The other Gordon

[Schwartz Fan]

The other Gordon

Robby Gordon was pegged as the next prodigy before current Nextel Cup points leader Jeff Gordon ever took the stage. But a career path that bounced between Indy cars, off-road racing and NASCAR kept Robby Gordon from greater glory.



FONTANA, Calif. -- Jeff Gordon recalls when he was not even racing's highest-profile Gordon.

Robby Gordon was the superstar in waiting. He had a contract with Ford, won the Baja 1000 at age 18, claimed road races for Jack Roush at 21 and ruled his class at the 24 Hours of Daytona four consecutive years before Jeff Gordon's rookie Cup season in 1993.

"Everybody looked at him as the next prodigy,'' Jeff Gordon said of Robby. "I was like the second Gordon when I came into the Busch Series.''

A career path that bounced between Indy cars, off-road racing and NASCAR kept Robby Gordon from greater glory. Middle-tier rides didn't help. Neither did a temperament that can make Tony Stewart appear tame.

Now, Gordon runs a one-car team in a four-car NASCAR world. He's doing more than other single-car teams but that means little in this Darwinistic sport.

Gordon has a plan, though. He's always thinking about racing, whether it's his race shop's expansion or his car's shocks.

"I don't give up,'' the 38-year-old Gordon said as he stood in a small conference room at his 32,000-square foot race shop, which is quaint when compared to the campuses at Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing.

"What do you want me to do, go drive for somebody else? Why would I want to do it? I have already proved I can win races driving for (Richard) Childress.''

Look at what Jeff Gordon became driving for Rick Hendrick.

Stubborn side

"The problem with Robby is,'' car owner Felix Sabates said, "he is talking when he should be listening."

"Robby is just hard-headed. It's got to be his way or the highway.''

Gordon drove for Sabates in 1997. It was Gordon's first full-time foray into NASCAR after spot starts. Gordon and Sabates split before the season ended. Sabates calls Gordon a friend today and admits that his wife thinks he gave up on Gordon too soon.

Car owner Larry McClure is not as kind. Gordon drove for him in 2001. He ran five races before they parted.

"I guess if you can't say something good, keep your mouth shut,'' McClure said about Gordon.

John Menard, a friend of Gordon's who has owned Indy cars Gordon drove and sponsored Gordon's rides, says he's had a few episodes with Gordon but they never lasted. Menard credits those times to Gordon's drive toward racing and a propensity to frequently vocalize his feelings.

Ricky Johnson, another longtime Gordon friend, admits that Gordon's fiery attitude can hurt Gordon as much as it helps him.

"You can't say that as a team owner that you don't want that spark, that temperament and that fight,'' Johnson said. "You want to be able to contain it and that's the fear of some team owners is that they can't contain it.''

Gordon -- not Stewart -- will end this year on NASCAR probation for the third consecutive year. Gordon earned his latest reprimand for his actions at the end of the Busch race in Montreal last month.

Gordon was spun while he led in the final laps. He returned to the lineup second and then ignored NASCAR's order that he restart 13th. He later said if he didn't finish first he questioned how NASCAR could give him the race victory if he won the appeal.

Gordon spun leader Marcos Ambrose, who had earlier spun Gordon, and crossed the finish line first. Gordon performed a burnout as the race's actual winner, Kevin Harvick, did the same thing. NASCAR parked Gordon for the next day's Cup race at Pocono. That hurt his Cup program. He enters today's race at California Speedway 27th in the points. He sits 104 points out of 21st, showing how much missing that race hurt.

While Gordon's actions haven't won many friends, he's won some fans.

"I will be the first one to admit that Robby has made his fair share of blunders in the past due to his raw emotion getting to him," wrote Michael J. McBride, Esq. of Woodbridge, N.J., in an e-mail. "And is there another driver that makes NASCAR Nation's blood boil like Robby can when he is at the center of controversy? But being a Robby fan you have to have thick skin, and realize part of the reason we love him IS because of that raw emotion and desire to win.''

Natural talent

Menard sees Gordon's talent every race. Menard, who is the father of Cup rookie Paul Menard, sees Gordon handling out-of-control cars that others couldn't.

"He's one of the most naturally talented drivers you'll ever meet,'' Menard said.

That's a refrain throughout the Cup garage. Many competitors admire Gordon's car control and how he keeps a car from wrecking.

Ricky Johnson, a longtime friend from California, recalls an off-road race in California where a section of the course featured rough, uneven sections. Some parts dropped more than 4 feet and others rose, sending vehicles airborne. Gordon told Johnson that he could keep the accelerator mashed the whole time. Johnson doubted Gordon.

Gordon's truck bucked like an angry bull through the course. The engine snorted but Gordon didn't back down. He did what he said he would.

"Robby is very aggressive," Jeff Burton said. "He's always a guy that is going to push the issue to try to make something happen whether it's lap 5 or lap 500. That's Robby's style. He drives the car really hard.''

Off-road racing might be where Gordon excels most. He drove the first American-made vehicle to victory in a stage of this year's Dakar Rally, an off-road race from Lisbon, Portugal to Dakar, Senegal. He won the Baja 1000 for a third time last year.

The two-time IROC runner-up ran out of fuel on the last lap while leading the 1999 Indianapolis 500. He scored seven top-10 finishes as CART's only owner/driver that season. He also won two CART races and had five top-10 finishes in 10 Indy 500 starts. He's won three Cup races -- all for Childress -- but has not won since 2003.

Few Cup drivers can boast as diverse a resume. Yet, the victories don't add to the aura that surrounds Jeff Gordon, a four-time Cup champion with 79 Cup victories. Few seem to notice Robby Gordon try to build his team and his future.

"Somewhere along the way shifts happen and my career took off and his seemed to kind of flatten out for whatever reason,'' Jeff Gordon said of the divergent paths between him and Robby Gordon.

"Maybe he just didn't get with the right teams and the right equipment, but he's gone around the garage an awful lot and hasn't been able to seem to make it work."


The other Gordon - Roanoke.com

[Scooters]

Uhhhh... Poo.... Robby's career didn't flatten out, it just widened out in ways that you can't even begin to attempt.