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STRONG RUNS GIVE GORDON MOMENTUM BOOST

Robby Gordon is doing things his way, and that’s just the way he likes it.

As one of the last owner-drivers in NASCAR’s premier division, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Gordon oversees his Toyota Camry stock cars, as well as a sprawling off-road venture that includes the classic Baja 1000 and grueling Dakar Rally among its targeted events.

While he can hold his own and then some on the Sprint Cup’s smattering of road courses, his Robby Gordon Motorsports team has work to do on ovals. But in a three-week stretch at the end of June and beginning of July, he was second on the Infineon road course in California’s Napa Valley and 12th on Daytona International Speedway’s 2.5-mile tri-oval – two stout results on two very different kinds of tracks.

The most important factor, however, is he maintained his spot in the top 35 in Sprint Cup car owner points. That top 35 slot guarantees a starting spot, and means his team doesn’t have to waste crucial track time in practice hunting for qualifying setups, but can concentrate on finding what will work on race day.

The Sprint Cup gets a break this coming weekend, but resumes with the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25. Not long after, it’s back to a road course – Watkins Glen on Aug. 8. That’s something that Gordon is definitely looking forward to.

“My team needs a little bit of morale here and there,” Gordon says. “This will boost morale back at the workshop. I will say that we will come to Watkins Glen guns blazing. We'll get a lot of confidence going into the Glen and spend a bunch of time getting more rear grip.”

Unfortunately for Gordon, there are just two road courses on the schedule. The other 34 races are on ovals, and that’s the bread-and-butter in this sport. It’s something Gordon is realistic about, but he thinks that the Infineon result could have a positive effect beyond just the team’s road course program.

“On a weekly basis, let's face it right now, we're 34th in points, 33rd in points, wherever we end up [32nd as of now, a useful 173 points clear of 36th],” he says. “It's tougher to build morale when you're down there in points. But I think this will build us some momentum. I'm not going to say it's going to push our guys, because the guys have to get onboard.

“I believe they'll have confidence going to Watkins Glen that we can actually win that race, so we can build some momentum throughout the summer and hopefully have some good runs.”

Before The Glen, the Brickyard 400 is a race that Gordon’s got circled on his calendar, too. As a driver, he has tons of experience there from both Indy Cars and stock cars, and heads there knowing he has a useful baseline to build upon.

“We had a very good test at Indy about a month and a half ago,” Gordon reveals. “I'm excited about going there. We’ve got some other tracks where we run well. Not only Watkins Glen, but it will help us build momentum just in general.”

At Infineon, where one of his three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories occurred back in 2003, Gordon was able to run with and nearly catch eventual winner Jimmie Johnson, the four-time defending series champion who drives for the Hendrick Motorsports powerhouse. Had he been on the same tires as Johnson at the end of that race, who knows what might have happened?

The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona was an example of being able to miss “The Big One” and roll home with a 12th-place finish. Gordon is an accomplished restrictor-plate racer as well, and he will take the points where he can get them.

At the end of the day, Gordon is trying to make his boat float in a sea full of big-budget, multi-car operations, and while he enjoys enthusiastic support from Toyota and TRD, he has a much leaner approach to the sport than those mega teams do.

“How do you say it? Sometimes we dog-paddle, sometimes we take a few gulps of water,” he smiles. “Other times you have days like [Infineon and Daytona] that you can build momentum on.”

“This is a tough sport,” he adds, with a shrug. “I don't know how to say it. Cup racing, when you're racing against these teams out here, you're racing against the best teams in America. Obviously Cup racing is where it's at, and we're fortunate enough to be in it.”

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