News/October 2002

EXCEDRIN QUICKTABS RACING TEAM FINISHES 26TH IN ATLANTA

HAMPTON, Ga. (October 28, 2002) - The Excedrin QuickTabs racing team hoped to turn things around after a disappointing run in Memphis (Tenn.) last weekend.  Unfortunately, the time spent at Atlanta Motor Speedway wasn't much better, and driver Tim Fedewa and the team posted a 26th-place finish in the Aaron's 312 NASCAR Busch Series race last Saturday.

The Atlanta area was cold and wet on Friday, which forced the cancellation of qualifying.  The clouds broke long enough for the Busch Series to get in a 50-minute practice session in the late afternoon, and Fedewa and the team were happy with the performance of the car after posting the 14th fastest time. 

Fedewa lined up 14th on the grid on Saturday afternoon, based on current owner points, and despite some questionable looking clouds hovering above the 1.5-mile track, the Aaron's 312 began as scheduled.  Fedewa immediately radioed to crew chief Tony (Rambo) Liberati that the car was loose, but got better as the number of laps run increased.  The team had the opportunity to make changes to the Chevrolet Monte Carlo on lap 29 during a competition caution period mandated by NASCAR.  Air pressure adjustments were made to the four fresh Goodyear tires before they were bolted on the car and Fedewa was back on his way to the track in 15.19 seconds.  Several drivers chose not to make pit stops and a few others took on only two new tires, which placed Fedewa in 20th place upon the restart.  The field took the green flag for exactly one lap before the caution flag was thrown again for rain.  Luckily, the rain lasted only minutes and four laps later the green flag was once again shown.

Fedewa went one lap down to race leader Michael Waltrip on lap 106 while in 18th place.  Liberati chose to make a pit stop in an effort to work on the handling of the racecar several laps later, which put the team down another lap.  The team hoped to be able to gain those laps back during restarts, but the race went virtually caution free from that point on.  Fedewa took the checkered flag in 26th place.  The team remained in the 14th position in NASCAR owner points.

"The car handled pretty well in practice, and we thought we would be pretty good come race time," said Fedewa following the event.  "For whatever reason, the Excedrin QuickTabs Chevrolet just didn't handle the way I needed it to during the race, and the changes we made just weren't enough to get us to where we wanted to be and race with the leaders."

The NASCAR Busch Series heads back to North Carolina Speedway next weekend for the running of the Sam's Club 200 on Saturday, November 2.  Qualifying will be held at 1:30 p.m. ET on Friday and the race will be broadcast live on TNT and MRN radio beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET.