Tina Gordon looking to follow in the footsteps of Darrell Waltrip 02-11-04 Daytona Beach, FL (February 11, 2004)-When Darrell Waltrip won the Daytona 500 in 1989, seventeen was his magic number. Waltrip started 17th, in the No. 17, on February 17th. Tina Gordon is hoping that thirteen will be her magic number this Friday when she starts 13th, on Friday the 13th, in her No. 13 Vassarette/Microtel Chevy Silverado for ThorSport Racing. Gordon started the day with her best practice session to date in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series posting the seventh and fourth fastest times in the first two practice sessions. Her thirteenth place qualifying effort is also the best yet of her career in this series. Her qualifying lap was turned in at a speed of 181.712 mph. "I am very excited," said Gordon. "Jerry Cook (crew chief) and the rest of my ThorSport Racing crew gave me a great truck that felt good out there." The truck Gordon is using this week has quite a history with the ThorSport team. Nicknamed Miss Piggy by the crew, this is the same truck that Terry Cook finished fourth in for the 2000 inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event here at Daytona, and also the same truck that Matt Crafton crashed during the big backstretch pileup of the 2002 event. Miss Piggy was completely rebuilt by the team after that and is proving to be worth her weight for Tina Gordon so far this week. The Florida Dodge Dealers 250 is set to begin on Friday at 8:00 p.m. For more information please contact: Erin Titman Victory Lane Motorsports Management, LLC phone: 228 323 2119 fax: 503 905 1662 email: etitman@aol.com