Tales Of The Not So Rich And Famous ~ The "Other" Gordon
1/07/2014
PattyKay Lilley
I bid
you welcome gentle readers, to another in our winter series of, "Tales of
the not so rich and famous." You know, I've learned something from doing
these mini-bios... something I dearly wish I could impress on a man named
France. Are you listening Brian? When the off-season began, we asked our
readers what they'd like to read about over the winter, and received an
overwhelming number of votes for learning more about some of the drivers that
never made a big splash or earned the brightest spotlight. What I've learned is that it pays to pay
attention to the fans. It's so simple. They know what they want, and if you
just ask, they'll be more than happy to tell you.
And so
today, gentle readers, I've chosen a driver long one of my favorites, who
perhaps never made it to the big stage in the eyes of most NASCAR fans, but
instead of marching to just a different drummer, this
racer marches to an entire brass band of well-tuned instruments, all playing
the same tune, "Race! Race! Race!" We often
hear Tony Stewart described as a pure racer, because he's raced in so many
different series. What then would we call a man that must have raced in twice
as many as Tony... at least? The man of whom I speak is Robby Gordon. In my
list of nicknames bestowed upon drivers by The Lady in Black, you might recall
Robby being referred to as "The Other Gordon", obviously allotting
him a spot in line somewhere below that of Jeff Gordon, long a NASCAR darling. Yet
in so many ways, Robby is second to none. Please allow me to tell you a bit
more about "The other Gordon."
Robby
was born on January 2, 1969, which by my reckoning means he turned 45
years old only a few days ago, but what a lot of racing he's packed into
that time!
His
career started in 1985, when at only 16 years of age he won the
first off-road race he ever entered by beating his father, Bob, who came in
second. I never saw that Nevada 500, but two weeks later he managed to
win his first of what would become many races in the Mickey Thompson Stadium
series. The following year father and son teamed up to win four races in the
SCORE/HDRA series and the Class 2 series championship.
In 1987,
the pair won three more races in that series and Robby was voted Rookie of the
Year. The year 1988 found him driving a Ford factory truck for Jim
Venable Racing to four victories and a Class 8 championship. At the same
time, he drove his own Super 1600 to a class championship in the Mickey Thompson
stadium series. For a bit of icing on the cake, he was voted the Off-Road
driver of the year.
In 1989
Robby won the prestigious "Baja 1000", making the 17 hour drive
alone, and becoming the first driver to win the overall event in a pick-up
truck, (Ford) a feat he would accomplish four more times. That
same year he won six of the eight Mickey Thompson "factory truck"
events in a Toyota, and was champion of that division. Oh yes, and he was
once more voted Off-Road Driver of the Year.
In 1990,
(still only 21 years of age} Roush Racing signed him to drive in the IMSA GTO
series with co-drivers Lynn St. James and Calvin Fish in the 24 Hours of
Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. The trio won both! Robby also
posted victories at the Meadowlands, Lime Rock and Del Mar to tie with Pete Halsmer for second place in the series. That same
year he also won the SCORE/HDRA championship in Class 8 for Venable
Racing. The next year, 1991, would bring more of the same as Robby again
won the IMSA GTO class in the 24 Hours of Daytona, this time with partners
Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Mark Martin, followed by
another win at Sebring with partner Max Jones. After winning three more
times, he finished second in the championship race to Pete Halsmer,
by only four points. It was this same year that young Robby made
his initial foray into Winston Cup, driving for Junie Donlavey in the Daytona
500, where he only managed an eighteenth place finish after spinning to avoid
an accident.
1992 saw
Robby debut in the CART series, driving for Ganassi Racing in seven races with
a best finish of eighth (twice). Once more, he was on the winning
team in the IMSA GTS (Formerly GTO) series in the 24 Hours of Daytona,
this time with Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Dorsey
Schroeder. He went on to win the IMSA event at Del Mar for a third time in as
many years, and an SCCA Trans Am race at Long Beach, driving a Roush Mustang in
his series debut.
During
the ensuing years, while he continued to race open wheel, sports cars and
trucks, Robby made a few starts in Winston Cup, notably he drove the first race
for the #28 Havoline team after the death of driver
Davey Allison in 1993. At the end of 1996, he signed a contract with
Felix Sabates and drove 22 races for Sabco Racing
over the next two years, capturing one pole (Atlanta) and posting a best finish
of fourth at Watkins Glen. After a few more "catch" rides, he
formed his own team in 2000, running 17 races that year, the only
highlights being at the road courses of Sonoma and Watkins Glen, where he
managed respectable finishes of 9th and 4th respectively.
2001 saw
him start the year driving for a seemingly struggling Morgan-McClure
team, who informed him after five races that his services were no longer
needed. A dejected Robby began to concentrate on the Indianapolis 500,
which he would drive for that legendary and loveable curmudgeon, A.J. Foyt,
and his brand new business partner in the person of Richard Childress, car
owner for the late, great Dale Earnhardt.
Strangely
enough, the still grieving car owner and the young driver took to each other
almost immediately, in what Robby has described as the turning point of his
career.
"It
was my seventh Indy 500, and I was in my element. I had never so much as sat
down with Richard before then, but we had a blast. He saw that I was committed
to my racing program, and we hit it off. We both speak the language of
racers."
For
Richard's part, he had this to say, "I saw how well he and A.J.
worked together, the respect they had for each other and how good Robby was
with the press, the sponsors, and the fans. It was a totally different Robby
Gordon than I had seen or how people had described him. Everyone knows he has
great car control and the ability to win. He's a talented driver, and he has
great feel for any car he climbs into."
Over
that summer, Robby filled in at two races for an injured Mike Skinner,
then driver of Childress' #31, and when Skinner left the team for knee surgery
after the Dover race, the ride went to Robby since it had already been
announced that Skinner's contract would not be renewed. By the end of
2001, both Robby and the #31 team had their first Winston Cup
Victory, coming in the final race of the season at Loudon New Hampshire.
The year
2002 appeared to be one of "growing pains" for the teams at RCR. So
much so in fact, that Richard decided a radical change was necessary, and
literally swapped the teams of Gordon and his teammate, Kevin Harvick. From my
point of view, that had to be a plus for Robby, since it put him with the crew
of the late Dale Earnhardt, arguably the best in the business. Indeed, 2003 brought 2 more wins for the team,
both coming on the road courses at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, highlighting a
season that saw 4 top-5s and 10 top-10s.
Those
wins would be the last for Robby in Cup competition. He drove one more year for
Childress and moved in 2005 to the #7 team, then owned by Jim Smith. The year
proved to be far less than fruitful, with the team failing to qualify for seven
races and suffering engine-related DNFs in nine more, gleaning only one top-5
and two top-10s for the entire season. At the end of that season, Robby
purchased the team from Smith and in the years that followed, tried his hand at
being an owner-driver... something that has been proven time and time again not
to end well.
In the
years from 2006 through 2012, Robby amassed only 4 more top-5s and 10 more
top-10s. Over that same period of time, he became what most fans saw as
NASCAR's favorite whipping boy... if there was a penalty to be assessed, it was
assessed against Robby. If there was a fine to be levied, it was levied on the
#7 team. At one point, his sponsor was rejected because the logo supposedly too
closely resembled someone else's graphics. As we've seen over many years, when
NASCAR doesn't like you, they have a million ways of letting you know. I think
they let Robby know in all but a couple of that million. Eventually, the cost
of NASCAR and renewed interest in off-road racing caused Robby to fade from the
NASCAR scene.
It has
to be noted though, that Robby is never still. Even through his Cup career,
during the off-season he was racing off-road somewhere, including the
prestigious races of Baja and Dakar, long noted as the most dangerous race in
the world, for several reasons. Terroristic threats forced a cancellation of
the Dakar Rally in 2008 and the race has since been relocated from a
Europe/Africa location to South America, where it encompasses parts of
Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Still a grueling course, to be sure, but that's
what Robby looks forward to, always enjoying a challenge. To date, his best
overall finish in the Dakar is 3rd in 2009, but he's won 9 stage competitions
along the way.
With the
race commencing on Monday, January 6, it will already be in progress when this
sees print, but this is how Robby feels about this year's challenge.
“I feel more prepared than in any
of our previous trips to the Dakar Rally. Since our first race in 2005, where
we accomplished our goal of becoming the first American to win a stage, our
focus has been on winning the overall title. I believe with the experience we
have, and the new car we have built, this year could be our time.”
(Supposedly,
NBCSN will be carrying updates throughout the running of the Dakar Rally.
Please consult your local listings for times.)
Oh, and
I've not mentioned yet that in addition to running the Dakar Rally and later in
the year, I'm sure one or more of the Baja races, Robby started a series of his
own last year, featuring Stadium Racing for several classes including his
favorite, the Stadium Super Trucks, the series he won the first year out. For
those who can remember, this series is very reminiscent of the old Mickey
Thomson Stadium races, which this fan always enjoyed to the max.
And so,
at age 45, when some are plotting retirement, racing remains the largest part
of this racer's life. Robby Gordon is living, breathing proof that there is
racing beyond NASCAR, and it's everywhere around us. All we have to do is
look... and if it's the toughest, most challenging racing on earth, that's
where you'll find Robby Gordon. For years it was rumored that Robby was difficult
to work with. To that his reply was, "The
problem is I'm really not a bad boy, I'm just not afraid to be aggressive. I
just want to race, and I want to have fun. If it wasn't fun, I wouldn't be
doing it."
And that
is Robby Gordon in a nutshell. If it wasn't fun, he wouldn't be doing it. Just
as a quick side note in closing, I've also been told several times that Robby
is the life of any campground, kind of like a walking party, if you will. With
that infectious smile, that doesn't surprise me one bit. I just wish I'd been
able to experience it firsthand. Tell the truth now, aren't you glad you met
this racer?
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay
[email protected]