This is a really good time for me. I am able to spend some real quality time with my family and even take a couple of trips together. In fact, we took Jordan down to Disney World and just had a great time. She's getting bigger and bigger all the time and it's good to be able to spend some of that growing' time with her.

Mom is doing much, much better. She's not quite 100% yet, but she is able to be up and functioning and doing things she wants to. She's really beginning to enjoy herself again. She isn't in charge of the fan club anymore because that was just getting to be too much for her to do. She did a great job with the club and will still be on call' for us if we have any questions.

We are real excited about what the future holds for us for next season and we're more than pumped up to go to Daytona and start doing some testing but, even as exciting as all that is to me, I'm still happy to be able to have a little time with my family.

ERNIE IRVAN TALKS ABOUT
WATKINS GLEN AND MICHIGAN

Hello, everybody. Well, we had a fairly decent weekend up at Watkins Glen. I really enjoy racing the road courses. It seems that once we got behind, we never could get track position to get back toward the front and 20th was just the best we could do that day.

But, we're really excited about going back to Michigan. Since we won the last one there, we feel like we can be real competitive again this time, so we're going back with the same car and the exact same set up to see if we can do it again.

I do want to take this opportunity to again thank all of the people who have sent e-mail about my mother. Mom's been progressively getting a little better. Right now, she's still heavily sedated to keep her calm. We have hope that the doctors will begin reducing the sedative over the next week so that she will start coming to. Obviously, when she does come to, she is going to wonder where the last few weeks have gone. All the doctors have expectations that she eventually will be fine - it's just going to be a long road to recovery, just like mine was. Thanks, again, for all your very kind words of comfort and most of all for your prayers.

ERNIE IRVAN TALKS ABOUT
HIS FANS AND LOUDEN

First of all, I'd like to start by thanking the more than two thousand fans who took the time to send us e-mail with messages of support and good wishes. That's the kind of support a person needs in tough times and I really appreciate it. You are really great fans.

As far as this weekend went, we went to Loudon as the defending champion and felt we had a really good car. We qualified 11th and, during the last practice, we showed we had a really good car. All the speculation was that we were going to be tough to beat.

When they threw the green, we got right up to second. (My teammate, DJ, was leading.) We both ran well, but then we both had motor trouble so there wasn't much we could do about that. We just had to go home and try to fix the problems.

I did wind up finishing eighth - DJ wasn't that lucky - but, all in all, we do feel like it was a good weekend.

Now, it's on to Pocono for the second time this season and we're really looking forward to it because we think we're going to have some "stuff" that we're going to be able to "whup" them with up there.

ERNIE IRVAN TALKS ABOUT MARTINSVILLE

Well, our trip to Martinsville certainly wasn't anything to write home about. However, we did learn a lot while we were there. Obviously, some of the things we learned are things we definitely don't want to try the next time we go there.

To sum it up, we missed on the chassis set-up and had a little bit of a problem with overheating. It was things like that. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and, hopefully, when we go to Martinsville the next time, we will be able to dial the car in a lot better.

Next is Talladega and we're excited about going there. DJ and I sat on the front row in the Spring race last year and we really think we can go there and do it again. We have some great race cars. The guys in the engine shop have done a tremendous amount of work and, hopefully, all that hard work will show. We don't want it to be like Daytona where all the hard work that was put in didn't really show up as much as we thought it would.

We've done a lot of work in the last two months in preparation for Talladega and we feel we will have two good race cars there.

ERNIE IRVAN TALKS ABOUT MICHIGAN

What can I tell you?! I'm really pumped up about getting my first win of the year, especially because it was at Michigan. It seems that when you go along for a while, and you don't win a race, you realize more and more how important and how hard it is to win a Winston Cup race. Oh, sure, you can always find lots of excuses for not winning, but when you do win all that goes away.

This win was a great tribute to our great race team. They had a great car for me to race.

Probably the biggest deal, however, is that we're going to make one race fan a millionaire as a result of this win. Someone is going to win a million dollars if they go to a Texaco station and get the right "scratch-to-win" ticket.

We are also really excited about going to California. One reason is that it's my home state and I always like to go there. The other is that we will be showing the fans a track that is more typical of those we usually race. I know a lot of fans have been to the road course at Sears Point, but this will be different and it's a brand new track.

I also know I am going there with a lot of confidence. I had such a great car for the win at Michigan and we're going to take the same one to California. We expect it to be great there, too.

ERNIE IRVAN TALKS ABOUT
MICHIGAN AND HIS FUTURE

Hello, everybody, and welcome to REV Speedway. I really appreciate everyone "clicking on" to my page.

You could say we had a decent weekend at Michigan, if you're satisfied with a fourth-place finish, which we're not, but that's just all we had.

Mark Martin was really, really tough. There's no doubt about it, he was the head of the class' in the whole field.

However, we did have a good car. The Texaco/Havoline Ford ran real good.

Well, I know the main question in the minds of most of the fans is not about what we did or didn't do this weekend, it's about what I'm going to be doing in the future. That's been THE question everywhere. I wish I knew exactly, but I don't. I'm in the process of working on a few programs and I promise you that as soon as I know what I am going to do, and can give you a legitimate answer, my fans on REV Speedway will be the first to know. I'm going to let you know right here before I make a public announcement, so keep "clicking on" to this page. Hopefully, it will all come together real soon.

There hasn't been much change in mom's condition. She continues to improve, however, and I say, again, thanks for all your prayers and good wishes. They mean a lot.

ERNIE IRVAN TALKS ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE
PLUS AN UPDATE ON HIS MOM

Ah, man, I am really excited about the run we had at New Hampshire. I only ran two laps that weren't very good - the first time we qualified and the second time we qualified. That's why we had to use a provisional.

Even so, we had a really great car and I'm just so pleased with the whole team and what we did.

Jeff Gordon was very good, but we felt we had a good car, too. So good, that we plan to take it to Dover and, hopefully get a win with it.

I really appreciate everybody sticking with me. All your e-mail has been so supportive and encouraging. I'm really looking forward to the Skittles program next year. I feel sure we will be a good team and win a lot of races.

My mom is doing better every day. In fact, she got to come home for a while yesterday to watch the race and sleep a couple of hours in her own bedroom. Then she went back to the hospital, but that was a very positive step forward. We're hopeful that she can come home in the next three or four weeks and continue her rehab there. Then, maybe, she can start living a normal life again. Thanks again for all your prayers and good wishes. They still mean a lot.

ERNIE IRVAN TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW RIDE

I am really excited about being with the Pontiac group. Of course, my relationship with Ford was very good, but they really didn't have anything to offer right now. I'm certainly not going to close that door with Ford Motor Company because they have been very good to me. But, it will be exciting to join Pontiac.

I'm also very excited about being with Jay Frye, Ryan Pemberton and all the people at MB2 Motorsports and I look forward to a good relationship. I feel so good about it that I'm sure we can get on with my career and win some more races.

ERNIE IRVAN TALKS ABOUT POCONO

PENNSYLVANIA 500 -- JULY 20, 1997 -- LONG POND, PA -- Perched on stands in the garage area while the race raged on without it, the body of the No. 28 Texaco/Havoline Ford told the story of its fortunes at the Pennsylvania 500, Sunday at Pocono International Speedway.

On the otherwise unblemished passenger side, there was a bold black "donut" squarely between the "2" and "8" numerals. It came from the left front tire of a lapped car as Irvan attempted to pass it low in Turn One on Lap 136 of the 200-lap, 500-mile event. The flattened and distorted driver's side and crumpled corners of the driver's side showed the violent result.

"He must not have seen me," said a disappointed but uninjured Ernie Irvan. "We just collided and I spun. It's a shame, becuase we had a good car."

It also was a shame because Irvan and his Robert Yates Racing teammates had battled back from as far as a lap behind to overcome the combined effects of a stalled car on pit stop No. 1, a jammed air gun on stop No. 2, and running out of fuel as the car entered the pits on stop No. 3.

Despite all that, Irvan combined hard charging and a fortuitous caution to scramble back into the Top 10 at the time of his accident with 160 miles still to go in the race.

Irvan remains 15th in points, but has seen his distance to the coveted top 10 expand to 199 points.

The 19th stop of the 32-race campaign is the Brickyard 400 on Saturday, August 2. Set for a 1:00 pm EDT start, the race will be carried live by ABC and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.

ERNIE IRVAN TALKS ABOUT THE PEPSI 400

Hello again, fans. I'm sure a lot of you watched the Pepsi 400 this weekend, either in person or on TV, and saw that it was a pretty good day for the Texaco Havoline Ford.

Even though we didn't qualify as well as we would have liked, we were able to work our way up to the front and run in the top 10 most of the day.

We really want to congratulate John Andretti on the good run that he had which enabled him to win the race.

It was a fairly uneventful day for us and about all we can say about it is that we had a decent run. That last-lap melee helped us pick up two or three spots, but the most important thing was that no one was hurt.

Now, it's on to Loudon. See you there.

ERNIE IRVAN : POST-CHRISTMAS UPDATE

Christmas at the Irvan household was really great this year. Now that Jordan is four, she really got excited about Santa Claus which, in turn, got me really excited, especially seeing the joy on her face.

We haven't done any testing yet, but we're really looking forward to going to Daytona next week with the Skittles Pontiac. We're really excited about it. They were the best-qualifying General Motors cars in the last race at Talladega last year and we feel the car is even better this year.

We have already started pit-stop practice and we're getting the last of the "pieces of the puzzle" put together. We're "pumped up and ready to go"!

RENO WINS SECOND
RCA PIT STRATEGY AWARD

Marc Reno, crew chief on the Texaco Havoline Ford, became the first two-time winner of the RCA Pit Strategt Award this season.

Reno and his crew's efforts in helping driver Ernie Irvan recover from a speeding penalty on pit road and finish second in Sunday's Primestar 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway earned him the RCA Pit Strategy Award for the week and puts him atop the standings for the year-end award of $50,000. Reno also won for keeping Irvan in the top-10 from the backstretch pits at North Carolina Motor Speedway two weeks ago.

Reno will recieve a check for $5,000 and the RCA mascot, a 36" stuffed Nipper dog during pre-race ceremonies at the TransSouth 400 at Darlington Raceway on March 23.

ERNIE IRVAN TO DRIVE
SKITTLES® PONTIAC FOR '98

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Aug 27, 1997 -- Ernie Irvan, whose 10-year career in NASCAR Winston Cup racing includes 15 victories and a dramatic comeback from a life-threatening crash that earned him the admiration of competitors and fans alike, has been named to drive the #36 SKITTLES® Pontiac for the 1998 season.

"Ernie's record speaks for itself with a phenomenal 103 top-10 finishes in 252 starts," said Jay Frye, general manager of MB2 Motorsports, which today announced Irvan as its new driver. "He's among the most determined drivers ever. He can take a car to the front and he can win races. We feel very fortunate to have him. While we must remain focused on the remainder of this season, we're very excited about 1998."

Irvan, 38, a native of Salinas, Calif., who now lives outside of Charlotte, will replace Derrike Cope. So far this season, Irvan has posted eight top-10 finishes through 22 races with 10 events left on the schedule. He also won an emotional victory this season at Michigan Speedway, the site of a crash in 1994 that caused him to miss 37 races. His courageous comeback from near fatal injuries won him numerous national awards, including the Mildred "Babe" Zaharuis Courage Award, presented by the United States Sports Academy to athletes who "demonstrate courageous action in overcoming adversity to excel in sports."

"The SKITTLES® Team is a young team with tremendous potential," said Irvan. "I'm looking forward to the opportunity to grow with them. All the elements for success are in place and I think this is one of the best opportunities in NASCAR Winston Cup racing."

The SKITTLES® Team was announced last year at Charlotte Motor Speedway with Tom Beard of Atlanta, Nelson Bowers of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Read Morton Jr. of Atlanta forming the NASCAR team and sharing in the ownership of MB2 Motorsports. The owners and Irvan will hold a formal news conference at a later date.

In addition to the Michigan win this season, Irvan captured the No. 1 qualifying position for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He's currently ranked 15th in Winston Cup points. He has 18 career pole positions, a victory in the prestigious Daytona 500 and has finished as high as fifth in the points championship race.

Irvan also is known for the tenacity that brought him at racing's most competitive level. He relocated from California and worked on odd jobs to support himself while trying to find a break. in 1987, he watched the Daytona 5000 on a borrowed black and white television while washing cars. Four years later, he won the event, the "Super Bowl of NASCAR," while driving for the Morgan-McClure Team. Later that year, he won at the Watkins Glenn, N.Y., road course. His first three victories came on a superspeedway, a short track, and a road course, a testimony to his diverse driving skills. During his career, he has driven Fords, Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles and Chevrolets.

In 1994, Irvan was in contention for the series championship. That was interrupted by an accident that left him battling for his life with critical brain and lung injuries that gave him only a 10%chance of survival. NASCAR fans rallied around Irvan and his family as he staged a long and determined effort to return to racing.

The comeback was complete in 1996 when he scored two victories, earned 12 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes and finished the season in the top 10 in championship points.

Besides racing cars, Irvan is a partner with his wife Kim at the horse training center adjacent to their new home. Kim entered her first horse show competition at the regional level in 1994 and has placed in every show since. Irvan married the former Kim Baker in November 1992 and they have a daughter, Jordan Leah, who turned four this month.

ERNIE IRVAN TALKS ABOUT TALLADEGA

Well, we had a pretty decent weekend at Talladega. We used a car with a new paint scheme as a tribute to Davey Allison and in honor of the 10-year anniversary of Texaco's relationship with Robert Yates Racing.

It was great to put the car on the pole and we felt we were very competitive in the race. At the beginning, we led quite a while, but just fell a little bit short. I was right in the middle of the big wreck but, somehow, I managed to avoid getting involved in it so we felt very fortunate.

We ended up fifth and that makes us eligible to go to Daytona and try for the $1 million. It's exciting any time you get a chance to win a million dollars and it's a tribute to what RJ Reynolds has done for our sport.

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