Catchfence

“Driver hopes to celebrate birthday with strong finish”

(China Grove, N.C.) March 31, 2009 - When Robert Richardson blows out the candles on his birthday cake on Saturday, his birthday wish is for one thing- a strong finish in this weekend’s O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Not only is Saturday a big day in Richardson’s life as he turns 27, but he is also racing at his home track with his roots just a few miles away in McKinney, Texas. In addition, Mahindra USA, primary sponsor of the No. 23 Mahindra Tractors car, has its corporate headquarters a few hours away in Houston, Texas.

“Racing at Texas Motor Speedway is like homecoming to me,” said Richardson. ” It’s where I began my career in racing in 2002 and I still love coming home to race here every year and hopefully years to come. Plus, knowing that I have home state support from my sponsor and the local Mahindra USA employees, I’m ready to take the green flag. Texas is a very fast race track and has multiple grooves to race in now. The track is like wine, it gets better with age.”

Coming off a top 30 performance at Bristol, the No. 23 Mahindra Tractors team wants to get into a smooth groove and give Richardson a great birthday present on Saturday.

“Things are starting to come together,” said Todd Brewer, crew chief. “The crew is working extremely hard in North Carolina to prepare for Texas. I’m hoping we will bounce back quickly from our finish last week and have a solid top 15 finish with our No. 23 Mahindra Tractors car. We want to make our sponsor, Mahindra USA, proud during its ‘hometown’ race. Racing at Texas is fun and it will be great to have a strong fan base in the stands!”

The No. 23 Mahindra Tractors team will be in action Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

- EROHS Group, LLC Press Release