COUGHENOUR FINDS THE BREAKS HARD IN RACING

Petaluma, California -- After very fast practice and qualifying efforts, the C & C Racing Team had every reason to expect a great run on Saturday in the Snap On Tools 200 NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series event at Sears Point Raceway. 1997NASCAR Winston West Champion Butch Gilliland was second fast in the last practice on Thursday, and after experiencing some transmission problems that left the Iomega Chevrolet 12th in qualifying in the 48 car field, the car performed very well in the final practice session on Saturday.

Just before the event began, Butch ran the second fastest qualifying lap of the day in the Ralph's / Food 4 Less / Coca-Cola Ford Taurus during the second round qualifying for the SaveMart / Kragen 350 NASCAR Winston Cup Series event. Gilliland, and the entire C & C Racing team, were clearly pumped up for a great run for the Iomega Chevrolet in the Snap On Tools 200.

The Iomega Chevrolet was very competitive at the start of the race, but within a few laps Gilliland began to develop a problem shifting the car. Within the next two laps, Gilliland was literally driving the car with one hand on the steering wheel, and one hand holding the car in gear, no easy feat on the tricky Sears Point road course. The problem quickly grew worse forcing the car to the pits on lap 12.

When interviewed by Ray Dunlap on ESPN Gillilland said, "The Iomega Chevrolet was running pretty good, then the transmission where it bolts to the engine (the bellhousing) broke on it. It kept jumping out of gear. It got so bad that I couldn't drive it any more" Team owner Ed Coughenour said, "We are real disappointed with the failure in the drive train on the Iomega Chevrolet, because we really think we had a shot at winning today. We were confident that we would at least get a top 5 finish. After finishing 10th here last year, we had a much better car this year. We really appreciate the support from Iomega and all of our sponsors, but we will back in the hunt at Irwindale."

"We have really had a lot of fun here this weekend with this great new ChromaFlair / ColorShift paint job on the race car" continued Coughenour. "There have been crowds of people around the race car since we rolled it off the trailer, and it has really generated a great deal of attention for all of our sponsors. And we really owe a great deal of thanks to our new engine builder, Joey Grose and Ron Grose Racing. This new engine program is exactly what this team needed to make us a front runner. We were definitely had one of the strongest motors out there."

The teams' primary sponsor for the Sears Point event was Iomega, Corp. manufacturers of the ZIP, JAZ and Clik brand of computer peripheral and accessories product. Associate Sponsors include Flex Products ChromaFlair / ColorShift; Larsen Racing Products; DAYCO Top Cog Belts & Hoses; Flowmaster; Mother's Polishes & Waxes; VALCO Cincinnati, Image Masters and RAPCO / PACE Pit Equipment.

C & C Racing is based in Petaluma, California and plans to compete in several upcoming NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series events in 1999 with veteran driver Ed Coughenour.

The team is still seeking primary and associate sponsorship for the remainder of the 1999 season, and for the entire 2000 season. C & C Racing is represented by Phillips Motorsports Marketing (925) 606-7080.