Sterling Marlin, #40 Coors Light Dodge, Tropicana 400 Advance

RACE INFORMATION:

EVENT: Tropicana 400 (race 18 of 36)
TRACK: Chicagoland Speedway
QUALIFYING: Friday, July 11, 3:05 p.m. CT
RACE: Sunday, July 13, 2:00 p.m. CT
BROADCAST: NBC television and MRN radio

COORS LIGHT TEAM FACTS:

-Chassis: The Coors Light team will race chassis #115 at Chicago this weekend. This car has had two top-10 finishes this season - Fontana and Charlotte.

-Brickyard 400 Testing: Sterling Marlin and his Coors Light crew tested at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 8th and 9th for preparation for the Brickyard 400.

-Where are the Top-5s?: Marlin has not scored a top-5 as of yet this season. With four 6th place finishes, he is the only driver in the top-20 in championship points without a top-5 finish.

-NASCAR's Top-10: Marlin currently sits in 10th position in NASCAR's Top-10 standings. He has been in the Top-10 for four weeks in a row.

-Qualifying Hex: Marlin has qualified in the top-10 only five times this year but seems to have bad finishes when he qualifies well. In those five races he finished 17th, 40th, 39th, 35th, and 19th.

STERLING MARLIN QUOTES:
"Our team is ready for the 20-week stretch. These boys have been working real hard all year and we're not giving up now. I think we'll be more prepared for the second half of the season. It always takes a little time to bring a new team in (third car at Ganassi). They've got the system down now good so we should be advancing more on our race cars and hopefully get us a top-5 finish here soon. Chicago would be a good place to do that. We've run good there in the past."

CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY STATS:
Sterling Marlin, Winston Cup Series

DATE START FINISH
7/14/2002 4 16
7/15/2001 9 9

COORS LIGHT CREW:

Name Crew position Race shop duty Hometown
Sterling Marlin Driver Driver Columbia, Tennessee
Andy Graves Team Manager Team Manager Syracuse, New York
Tony Glover Team Manager Team Manager Kingsport, Tennessee
Lee McCall Crew Chief Crew Chief Travelers Rest, South Carolina
Al Shuford Team Trainer Team Trainer Shelby, North Carolina
Steven Wolfe Front Tire Changer Front Mechanic St. Louis, Missouri
Trent Davis Front Tire Carrier Race Day Only Vale, North Carolina
Mike Atwell Rear Tire Changer Test Team Charlotte, North Carolina
Tim Shore Rear Tire Carrier Race Day Only Yadkinville, North Carolina
Greg Pasi Jack Man Race Day Only Coory, Pennsylvania
Jerry Schweitz Gas Man Transportation Director Waterloo, New York
Mike Motil Catch Can Man Tire Specialist Hazelton, Pennsylvania
Tony Santanicola Windshield Engine Specialist Vacaville, California
Lorin Ranier Spotter Manager Prestonsburg, Kentucky
Steve Boyer Engineer Engineer North Platte, Nebraska
Nate Kennon Pit Support Front Mechanic St. Louis, Missouri
Derek Staments Pit Support Shocks Milford, New Jersey
Dave Mitchell Pit Support Truck Driver Alderion, West Virginia
Mark Poole Pit Support Rear Mechanic Kannapolis, North Carolina
Todd Osborne Pit Support Car Chief Jamestown, Indiana
John Sacco Scorer Parts Department Birmingham, Alabama

XXX

Nealie Hamilton
Media Relations
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
office: (704) 662-9642 x1130
cell: (704) 500-6068
nhamilton@ganassi.com