Lonnie Rush and Jabe Jones got together in turn four. Both cars were able to continue after Jones made repairs to his car. The next incident occurred on lap 151 when Jon Kerley and Regan Smith got together in turn three. Both cars were able to continue after the accident. Toby Robertson finished sixth and clinched the 2001 Miller Lite Rookie of the Year championship. Robertson finished the championship series with three consecutive top-10 finishes to grab the title. Christian collected the Lucas Oil Products Halfway Leader Award, adding it to his Lance Snacks Pole Award. Robertson also won the Miller Lite Rookie of the Race Award. Dale Delozier and Joe Harrison, Jr. shared the W.J. Plemons Investments Hard Charger Award. Gill will officially be crowned the 2001 USAR Hooters ProCup Series championship on January 12 at the USAR post-season awards banquet. -30- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tim Southers USAR Media Relations 770-719-0204 usar@bellsouth.net www.usarprocup.com Robertson Win Top Rookie Honor Lakeland, FL (Nov. 23, 2001) - When Toby Robertson gets a chance to look back on the 2001 USAR Hooters ProCup Series season, he may remember winning the 2001 Miller Lite Rookie of the Year Award. Robertson, from Winston-Salem, NC, used a string of three consecutive top-10 finishes in the final three races of the Four Champions Championship Series to outdistance himself from Jason Sarvis. Sarvis entered the championship series as the leading Rookie of the Year candidate only to suffer mechanical problems during the championship and drop in the final standings. "I know the format was different this year in determining the Rookie of the Year and we benefited from that," said Robertson. "I hate it for Jason because he and his team performed great this year and it was unfortunate they had some problems during some of these races." While acknowledging the efforts of Sarvis and his Blacks Tire Service team, Robertson was quick to praise his TWR Motorsports team. "I have been working with Richard Townsend since 1993 and he has been a big part of the success of this team," Robertson added. "As for the season, I think we really turned the corner as a team when we were able to get Johnsonville Hot 'n Spicy Bratwursts on board as a sponsor for a couple of races. I think finally getting a sponsor helped give the entire team a boost of confidence that we were able to get recognized and have a sponsor of the car. Then we signed Lennox for the championship series and that really gave us a lot of confidence going into the final four races." Robertson also credited motors he used built by Steve Blanks and veteran wrench turner Steve Leavitt in helping to build chassis and set-ups on his Chevrolet. While Robertson enjoyed professional success Saturday night, he is also looking forward to a personal accomplishment this Saturday in Winston-Salem. Robertson will marry fiancée Beth Abbott at Maple Spring Methodist Church. USAR chaplain Jim Evans will perform the ceremony. "I am very excited about getting married this weekend and I want to thank Beth for all of her support with my racing career," Robertson said. Robertson, who won a track championship driving late model stock cars in 1998, also mentioned a big absence in his celebration for the Rookie of the Year award - his late father, T. Wayne Robertson, one of the most recognized men in the world of motorsports and the defining support behind the younger Robertson and his racing career. "I miss him all the time and I know he was with us here tonight," said Robertson. "This team will always give 100%. There is no giving up on this team and we proved that after having such a hard start of the season. We made a decision in 1998 to keep racing after he died in January of that year and we went out and won a track title with his name all over the car. I was proud that we never gave less than our best." Robertson began the season with five consecutive finishes of 18th or lower in the standings. His performance began to show improvements after winning his first career Lance Snacks Pole Award at Coastal Plains Raceway. He scored his first top-10 finish of the season at the next race held at Peach State Speedway. TWR Motorsports then improved to score back-to-back top-five finishes in July when Robertson finished fourth and third at Montgomery and New River Valley Motor Speedways, respectively. "I want to congratulate Bobby (Gill) on winning the championship," Robertson added. "I look up to Bobby because of what he has accomplished on the track and how he has done so well. My goal is to win races and I have the team to do it." Robertson adds that he will never be alone in his racing career no matter how long he competes. While he will have the support of a dedicated team and long time friend in Townsend, there will be one force helping him. "I just want to keep making my father proud of me and what I have, and hopefully will, accomplish, Robertson said. "He showed me how to never give up in anything and keep moving forward and working hard to reach goals. Our goal was to run for Rookie of the Year and, thankfully, we reached that goal. Now it is time to get ready to go after the next goal." -30- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tim Southers USAR Media Relations 770-719-0204 usar@bellsouth.net www.usarprocup.com Team Gill Grabs Goodyear Honor Lakeland, FL (Nov. 23, 2001) - While Bobby Gill was busy preparing to race his way to a third consecutive USAR Hooters ProCup Series National Championship his team grabbed the headlines about five hours before the checkered flag fell on the 2001 season. Gill Racing, led by crew chief and jackman Steve Dulzienski, won the first-ever Goodyear Pit Crew Challenge Saturday afternoon at USA International Speedway. The team of Shan Russ, Mark Williams, Bill Green, John Bland and Billy Rhine completed the error-free pit stop in a time of 25.78 seconds to outdistance the Balck's Tire Service Team of driver Jason Sarvis. The winning team collected $3,000 from Goodyear Tire, the official race tire of the USAR Hooters ProCup Series. "I want to thank all the guys for their hard work," said Dulzienski. "We had some new members from another team join us recently and helped up out. We just went out there and did what we had to do to win. "USAR would like to thank Goodyear for sponsoring the pit crew challenge," said USAR President Gene Cox. "The competition was very exciting and provided a spotlight on the unsung heroes that contribute to winning a championship." The Black's Tire Service team won $2,000 from Goodyear for finishing second and BLV Motorsports, of driver Brian Vickers won third place honors and $1,000 from Goodyear. The top three finishing teams also won equipment provided by Lowes Lug Nut, Mechanix Wear, Ringer Resources, and Tri-Star, the official uniform supplier of the Series. "I want to congratulate all 12 teams who participated in the challenge," said Larry Robinson of Goodyear. "Goodyear wanted to recognize the efforts of all the crew members who work hard all season long for their respective teams. Goodyear is proud to be the official race tire of the USAR Hooters ProCup Series." Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Co. is based in Akron, Ohio and has been the official tire of the USAR Hooters ProCup Series since the series began competition in 1997. -30- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tim Southers USAR Media Relations 770-719-0204 usar@bellsouth.net www.usarprocup.com Gill Celebrates Third Title Fayetteville, GA (Nov. 26, 2001) - Two days after winning his third USAR Hooters ProCup Series Championship, Bobby Gill sat back and reflected on winning the prestigious honor. The Dalton, Georgia driver, who has over 65 wins throughout his driving career, is proud of his accomplishments on and off the racetrack. "It has been a great year for me," he said. "We were fortunate enough to come out of this championship with the win." Gill, who swept through the regular season in the USAR Hooters ProCup Series Southern Division, was skeptical of the playoff-type format for the championship. "As a racer I was a little frustrated at first because the format actually brought the other drivers closer to me after we had worked so hard all year long to gain as many points as possible," said Gill. "We were just lucky to get the chance to be there in contention last Saturday and we did what we had to do - win the race." Known for his focused, no-nonsense attitude at the racetrack, he said that many people worry about other things at the track, he just gets business done. A big reason for the team's success is the dedicated efforts of his crew chief Steve "The Duze" Dulznieski. "Steve does everything right on the car," said Gill. "He works to get the car ready and then I make the changes I feel necessary at the track on race day. We work well together." In just three short years Gill has amassed a resume that many drivers spend their entire careers building. He holds records for the most consecutive wins at one track with three at USA International Speedway (all this season) and shares the record for most career wins in the Series with Mario Gosselin. Gill is also the all-time money winner in the Series and he will have collected just over $990,000 in three years when he is crowned champion at the Series banquet in January. The key, according to Gill, in being so successful over the past three years is very simple for him. "Stay focused on what you have to do to get the car ready to race," said Gill. "Sometimes you have to give up qualifying to be good for the race and sometimes you can have the car set up so that you can qualify and race well. I just want to win races." This past also brought new responsibilities to the hard-charging driver away from the track - fatherhood. In June Gill and his wife Elaine adopted a son, Robby Lane, into the family. When you see Gill talk about his son or hear him on the phone you can tell he his proud of his new addition to the family. "Having a child in the family changes a lot of things," said Gill. "I used to stay up at the shop for weeks at a time working on the cars. Now I come home and will spend about a week at a time with him. I really enjoy spending time with my family." Robby Lane was in Gill's arms Saturday night as he lifted the 2001 USAR Hooters ProCup Series National Championship trophy into the air with Elaine by his side. As for winning a fourth championship, Gill's answer was simple, yet appropriate. "We will just do what we have been doing all along and hopefully things will work out for us the best way they can." So far, whatever Gill has been doing with his race team is working - and working well. -30-