Pennzoil Pagan Racing Preview: Guerrero Takes Fresh Outlook to Charlotte
22 July 1997
Guerrero Takes Fresh Outlook to Charlotte Coming off his strongest performance of the season at Pikes Peak, Pennzoil Pagan driver Roberto Guerrero likes his chances this week at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Currently seventh in Indy Racing League (IRL) points, Guerrero will make his first-ever laps at Charlotte when practice for Saturday's VisionAire 500 begins today. Last month in his first visit to the new Colorado oval, the veteran driver qualified fifth and ran as high as fourth before getting collected in a turn four incident that left him with an 18th place finish. Guerrero on... ...adjusting to a night-racing schedule: "That is the toughest adjustment to make. For a guy that is used to going to bed at 9:30 [p.m.], it's pretty tough to still be in the Pennzoil car at 10 o'clock. I am just going to try to keep my body on California-time. I figure since there is a three-hour time distance, it might not work out too bad, but we'll just have to wait and see." ...his mindset going into Charlotte: "Now, the way I look at it, we have a chance to win any race we go to, so I am really looking forward to this one in Charlotte. I'm looking forward to all of them, actually. I wish there were a few more races this year." ...what he knows about Charlotte Motor Speedway: "I've heard from the NASCAR guys that the track is a lot nicer than the one in Texas. They really seem to love it. It looks like the shape of the track is the same as Texas, but everyone I talked to said that it's really not. I think the biggest problem for our cars may be the bumps in turn four. They don't seem to be a big deal for the stock cars, but those cars are obviously a lot different than ours." ...the importance of successful IRL races in NASCAR markets: "You always want the races to be a success. But, I think it is more important than normal when we go to a place like Charlotte. I think it's critical. I've heard that a lot of tickets have been sold and it seems like there will be a lot of people there, so it's really important that we have a good, competitive race." For More Information Contact: Al Larsen Cohn & Wolfe 404-880-5267 al_larsen@cohnwolfe.com
