NASCAR/Open Wheel/Off-Road Racing

Ask Robby Gordon what he’s doing on the weekend – pretty much any weekend – and you can predict the answer: racing. Gordon is one of the busiest racecar drivers in the United States, not to mention one of the most versatile. The six-time off-road champion is a popular figure on the NASCAR circuit, a familiar face at the Indianapolis 500, and now becoming a well known competitor in the famed Dakar Rally. With Gordon in competition more than forty weekends a year, you might not know where to find him on any given Sunday, but you can be sure of what he’ll be doing. Despite the hectic schedule or maybe because of it, Gordon balances out a wide-open attitude in competition with a meticulous mentality in everyday life. Between his race teams on the East coast and West coast, the tireless driver manages nearly 75 people, and he is respected as an absolute perfectionist. Yet even under all that responsibility, Robby Gordon never fails to take time for the fans.

Keeping out of trouble

Growing up in Orange, California, Gordon was drawn to anything with a motor. By age 8, he was racing motorbikes, and as soon as he turned 16, he jumped behind the wheel of a car. “Racing kept me out of trouble,” Gordon grins.

The new driver won the very first off-road race he entered, the Nevada 400. The years that followed brought Gordon a half dozen off-road championships, but as much as he loved the no-holds-barred spirit of those races, he was eager to try other events.

In 1990, Gordon moved to sports cars, and he quickly proved himself. He won five GTO races in 1991 and a Trans-Am race in 1992. By 1993, he was into Open Wheel, driving an Indy car for none other than A.J. Foyt.

Success after success followed with wins and podium finishes in CART and the International Race of Champions. Meanwhile, Gordon became increasingly involved in NASCAR’s Winston Cup. From 1991 on, he drove for various Winston Cup teams until he formed his own team in 2000, running seventeen events. After impressive performances in both 2001 Winston Cup road races, Gordon was signed to drive RCR’s No. 31 Lowe’s Chevrolet to finish out the season, and he snagged his first Winston Cup oval track top-10, plus a victory at New Hampshire. The decision to run all thirty-four Winston Cup races in 2002 was a no-brainer, and No. 31 roared to five top-10 finishes, including a third place at Watkins Glen. The 2003 season proved equally exciting, as Gordon went door-to-door with Jeff Gordon for a stunning victory at Sonoma and became only the fourth driver to win both Winston Cup road races in a single year.

While still driving for RCR in the Nextel Cup series, Gordon made a decision to start his own Busch series team in 2004. His team only entered a limited number of races, but they brought home a trophy at the fall Richmond event. This fueled his desire to become his own boss in the Nextel Cup series the following year.

The start of 2005 marked a new beginning for Gordon in the Cup series. He became the owner / driver of the No. 7 car.  The 2008 season marks the fourth season with Gordon as the only single-car owner / driver on the circuit, and he’s making it work. The team finished the 2007 season 27^th overall in owner points, an impressive feat in the highly competitive series.

In 2005, Gordon also added another entry into his already impressive resume as he became the first American to win a stage in perhaps the most grueling motorsports event - the Dakar Rally. Gordon loved the event so much that he immediately began planning to tackle the Dakar Rally with is own effort.  In 2006, he entered his Jim Beam / Toyo Tires Hummer H3 in the Dakar Rally, but radiator problems ended his hopes of being the first American to win the Dakar Rally. Bad luck didn’t stop Gordon from entering the 2007 Dakar Rally. In fact, he won a stage and finished eight overall.

In 2008, Team Dakar USA enters its third Dakar Rally with Gordon’s Monster Energy / Toyo Tire Hummer H3. Gordon has added a second Hummer to his elite off-road team. He has enlisted fellow American Dakar Rally veteran, Ronn Bailey to pilot an identically prepared Hummer H3. Bailey, who is CEO of Vanguard Integrity Professionals, an enterprise security software company, will participate in the next three Dakar Rally events as an integral part of Team Dakar USA. The Vanguard Integrity Professional H3 Hummer entry will be very strategic to the teams overall objective of becoming the first American team to win the Dakar Rally.

Thriving on speed