Richmond II: Chevy drivers pair with Looney Tunes

Chevy Monte Carlo Winston Cup driver pairings with the Looney Tunes characters:

Driver - Character - Car# - Sponsor Jeff Gordon - Bugs Bunny - 24 - DuPont Kevin Harvick - The Taz - 29 - GM Goodwrench Jeff Green - Daffy Duck - 30 - America Online Bobby Hamilton* - Marvin The Martian and K9 - 55 - Schneider Electric Robby Gordon - Pepe Le Pew - 31 - Cingular Wireless Mike Skinner - Yosemite Sam - 4 - Kodak Max Film Terry Labonte - Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote - 5 - Kellogg's Jimmie Johnson - Tweety & Sylvester - 48 - Lowe's Joe Nemechek - Speedy Gonzales - 25 - UAW-Delphi

Gearing up for the Monte Carlo 400 with The Looney Tunes - The Rematch - eight Chevy NASCAR Winston Cup drivers and Characters competed in a special 5-lap Golf Cart Race on pit road at Richmond International Raceway. The Looney Tunes characters rode on the back of the golf carts with their respective drivers.

Finishing Order:
1. Jeff Green
2. Robby Gordon
3. Andy Petree
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Joe Nemechek
7. Mike Skinner
8. Jeff Gordon

Post-race driver comments:

Jeff Green / Daffy Duck - No. 30 -- winner. "I think Daffy had everything to do with it. The highlight of my whole career was Jeff Gordon rolling across pit road. I've seen it all. It was pretty cool. Whoever qualified my car did a good job. I was on the inside, so I was able to miss Jeff rolling across the ground. It's an awesome feat to come here for Monte Carlo and Looney Tunes -- Warner Bros. does an awesome job for us."

What did you think of Jeff Gordon falling out of the golf cart in front of you? "It was four and a half more laps of laughing, for me. When I came back and he was gone, that was a good thing. Nobody ran over him. Daffy finally got his bill going in the right direction and gave us a little downforce and we were able to go through the corner. It was a fun time."

Jeff Gordon / Bugs Bunny - No. 24 - (Note: In turn one of the first lap, Jeff Gordon and his golf cart parted ways when he slipped off the seat) "Do I have burns on my back? That was quite a ride. I had the pole position and I knew that was the place to be. Jimmie (Johnson) got a little jump on me, but I was beating him going into (turn) one and I wasn't about to lift. I was more worried about Bugs falling off than myself. The next thing I know, that thing really hooked up. Unfortunately, that seat didn't have near as much grip as the tires did. Luckily, Jimmie was beside me and ran my hand over instead of my head, which was a good choice."

As you fell off the cart, did any thoughts of a lost Winston Cup championship go with you? "No, not at the moment -- maybe later on today. We'll be happy to get those skid marks out of the way early so we can go on racing here at Richmond. We're really excited about the Looney Tunes program and having Bugs on board again this year.

Last year, I finished 2nd or something in the golf cart race, but I crashed and burned on the track. So, let's hope the crash and burn stays with the golf carts this time."

How are you going to explain this to Rick Hendrick? "I'm not. I hope nobody else tells him, either. When I left the trailer, Robbie (Loomis, crew chief) told me to be careful and not get hurt because I had told him how wild it was last year. I won't tell him about this."

Do you see that big TV camera over there? "Oh, great. They got one of my most embarrassing moments on one of the biggest screens in the world."

Jimmie Johnson / Tweety & Sylvester - No. 48 - (Note: Jimmie stopped gave Jeff Gordon a lift in his golf cart after the race) "First, I ran over the hand he writes my checks with so I figured I'd better go pick him up and bring him back. I think the seat has a lot less grip than the tires do."

Robby Gordon / Pepe Le Pew - No. 31 - (On clipping the cone in turn 4) "I wanted to close that gap a little bit. Pepe and me, we were stinking it up out there. He held on. I couldn't believe it when I went through turn one and saw (Jeff) Gordon rolling out of his cart. I didn't want to hit him, so I got on the brakes. Somebody ran into the back of me and I looked up and Jeff Green never even lifted. He would have sacrificed Gordon for the win here. I couldn't believe it. He had a half-a-straightaway on us and the only way I was going to get any closer was to cut one of two cones each lap and you finally caught onto me."

Kevin Harvick / The Taz - No. 29 - "I was very busy trying to stop laughing because it looked like a cartoon. Taz is kind of short and his center of gravity is pretty low, so I wasn't worried about him. But I just about flew out in the second corner down there. I was right there with Jeff but I had the wrong side of the steering wheel with my right hand. We had a great run here last year with the Taz on board and we're looking forward to another great run Saturday night."

*Andy Petree / Marvin The Martian (relief driver for Bobby Hamilton who was injured in last night's Craftsman Truck race) - No. 55 - (Do you think you should drive the Cup car Saturday night?) "I think it would have been safer out there in the truck last night. We about busted the wall one time there too. It's a real privilege to come out here and compete with these guys - this is the best field I've ever been in. This will be one of my great memories."

Mike Skinner / Yosemite Sam - No. 4 - (On winning this race last year and coming in last this year) "They figured out how to beat us. They started Yosemite Sam and me in the rear. I wasn't late for the drivers meeting so I really don't know how that happened. I want to thank all the guys back at the Easy-Go shop for giving us a great race car. The Goodyear tires stuck really good and Yosemite held on really good. We had a fast car, but somehow or another we got caught up in the tires over here and the caution flag never came out. That's my story. Hopefully we can get a Monte Carlo in victory lane this time and hopefully it's the No. 4 car."

Joe Nemechek / Speedy Gonzales - No. 25 - "We needed a little more speed. I think Speedy's hat was making too much drag or something. It was a good race. We just didn't go as fast as the rest of them. I thought I was going to throw him (Speedy Gonzales) off the back. We got to turn one and everybody was checking up. I thought he was going to be going over my head. He held on. It was a good race."

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