Motorsports

Taxing days ahead for R. Gordon

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 2, 2006

ATLANTA - Many drivers have raced in two series on the same weekend, but Robby Gordon is adding a new twist - two circuits in two countries.

Gordon plans to run the off-road Baja 500 in Ensenada, Mexico, and the Nextel Cup race in Dover this weekend.

Gordon's NASCAR team estimates he will travel 11,200 miles by air over the weekend and more than 1,100 miles driving a race car.

Gordon spent the first part of the week in Mexico, then is expected at Dover for practice and qualifying today. He'll fly back to Mexico on Saturday and return to Dover on Sunday.

"This is the sort of thing that I live for," said Gordon. "Obviously my primary focus is on our Nextel Cup effort, but when I have an opportunity to compete in our Trophy Truck, I take it. On paper the travel logistics look tough, but when it's over it really doesn't seem like it was all that hard."

Marco Andretti was quick to flash his bright smile, but not much has changed since Sunday. He still finished second in the Indianapolis 500, and it still hurts.

"I don't want to think about it, even though I think about it every minute of the day," the 19-year-old rookie said after firing some glass at the Corning Museum of Glass as part of a promotion for Sunday's IRL Indy Grand Prix on the historic road course at nearby Watkins Glen International.

In his first try to win the storied race his grandfather, Mario, won in 1969, Marco came within 100 yards of having his name on the Borg-Warner Trophy. Only a spectacular move by Sam Hornish Jr. on the final straightaway - he won by .0635 seconds, a little more than a car length in the second-closest Indianapolis 500 ever - kept Marco from ending the Andretti family's nearly four decades of frustration at the Brickyard.

Defending world MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi will remain with Yamaha for 2007. Rossi joined Yamaha just over two years ago. The Italian won the title with Yamaha in 2004 and 2005 but has struggled this season with only one win.

[Last modified June 2, 2006, 00:57:12]