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Robby Gordon looks forward to Baja 1000
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/births/2004/nov/10...
November 10, 2004
Brian Hilderbrand
The final week of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season will be a hectic one for Robby Gordon.
After completing 500 miles (hopefully) in Sunday's Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Gordon will hop on his private plane and fly to
Ensenada, Mexico, and compete in the first half of the 37th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race, which starts Thursday morning, Nov. 18.
After driving for 8 hours in his No. 31 Red Bull Trophy Truck down the Baja California peninsula, Gordon will turn the wheel over to co-driver Steve
Barlow, hop back on his plane and fly to Southern Florida, where he is to compete in the NASCAR Busch Series and Nextel Cup Series season finales at
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
"Why do it?" Gordon said, repeating a reporter's question. "Because I can, because I have an airplane, because we have sponsors and it's not going to
hurt our effort in Miami at all -- I'll be there in time for the first practice (Friday morning).
"I'm probably going to run about 500 to 700 miles (in the Baja 1000) and we'll see what time looks like. If time looks good -- we're going to average
70 miles an hour for the first 500 miles, so if we start at 10 o'clock, we'll be out of the truck by 7 or 8 o'clock and it won't be a big deal."
Gordon, who began his racing career in the deserts of Southern California, Southern Nevada and Mexico before progressing to Indy cars and then NASCAR,
said his decision to drive in the Baja 1000 this year was driven by two factors.
"First of all, I love the Baja 1000," Gordon said. "And, Baja is something I've always done and I haven't won it in a while. I've won it twice and
hopefully this will be the year for number three."
Gordon won his first Baja 1000 while co-driving with his father, Bob, in Class 2 in 1987 and then won it driving solo in 1989 in Class 8. He said he
is confident the SCORE Trophy Truck he has prepared for this year's event is capable of winning the 1,016.3-mile race.
"We built a new Chevrolet (CK-1500) last year and it's going to be one year old and that's about when my old trucks always came to life -- about year
one," Gordon said. "Unfortunately, I always sold trucks before I had the other ones completely developed and now I've got this thing developed and
we've got our chase crews ready and my people are ready."
Gordon, who is leaving Richard Childress Racing at the end of this season to start his own Nextel Cup team, said he has no plans to give up desert
racing despite the demands of being an owner/driver in the highly competitive NASCAR series.
In addition to his NASCAR efforts in both the Nextel Cup and Busch series, Gordon said he would drive in the Dakar rally (formerly Paris to Dakar) in
January, compete in the Indianapolis 500 next May and campaign his Trophy Truck on a full-time basis in the 2005 SCORE Desert Series. Gordon said he
has talked with motocross star Travis Pastrana, among others, about driving the Trophy Truck in 2005.
"As a race team owner, as we grow, I would like to actually run the Trophy Truck with somebody in it next year; maybe the guy that's going to drive
with me in Baja, Steve Barlow, or maybe a guy like Travis Pastrana," Gordon said.
"We've been looking at all our options ... but I'd like to run that full-time next year and run the car for a championship and maybe I'll just go and
help out at Baja."
One event Gordon said he likely would miss next year is the inaugural SCORE Las Vegas Terrible's Cup I in July at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Although
the event is being held on an off-weekend for the Nextel Cup Series, Gordon said he didn't think the stadium race would fit into his schedule.
"I don't know if we'll be able to do it or not," he said. "We'll sit and look at the schedule and see how it works out, but I'll have a full plate.
Our first year, we'll do an Indy 500 program, we'll do the Cup and Busch programs and we'll also do an off-road program.
"The truck may show up there in Vegas, I just may not be in it."
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From Baja to Homestead, Robby Gordon Shows Versatility
http://www.bgnracing.com/news/2004/34homestead/111904_55.htm
HOMESTEAD, FL --- Who was that driver dashing through the NASCAR Busch Series garage this morning? It was Fruit of the Loom NASCAR Busch Series driver
Robby Gordon. Did he oversleep? Did he forget where the track was? Did he decide to take a stroll along the surf of nearby Key Largo and forget what
time he needed to be at the track? No, no, and no would be the answers to those questions.
Robby Gordon, one of the most versatile drivers on the face of the Earth had just arrived from Mexico where he was competing in the SCORE BAJA 1000
Desert race. When Gordon climbed out of his SCORE Red Bull TrophyTruck, his team was leading with the finish line less than 250 miles away. Misfortune
struck the truck just miles after Gordon climbed out of the car for an early morning flight to the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Below is a timeline highlighting the last 24 hours for Robby Gordon
9:49 a.m. PST: The Red Bull Trophy Truck begins the BAJA 1000. Gordon will drive the first 740 of 1016 miles before Red Bull driver Steve Barlow takes
the wheel to complete the run.
10:57 a.m. PST Gordon just cleared race mile 65 running 5th. Everything running smoothly
12:18 p.m. PST Gordon cleared Matias Wash (approx. race mile 128) and everything is good.
1:00 p.m. PST David Gilliland qualifies the # 55 Fruit of the Loom Chevrolet in the eighth position for Saturday?s Ford 300 NASCAR Busch Grand
National race.
1:03 p.m. PST Gordon just passed race mile 200 and is currently the 1st truck on the course with a 5 minute lead over the second place truck.
3:00 p.m. PST Gordon continues to build on his lead over the second place truck.
3:32 p.m. PST The latest report from Gordon helicopter was that the Red Bull Trophy Truck had just completed its second pit stop at mile 344.98 on Bay
of LA Hwy @ km 16.5. The truck had two flats but still came out first on course.
5:56 p.m. PST Coyne Motorsports Semi and Red Bull Chase Truck #1 have reported that Gordon has made his stop at mile 516.13. They are reporting no
problems and they are very happy with the truck.
8:00 p.m. PST Gordon continues to lead BAJA 1000
10:50 p.m. PST Red Bull Trophy truck has completed it's final pit stop. Gordon has exited the race and turned truck over to backup driver Steve
Barlow.
2:16 a.m. PST A brief call from Gordon prior to airplane take-off reported that the #31 Red Bull Truck was down at about mile 790. Further calls from
Gordon chase vehicles have helped to determine that it is due to a broken ring and pinion. The crew is working hard at this time to get the race truck
running again. After attempting to repair the truck, the truck is retired from the race.
8:09 a.m. EST Gordon has just landed at the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo. Gordon begins route to Speedway.
8:45 a.m. EST Gilliland climbs into the Fruit of the Loom Chevrolet as the final hour of practice begins. The team is prepared to place Gordon inside
car upon arrival
9:30 a.m. EST With 15 minutes remaining in the practice session, Gordon arrives at the track and climbs aboard the Fruit of the Loom Chevrolet for a
few laps. Showing his versatility, Gordon has now raced at speeds as slow as 5mph while climbing rough terrain to 170 mph while racing on the 2?mile
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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