Motorsports

R. Gordon tries ownership again

By BRANT JAMES
Published January 19, 2005

DAYTONA BEACH - Robby Gordon is convinced he has this ownership thing figured out this time. Just drive the darned car and don't worry about anything else. Not the receptionist at the shop. Not the accountant. So it was with a brave, unblinking face on Tuesday that Gordon, often a lightning rod for controversy, announced the first of four nine-race sponsorship deals that will allow him to drive a full Nextel Cup season for Robby Gordon Motorsports.

"It's not that difficult," he said of owning and driving at NASCAR's top level. "You can make this thing a lot more difficult than it really is."

Gordon, who has previously owned NASCAR and IRL teams, said three more partial sponsors will be announced in the coming weeks - one today at the second of a three-day Nextel Cup testing session at Daytona International Speedway.

Business manager John Story said the team was in discussions with Red Bull for a full sponsorship before the Austrian energy drink company opted to buy a Formula One team. Open wheel engine-builder John Menard will supply Gordon's power plants, including the first restricted engines he has ever built.

Gordon won at Sonoma and Watkins Glen in 2003 and finished 16th in points. But he slumped to 23rd last season and had just two top-five finishes, none after the ninth race of the season.

Gordon steadfastly disputed reports that car owner Richard Childress released him after three seasons. Gordon claimed he and Childress had discussed as early as August that Gordon wanted to turn his first-year Busch Series team into a Nextel Cup venture.

Childress was hunting in Arkansas and unavailable for comment.

Gordon also used the platform to defend his retaliatory bumping of Greg Biffle in September at Loudon, N.H. The move started an accident that collected Jeremy Mayfield and Tony Stewart, effectively ending their title hopes in the first Chase for the Championship race.

Gordon claimed the probation Childress put him on for the final nine races as a result of that incident was something he and Story devised to appease the media.

The No. 7 on his Chevrolet has special meaning for Gordon for two reasons: long-time benefactor and friend Jimmy Smith bought the number for his first Nextel Cup team in 2000. And eight years earlier, the late Alan Kulwicki used the number when he was the last owner/driver to win a Cup title.

Driver/owner has been a frustrating job description on the Cup level since. Ricky Rudd owned his own team from 1994-99, winning six times; Geoffrey Bodine won four races from 1994-97. Bill Elliott ran his own team from 1995-2000, going winless, as did Brett Bodine from 1996-2003.

BACK AGAIN: Elliott, the semi-retired 1988 champion, is expected to announce today that he will run a partial schedule this season for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. The first race is likely to be the Feb. 20 Daytona 500.

SPARK PLUGS: Teammates Scott Riggs and Joe Nemechek dominated testing on Tuesday, recording the top five speeds. Riggs' lap of 185.109 mph in the morning session led all 27 drivers. ... The International Race of Champions will announce its 12-driver lineup today.

[Last modified January 19, 2005, 00:33:17]