News/October 2002

HERZOG JACKSON MOTORSPORTS SET TO MAKE 100TH START IN ATLANTA WITH FEDEWA BEHIND THE WHEEL

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (October 23, 2002) - Herzog Jackson Motorsports, which has competed in the NASCAR Busch Series for three years, will make its 100th career start this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  The team, owned by Bill, Randy and Stan Herzog as well as baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, has two wins to its credit as well as a pole position scored this year at Chicagoland Speedway.  Heading to the Aaron's 312 this weekend, Tim Fedewa will once again pilot the No. 92 Excedrin QuickTabs Chevrolet.

Herzog Jackson Motorsports has competed twice at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  In its first outing in 2000, the team qualified in 11th place and finished 27th.  The results were better last year, as the team finished ninth.  Fedewa has eight starts on the track in Hampton, Georgia, located just outside Atlanta, and has finished in the top 10 twice.  In 1995, he finished fourth, his best career finish at the speedway.

"It's a good race track," said Fedewa.  "In qualifying trim you're pretty much right on the bottom, but when you untape for happy hour and get the thing in race trim the groove really widens up and you're able to run two and three wide.  So, as a driver that's the kind of racetrack you like, because if your car isn't working on the bottom, if you're a little tight, you can just wander on up the racetrack and find a groove that fits the car.  I've always liked racetracks like that.

"You're going as fast at Atlanta on a mile and a half track's as you do at Talladega and Daytona, which are 2.5-mile tracks.  The sensation of speed is pretty great and the corner speed is also pretty tremendous, actually.  Now that the track is weathered it's not as fast, it's slowed down quite a bit, but it will still be 175 miles an hour or so which is still a very fast track."  

The team, led by crew chief Tony Liberati, has prepared HJM-16 for this weekend's event on the fast 1.5-mile quad-oval.  This Chevrolet Monte Carlo has been utilized on three previous occasions this season, the most recent two weeks ago at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., where Tim Fedewa drove it to a 12th place-finish in his first start with the team.  It is also the car that finished fifth in the spring event at Lowe's Motor Speedway and was victorious at Kentucky Speedway win in June.

"We haven't been there in a year and a half, no one has in the Busch Series, and from what I've heard from people talking about testing, the track's changed a lot since the last time we were there," said Fedewa.  "But, we have a good car - the same car we ran at Charlotte and the winner of the Kentucky race - so I feel really optimistic about it.  I like Atlanta, it was really my first opportunity to run on a Superspeedway came at Atlanta in an ARCA car, so I'm kind of fond of the track."

Herzog Jackson Motorsports began competing part-time on the Busch Series ranks in 1999, and in five outings, put together one top-10 finish with driver Jimmie Johnson piloting the No. 92 Chevrolet.  In 2000, the team ran 31 races, finished in the top 10 six times and finished 13th in owner points.  2001 was an even better year as the team posted its first career win, four top-fives and nine top-10 finishes on its way to a top-10 finish in the owner point standings.  The 2002 season built on the momentum of the past and the Liberati led team has scored one win, one pole position, nine top-10s and six top-10 finishes thus far.  In 99 starts, the Herzog Jackson Motorsports team has earned over two million dollars.