His team, Robby Gordon Motorsports, does have a partnership of sorts with Gillet-Evernham Motorsports but for the most part Robby Gordon is a one man show.
Racing for RCR should have been proof enough for that. Gordon is a man who doesn't work too well with--and for--others because he wants to take charge.
He wants to be assured that everything is being done to benefit him best.
The natural assumption is the best way to achieve that is to own your own team.
This is definitely not the easiest task to achieve within the realm of the NASCAR empire. Large multi-car teams such as Hendrick Motorsports, and Roush Fenway reign. And though he struggles with penalties, appeals, and paying his bills, Gordon has managed to make it work thus far.
Staying afloat in NASCAR as a single car operation and being a driver/owner is difficult, and Gordon's on track behavior keep him skating on thin ice on the NASCAR skating rink.
After the little tet-a-tet with Marcos Ambrose at the inaugural Busch Grand National Series (Now the Nationwide Series, though I will always refer to it as Busch) in Montreal in 2007, NASCAR got their point across in a pretty direct fashion.
Stay out of trouble or get out of NASCAR.
Trying to be on his best behavior didn't keep him out of trouble too long though. After breaking away from Ford and switching to Dodge for the 2008 season, Gordon faced a stiff penalty for an illegal nose at Daytona. The $100,000 fine was painful, but the 100 point penalty was excruciating. It had Gordon thinking he may have to abandon hopes of success in NASCAR and return to racing in the Indycar series if he couldn't win his appeal. Very rarely do appeals against NASCAR penalties win.
Robby did.
I must admit my first impressions of Robby Gordon weren't too great.
Arguing with Kevin Harvick and Richard Childress (Though that could've easily been Jeff Green) at Richmond.
Spinning Dale Earnhardt Jr. out on pit road at Bristol after the race (Rarely is spinning a 3400 lb. car around in the general location of 200 or so people a good idea.) didn't quite portray him in his best light.
But the more I watched him, the more he grew on me.
Gordon is so passionate about racing, he races in virtually anything with wheels underneath it.
Racing isn't just a paycheck, it's what he truly enjoys.
And Robby Gordon does it on his terms.
11 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
L.J. Burgess about 1 year ago
Wow
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Katrina Shankle about 1 year ago
Wow makes me a bit nervous, is it wow bad or wow good?
Glad to see you writing again, by the way.
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L.J. Burgess about 1 year ago
Wow, as in my pick of the day ... and it's early too.
Robby grows on ya don't he ?
I see Marcus was the quickest in practice and Robby wasn't far behind.
There's lots of talk on Fox blogs about spinnin' people out for paybacks. Stupid people.
I hope it's a clean fender banger kinda run and that 15 cars are in the hunt at the end.
I have no way of watching :<(
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Katrina Shankle about 1 year ago
You have no way of watching? How come? Yeh, I think people blow the Montreal episode out of proportion, that or they forget that the next week Robby offered to let him drive one of his cars. He does have a way of growing on you. He's a helluva talent and you can't help but cheer for the one single car Cup team.
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L.J. Burgess about 1 year ago
No cable, no satellite.
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Daniel Seneriz about 1 year ago
Good Article. I will agree, Robby is one of the underrated drivers around. Not the most like driver in the sport, but manages to be on the track every weekend with the odds stacked against him.
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S M Napier about 1 year ago
Great article, Katrina. Respect Robby for what he's trying to do, just wish he would keep his emotions in check. Because if he did, alot more fans would appreciate him more and not think he's a jerk. Plus think how he handled his time at RCR, will always overshadow what he accomplishes as a driver.
Also let me mention, he should have left Marcus alone last year at Montreal, passed him cleanly and think man the wins more important.
Wish, Nascar never left the driver/owner era behind, glad to see that Robby's still carrying the torch, Alan Kulwicki lit
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S M Napier about 1 year ago
Great article, Katrina. Respect Robby for what he's trying to do, just wish he would keep his emotions in check. Because if he did, alot more fans would appreciate him more and not think he's a jerk. Plus think how he handled his time at RCR, will always overshadow what he accomplishes as a driver.
Also let me mention, he should have left Marcus alone last year at Montreal, passed him cleanly and think man the wins more important.
Wish, Nascar never left the driver/owner era behind, glad to see that Robby's still carrying the torch, Alan Kulwicki lit
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S M Napier about 1 year ago
Sorry for the double post. Embarq is slow tonight.
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S M Napier about 1 year ago
Let me add to my last comment about Alan. I know their were other Owner/Drivers who paid their dues, but feel Alan was the greatest of them all and was a Champion any fan would have loved.
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Dustin Cranford about 1 year ago
Your point of view is very mature and intelligent. I'm impressed that although you might not like the guy, you recognize his passion and skill of the race. Few people can be so mature as to look their personal opinions. But you've done so. Grats on a well written article!!
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