GMAC Racing Looking Forward to Music City Return

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 5, 2003) – Don’t bet against the GMAC Racing team heading into this weekend’s Trace Adkins Chrome 300 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway -- especially with the kind of success they’ve had in recent weeks. The team has posted three top-five finishes in their last four NASCAR Busch Series races dating back to the May 10 event at Gateway International Raceway where they finished fourth. Last weekend in Dover, Del., they were in a good position to challenge for the win until an incident on a restart late in the race, but they still battled back to finish fifth. Driver Brian Vickers and the GMAC team have been close to picking up their first Busch Series victory on a couple of occasions this year, only to come away empty-handed so far. Coincidentally, one of those races was held at Nashville in April. After pacing 30 laps, Vickers gave up the lead on Lap 196 of 225 to pit for routine service under the green flag. Following the pit stop, Vickers re-entered the race in ninth place, but an untimely caution flag on Lap 201 trapped many of the teams who had just pitted one lap down, including the GMAC team. Despite the team’s misfortune they still managed to finish ninth. The GMAC Racing team rolls into this weekend’s event at Nashville as one of the hottest teams in the Busch Series. During the last four races, only Scott Riggs has a better average finishing position (5.0) than Vickers (6.25). “Our performances as of late have given us a feeling of comfort when we show up to the track now,” said crew chief Lance McGrew. “Because we’ve been to so many different tracks so far this year and run well at a lot of them, I think it helps to provide Brian with some confidence, knowing we’ll have a good setup ready for him. “Now it’s a matter of us expecting to run well every weekend instead of hoping to (run well).” After leaving the season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway 42nd in Busch Series points, Vickers and GMAC Racing currently sit seventh overall, just 12 markers out of sixth after gaining 35 positions since leaving Daytona. Live coverage of the Busch Series event from Nashville begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on FX and MRN Radio.