CART: Toronto Qualifying Notes/Quotes
18 July 1999
Robby Gordon #22 Johns Manville/Panasonic/Menards Toyota-Swift Qualifying Notes/Quotes Saturday, July 17, 1999 MOLSON INDY TORONTO Round 11 of 20 in the CART FedEx Championship Series Toronto, Ontario, Canada Continuing the battle to find grip out of the corners and under braking, Robby Gordon qualified his Johns Manville/Menards/Panasonic Toyota/Swift 22nd for Sunday's Molson Indy in Toronto. The time of 59.277 seconds was more than a second and a half faster than his previous best time in practice during the weekend, but not enough to move Gordon into the upper half of the field, where he would like to be starting. Despite his recent woes in qualifying, Gordon has managed to post top-10 finishes in each of his last two races. He hopes to extend that streak tomorrow by driving a steady, patient race. Tomorrow's race will begin at 2 p.m., EDT. Quotes ROBBY GORDON "You just have no idea how hard it is to go out there and drive the wheels off something and still wind up 22nd. I'm watching the fast group go through the last turn here (sitting in his scoring stand) and I can see how these guys are hooked up. For me, I've got my hands completely full right there. It's hard to find a solution right now. When I hit the concrete patches, it's like I'm on ice. But, we're working like dogs out here to make it right. Unfortunately, we're scratching like dogs, too. On the bright side, the car is better than it was this morning - we gained about one and a half seconds. But the downside: so did everyone else." MIKE HELD (co-owner) "The car doesn't seem to respond to what we change on it. We can all see how much trouble he's having keeping it between the walls, but Robby's a trooper. He knows these things take time. I guess the big question is, how much time. But he's proved the last few weeks that he can come through the field and post a good finish regardless of where he starts, so we're optimistic about tomorrow." STEVE ABRAHAMS (hospitality manager) "I've got my own problems in hospitality, the cake was dry and people were busting forks left and right. As for Robby, I watched him in Turn Four, and like Elkhart, he continues to slide all over the place. It's not good. But he'll be good in the race. He always is. That's why he's a pro driver and I'm not."