Robby Gordon

For other people named Robert Gordon, see Robert Gordon (disambiguation).

Robert Gordon Born (1969-01-02) January 2, 1969 Cerritos, California, United States Achievements founder of the Stadium Super Trucks NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career 396 race(s) run over 19 year(s) 2012 position 52nd Best finish 16th – 2003 First race 1991 Daytona 500 (Daytona) Last race 2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma) First win 2001 New Hampshire 300 (New Hampshire) Last win 2003 Sirius at The Glen (Watkins Glen) Wins Top tens Poles 3 39 1 NASCAR Nationwide Series career 54 race(s) run over 9 year(s) 2011 position 129th Best finish 21st – 2004 First race 2001 GNC Live Well 200 (Milwaukee) Last race 2011 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal) First win 2004 Emerson Radio 250 (Richmond) Wins Top tens Poles 1 18 0 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career 4 race(s) run over 3 year(s) Best finish 68th – 1996 First race 1996 Lowe's 250 (North Wilkesboro) Last race 2004 O'Reilly 200 (Bristol) Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0 Statistics current as of June 22, 2012. IndyCar Series career 8 race(s) run over 7 year(s) Best finish 29th – 2000 First race 1996 Las Vegas 500K (Las Vegas) Last race 2004 Indianapolis 500 (Indy) Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 0 Champ Car career 107 race(s) run over 8 year(s) Years active 1992–1999 Best finish 5th – 1994, 1995 First race 1992 ITT Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit (Belle Isle) Last race 1999 Marlboro 500 (California) First win 1995 Slick 50 200 (Phoenix) Last win 1995 ITT Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit (Belle Isle) Wins Podiums Poles 2 9 4

Robert W. "Robby" Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American racecar driver. He has raced in the NASCAR, Champ Car, Indycar, Trans-Am, IMSA, IROC and Dakar Rally. Gordon is regarded as one of the best road course drivers in NASCAR. Along with Tony Stewart, Joe Nemechek and Michael Waltrip, Gordon participates in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as an owner/driver. Robby and his Robby Gordon Motorsports team are currently the stars of a reality TV series following the daily operations of his organization called SpeedFactory.tv, while he is also the founder of Speed Energy Drink.

Off-road racing

Robby Gordon driving the Hummer H3 in the 2006 Dakar Rally

Robby, the son of off-road legend "Baja Bob" Gordon, started out competing in off road racing. He won 5 consecutive SCORE International off-road class championships from 1986–1990, a sixth championship in 1996, and a seventh championship in 2009. Gordon also won two championships in the Mickey Thompson stadium series, three Baja 500's in 1989, 1990, and 2005, and three Baja 1000’s in 1987, 1989, and 2006. Gordon has continued off-road racing throughout his career in Champ Car and NASCAR. As of 2006, he currently fields a team in SCORE, where he is a part-time driver. In 2005 Gordon took part in the famous 16-day Dakar Rally, driving for the Red Bull sponsored Volkswagen team. He became the first American in the history of the rally to win a stage in the car division. He won two stages in total and a 12th place division finish. In 2006, Gordon took part in the Dakar Rally in a Hummer H3. Team Dakar USA did well until stage 9, when a damaged radiator caused late arrival at Atar, Mauritania, and subsequent disqualification. Gordon and co-driver Andy McMillin won the trophy truck class in the 2006 Baja 1000, finishing second overall in the race. After that, Gordon competed in his third Dakar Rally in 2007, driving the Monster Energy Hummer H3 for Team Dakar USA. He finished in the 8th position, his best finish in this race. His current trophy truck sponsor is SPEED Energy and drove his Monster Energy truck in the 2007 Baja 500 with a second overall finish. Gordon's sisters Beccy Gordon and Robyn Gordon competed in the 2006 Baja 1000 on the all woman team All-American Girl Racing.

Gordon finished third at the 2012 AMSOIL Cup

Gordon races in selected Traxxas TORC Series events as his schedule permits, including the 2010 AMSOIL Cup World Championship race at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway. He led the first lap of the race before retiring with mechanical difficulties.

Robby Gordon finished 3rd in the 2009 Dakar Rally in South America (where the event was moved after terrorist threats led the cancellation of the 2008 event). He finished 8th in the 2010 Dakar Rally in South America with his Monster Energy truck. He had been excluded from the 2012 edition after stage 10 for illegal modifications of his engine.

Stadium Super Trucks

Stadium Super Trucks exhibition at Crandon in 2012

In June 2012, Gordon announced that he was founding the Stadium Super Truck series, based on the stadium truck racing concept developed by Mickey Thompson. The series plans to run its first season in 2013.

IMSA

In 1990, Gordon began racing sports cars. He won races in both Trans-Am and IMSA Camel GT, where he had four consecutive class wins in the 24 Hours of Daytona from 1990–1994, and three consecutive 12 Hours of Sebring class wins.

Open Wheel

Gordon’s first start in the CART IndyCar series came in 1992. His first full season and Indy 500 start would come in 1993. He raced for Derrick Walker from 1994–96. With Walker, he captured his first career pole in 1994 (Toronto), and both his CART career wins in 1995 (Phoenix and Detroit). For 1998 and 1999, Gordon fielded his own team in the series with little success. Gordon raced 10 times in the Indy 500 from 1993 to 2004 fielding his own team in 1999, 2000 and 2004. He, along with John Andretti and Tony Stewart, are the only three drivers to race in the Coca-Cola 600 and Indy 500 in the same day. In 1999, Gordon came within one lap of winning. He inherited the lead by virtue of not stopping for a final pit stop and tried to conserve enough fuel to last until the end of the race. He ran out on lap 199 (of 200) and had to give up the lead to Sweden's Kenny Bräck.

During his time in open-wheel, Gordon earned a reputation as a tough and sometimes overly aggressive racer. According to Gordon, his decision to leave open wheel was based largely on safety concerns.

NASCAR

Cup series

Robby Gordon signing autographs at his souvenir trailer, a very common sight during most NASCAR weekends

Gordon's Winston Cup debut came in 1991, driving two races, including the Daytona 500 for Junie Donlavey in the No. 90 Ford. In 1993, Gordon drove the No. 28 Texaco Ford for Robert Yates Racing at Talladega in the team's first race after the death of driver Davey Allison. In 1994 Gordon drove in one race for Michael Kranefuss starting and finishing 38th at Michigan. In 1996 Gordon raced at Charlotte in what was one of the first starts ever for Dale Earnhardt Inc.. He also raced at Rockingham and Phoenix for Felix Sabates. Gordon's first full-time ride came in 1997 with Felix Sabates' Team SABCO. Gordon raced in 22 starts with SABCO, and captured the pole at Atlanta. He also finished 4th at Watkins Glen, his only top-ten finish of the year. He returned to NASCAR full-time in 2000, attempting to run his own team. Again, the results were disappointing; he failed to qualify for several races and finished with only 2 top-tens in 17 starts.

Gordon started the 2001 season for driving for Morgan-McClure Motorsports in the No. 4 Kodak Chevrolet, but was replaced by Kevin Lepage after only five races. Gordon returned to racing in a one-off agreement with Ultra Motorsports, where he replaced the team's regular driver Mike Wallace in the No. 7 NationsRent Ford for the June race at Sears Point. He was leading near the end of the race, but was passed by Tony Stewart for the win after allowing Stewart to catch up due to a battle to keep Kevin Harvick from gaining a lap back.

Later in the same season, he joined Richard Childress Racing as a replacement for the injured Mike Skinner. Richard Childress promised Gordon that as Skinner announced that he would retire from RCR after 2001 if Gordon won a race by the end of the year he would welcome Gordon to the #31 Lowe's car on RCR for a multi-year deal.^{[citation needed]} Robby Gordon won the final race of the season at New Hampshire after a controversial incident resulting in the race leader, Jeff Gordon spinning after contact in the closing stages of the race. (Jeff, who thought Robby had spun him and had been running second at the time, rammed him during the caution flag and got a black flag, clinching the win for the other Gordon. The race, which had originally been scheduled for September, was postponed after 9/11, and after the event Robby announced he would donate all his winnings to the victims of the 9/11 attacks.)

Robby Gordon continued to race for Richard Childress Racing in 2002. He crashed in the Daytona 500 and was briefly in the chase in the spring. However poor finishes in the spring blew his hopes to be in the chase for the Sprint Cup. He performed well at Sonoma to put himself from the top 40 to the top 25 for the chase standings. Robby Gordon led the most laps at Watkins Glen with 21 and finished in third place. He had a top ten running at the Bank of America 500 but crashed in a 10-car-pileup which also collected his teammates, Jeff Green, and Kevin Harvick. 2002 was a bad year for him in performance and he finished in 20th place for the championship standings.

In 2003, he had his best NASCAR performing year. He finished 6th place in the Daytona 500 and finished 10th in the Aaron's 499. Then he earned his first road course win at Sears Point, after a controversial but legal pass under caution of his then teammate, Kevin Harvick. Gordon took his third career win later in the year at Watkins Glen. He, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch are the only drivers to win both road course events (at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen) in one season since the two became part of the current Sprint Cup schedule.

In 2004 Robby Gordon's RCR career dipped downward. He had only a few top tens and no wins. He lost his chance to win the NASCAR Cup Series Championship after performing poorly in the spring. He ended up 31st at Sonoma in one of his worst road course finishes, and finished 16th at Watkins Glen.

At the first stop for the Chase at New Hampshire, Robby Gordon and Greg Biffle made contact early in the race that resulted in Robby Gordon having no chances to win. Later, Robby intentionally wrecked Biffle, whose spinning car also took out Chase contenders Tony Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield. As a result of their DNF's, neither Stewart nor Mayfield were serious contenders in the 2004 Chase after that point and RCR's original decision was firing Robby Gordon. Instead RCR gave Robby a probation for the rest of the year and NASCAR fined him about $15,000. In the standings he finished in the top 30s.

In summer 2004 Robby Gordon hinted desire to leave the #31 team for his poor season. Despite Richard Childress asked Robby to stay on RCR, Robby announced in late 2004 that he would be operating his own NEXTEL Cup team Robby Gordon Motorsports. Childress initially refused to let Robby go but when Roush-Fenway Racing fired Jeff Burton, Richard Childress released Gordon and hired Burton to replace Robby Gordon.

For 2005, Gordon moved his Busch Series team up to the Nextel Cup, and was the only owner/driver left. Robby’s primary sponsor was Jim Beam Bourbon; his crew chief was Greg Erwin. Fruit of the Loom had the temporary privilege of playing primary sponsor for 9 races in the 2005 season. His friend John Menard had his hardware corporation, Menards also become sponsors, as well as Harrah's. Gordon again struggled as an owner/driver, finishing with only two-top tens in 29 starts and failing to qualify for several races. He contended to win the 2005 race at New Hampshire to continue his 2001 victory at the same race until he was crashed by Michael Waltrip (see below).

Gordon racing at Martinsville in October 2007.

In 2006, Gordon's team used engines from Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and showed considerable improvement over the previous year's performance over the first few races. He dominated the first quarter of the first Atlanta race in the season, and performed well at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, qualifying and finishing in the top 10 in both races. For the 2007 season, Gordon switched to the Ford Fusion, with engines supplied from Roush-Yates. He had two top-tens and finished 26th in points.

2008 racecar

On February 1, 2008, Robby Gordon said he would go to Dodge in 2008. He also announced a technical, manufacturing and marketing services agreement with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. After dropping to 33rd in points, Gordon announced he would be running Toyotas in 2009. Today, he, Michael Waltrip, and now Tony Stewart are the only owner/drivers on the circuit. However, unlike Waltrip (co-owns team with Robert Kauffman) and Stewart (partnered with Gene Haas), Gordon has no ownership partner.

Gordon will compete in fewer races for 2010, as Jim Beam did not renew its contract and due to scheduling conflicts. The team finished 34th in 2009 owner's standings. In January 2010, Gordon formed an alliance with BAM Racing. In 2010, with Ted Musgrave driving, his team failed to qualify at Pocono, the first time since the 2005 race at Texas. He performed well at Sonoma in the race that he won in 2003, the Toyota Save Mart 350 and ended up second to Jimmie Johnson, which secured some part-time sponsorship for RGM. A penalty involving another team moved the No. 7 back into the Top 35. Due to a commitment in Argentina, Bobby Labonte drove the No. 7 at Loudon. P. J. Jones and Kevin Conway have also shared the #7; Gordon entered a No. 07 car for a number of races.

He secured sponsorship to compete in the 2012 Daytona 500, but poor performance and lack of sponsorship resulted in Gordon racing only at Phoenix and the road-course race at Sonoma. He failed to qualify for early-season races at Las Vegas and Fontana.

In 2012 Robby Gordon announced a money-sponsorship crisis. Robby Gordon Motorsports was facing bankruptcy in regards to the NASCAR operations because of bad finishes, sponsors like Menard's, Monster Energy, Coca-Cola among others deserting RGM for other teams, and the fines he has had to pay to NASCAR for repeated rules violations. As a result he only raced on the road course events in NASCAR for 2012 but when he had poor finishes in those races Robby Gordon's NASCAR career ended in 2013 as he was unable to attract sponsorship for any more NASCAR seasons. The No. 07 will be taken by Dave Blaney of Tommy Baldwin Racing. In the time he is off the track Robby Gordon currently is trying to invest his energy drink corporation, Speed Energy Drink to get the money needed to get sponsorship to race on but he has not made a deal yet and fans rumored that he will resign from motorsports until he gets the money for his team.

In 2013 Robby Gordon officially closed RGM's NASCAR headquarters in Charlotte and started a new racing organization the Super-Truck Series with Robby Gordon Motorsports and Speed Energy sponsorship. He has made deals with former NASCAR sponsors Menard's and Coca-Cola for sponsorship of his series but is still far from earning back money for his NASCAR operations.

Nationwide Series

Gordon's first Nationwide Series experience came in 2001 when he ran 3 races for Richard Childress Racing in the No. 21 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet. His best finish was 5th at Watkins Glen International

In 2004 Gordon started his own then Busch Series team (Now known as the Nationwide Series), Robby Gordon Motorsports and moved his team to cup series driving in 25 NNS races and earning one win which came at Richmond.

Robby Gordon in the qualification for the 2010 NAPA Auto Parts 200 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

He participated in several Nationwide races in 2006, including a few for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Nationwide team (JR Motorsports). The most notable highlight of his season was a second place finish at Watkins Glen on August 12. Driving his own No. 7 Chevy, Gordon went door-to-door with Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 39 car for Penske South Racing, for the final few laps. Gordon gained ground in the chicane, almost catching Busch. The two cars went wildly into the grass and dirt, almost wrecking each other. Gordon was able to save his car, as Busch went down the final straightaway to win the race. While being interviewed in victory lane Busch gave Gordon praise for a great race and said it reminded him of his race with Ricky Craven at Darlington in 2003.

In 2007 Robby Gordon only had a few top tens in the NBS and came near to a win at Montreal before being disqualified by NASCAR for ignoring a penalty.

On March 28, 2008 Robby Gordon and the No. 22 Supercuts Dodge Team of Fitz Motorsports joined forces for a part-time schedule in the NASCAR Nationwide Series after driver Mike Bliss left the team to drive the No. 1 Chevrolet owned by James Finch. As of the press release Robby is slated to drive both the Phoenix and Texas Nationwide Series events in the No. 22 car.

Robby drove his No. 55 Mapei/Menards Dodge in the Chicagoland Race in July. He also started the Watkins Glen race in his No. 55 Jim Beam Dodge in 2nd place and finished in 19th position.

In 2010 he drove the #07 Menard's car in the Nationwide series at Montreal as part of his alliance with John Menard for RGM. It was the first time since 2007 that he drove at Montreal due to his altercation with Marcos Ambrose (see below) due to having made amends by skipping the next races at the track. He dominated the finish of the race but ran out of fuel with two laps to go handing the win to colleague veteran Boris Said and resulted in the top 20 in the finish.

Indy 500 attempts

Robby Gordon, in the 1990s raced in a several Indy 500s. His most famous finish was in 1999, when he almost won the Indy 500. In the final five laps, Gordon, driving for John Menard's Indycar team, had a healthy lead. His boss John Menard, cheered with the hope that he might win the Indy 500 as a team owner, but was concerned with fuel. Coming out of turn 3... Robby Gordon ran out of fuel and had to pit with one lap left. He gave up the win to rival Kenny Brack who was driving for Gordon's former team owned by A.J. Foyt. Gordon finished the race in fourth place. In the post race interview, Gordon said that he was focused on saving fuel during the final laps. He was not expecting to win and it would have been a gift if he did. In the Indycar world, it is still argued whether or not Gordon could have been able to improve his finish if he had pitted with the rest of the field earlier.

Craftsman Truck Series

Gordon has run 4 career Truck Series races with one top-5 and 2 top-10 finishes. He has run for Team SABCO, Bobby Hamilton Racing, and Morgan-Dollar Motorsports.

Controversies

In the 2001 New Hampshire 300 the race was postponed for the 9/11 disaster/attacks and Jeff Gordon clenched the 2001 Cup championship the previous week at Atlanta. The race was held around Thanksgiving in 2001 and Robby Gordon driving the #31 Richard Childress Racing car, after Mike Skinner chose to retire from RCR after he was nearly killed in a crash at a previous race, won his first race in the Cup series because of an incident with Jeff Gordon who he has no relation to; with 16 laps to go Jeff Gordon was leading hoping to make his points bigger in his inevitable margin against Tony Stewart by winning the race but Robby Gordon in the #31 drove up to second place and made contact. Jeff Gordon spun around as a result giving Robby Gordon the lead. Jeff was angered and rushed under caution to retaliate by (failed) trying to cutting down Robby's tire but was black-flagged before he could make a second attempt to get to the #31's tire. Jeff served a one lap penalty, still won the championship and managed to race in the middle of the pack back up to 15th place and pocket a large purse of money. Robby Gordon on the final restart pulled away from Sterling Marlin and won his first cup race and victory on an oval. This win gave Robby Gordon the #31 RCR car for a multi-year deal after 2001. Jeff Gordon when interviewed maintains that he should have not been penalized and publicly retorted to Robby that he should have been embarrassed to have won in the way that the finish was; Robby Gordon said in reply that he saw Jeff Gordon do something similar to win at a past race, and therefore he was not embarrassed and was emotional about his first oval and Cup win. Robby Gordon then promised to donate all his winning money by division to the 9/11 victims' relatives.^{[citation needed]}

In 2003 at the Sonoma cup race Robby Gordon was so eager to try for his second cup win in the #31 RCR car. He ended Jeff Gordon's streak of domination at Sonoma for 6 years, by dominating the 2003 race but on the final caution found himself in second place behind his teammate/buddy Kevin Harvick. He passed Harvick for the lead under caution and in the final 5 laps was able to hold off Jeff Gordon for his second cup win in the #31 RCR team and his first cup win on a road course. His pass under caution was ridiculed by Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and several other drivers because while the pass is legal it is considered "ungentlemanly." However NASCAR declared Robby Gordon as the winner and in reply to the ridicules he received from Jeff Gordon, NASCAR fans and drivers Robby Gordon said "I guess Jeff Gordon who has won several of these things does not like it when we rain on his parade." This comment led NASCAR to give Robby and Jeff Gordon warnings to settle down their bitter blood. In 2009 Jeff Gordon and Robby Gordon confirmed they no longer dislike each other having settled their differences.^{[citation needed]}

During the 2005 running of the Sylvania 300, Gordon was involved in a wreck with Michael Waltrip, the driver of the No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet. The angered Gordon got out of his totaled car and threw his helmet at the No. 15 car as it was passing by. Tony Stewart's No. 20 missed the helmet just seconds after it hit Waltrip's car. When TNT interviewed him about the crash, he stated "You know Michael, everyone thinks Michael's this good guy. He's not the good guy he acts he is. The caution was out and he wrecked me and he's a piece of shit." TNT apologized for his language, and Gordon apologized after the race, but Gordon was fined $50,000 and docked 50 drivers points. When asked by some people for the helmet, Gordon decided to auction it for the benefit of the Harrah's Employee Relief Fund, a fund that provides aid to Harrah's employees displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The helmet fetched $51,100, and was purchased by GoldenPalace.com.^{[citation needed]}

During the 2006 Bass Pro Shops 500, he brought controversy by allegedly throwing roll bar padding onto the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway, drawing a caution flag that had a significant impact for the end of the race, especially drivers in pit road, most notably NEXTEL Cup contender Jeff Burton who wound up finishing 13th. Video from the race was not conclusive as to if he did in fact put debris on the track but NASCAR reacted by docking Gordon 50 points (each in the Driver and Car Owner categories) and a $15,000 fine. Gordon has denied he intentionally threw the debris.

During the inaugural NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2007, Gordon was involved in an on-circuit altercation with fellow driver Marcos Ambrose. Gordon passed Ambrose to take the lead at the same time as a multi-car wreck was unfolding behind them; Ambrose spun him, under a yellow flag, to reclaim it seconds later. After an unusually long delay in sorting out the field for the restart, NASCAR eventually determined that Gordon would restart in 13th position. Gordon, who had a strong race all day, refused to go to that position, and was black flagged after the restart, and after spinning out Ambrose. Gordon did not come in for his penalty and was then given the black flag with diagonal white cross, meaning that his subsequent laps were no longer being scored. As a result, he finished 18th. Following the race, Gordon proceeded to do burnouts on the front straightaway as if celebrating his victory, alongside race winner Kevin Harvick. He announced in a post-race interview that he would appeal the result of the race. However, NASCAR suspended Gordon for the following day's race at Pocono. In a statement released soon after the NASCAR announcement, Gordon apologized for his actions but maintained that NASCAR made a mistake in telling him to line up in the 13th position.

Gordon was docked 100 driver and owner points as a result of rule infractions during Speedweeks of 2008 at Daytona. Gordon's car was found with an unapproved front bumper cover. His crew chief Frank Kerr was suspended for 6 weeks until April 9, 2008, was fined $100,000, and placed on probation until December 31, 2008. Gordon was not fined. Gordon appealed the penalty issued by NASCAR in of February, 2008. Gordon issued a press statement. "This was an innocent mistake made by someone not even on our race team. They accidentally sent us the new Dodge noses that haven't yet been approved by NASCAR." According to NASCAR Robby Gordon's Dodge nose says Charger, but it is actually an Avenger and it had the approved nose's part number. On March 5, 2008, the penalty against him was rescinded by NASCAR following the appeal, and he gained back his 100 driver points and the suspension was lifted. Despite this, the fine was increased to $150,000.^{[citation needed]}

Gordon's off-road finishes have also been the source of controversy. His second place finish in the San Felipe 250, March 2009, was overshadowed by allegations that in a very remote area he verred off course and drove down a cliff. The maneuver let him bypass a difficult section of the course, get ahead of another competitor without having to pass, and was a four mile shortcut. Trophy Truck competitor Ed Herbst filed a protest, which was supported by evidence from a pit crew known as the Baja Fools who had set up a pit stop in that section of the course. On investigation, two sets of Toyo tire tracks (identical to those on Gordon's truck) were found which established the four-mile shortcut. The protest was denied based on the fact that given Gordon's average speed, the four-mile shortcut would not have changed the results. After initially filing an appeal of the decision, Herbst, who shares a sponsor with Gordon, elected to withdraw the appeal and the results were deemed final.

Likewise, Robby was initially declared the winner of the 2009 Baja 500 on June 6, 2009. However, he was stripped of the title and moved to seventh place after it was determined that he violated two rules: one a fueling violation, the other a highway speed violation. A total of 100 minutes in penalties were assessed: 90 minutes for the more serious fueling violation where an amateur video proved that he illegally received fuel on the highway, and 10 minutes for the speed violation.

Gordon's troubles with NASCAR rules continued in 2009. He was caught with excessive rear toe (angle of the wheels to the car) after the May 27, 2009 Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. This illegal adjustment permits the car to carry more speed into the corner. Gordon was docked 50 points and his crew chief was fined $50,000. Gordon elected not to appeal the infraction.

In 2010, the car Gordon owns and drives was found to have illegal parts during inspection on May 7, 2010 before a race at Darlington Raceway. Gordon was docked 25 owner points and 25 driver points. His crew chief, Samuel Stanley was fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation for the rest of the year. This fine brought Gordon's five year total to $290,000 paid to NASCAR.

On March 4, 2011, Gordon was placed on indefinite probation in NASCAR due to an altercation he had with driver Kevin Conway in the garage area the night before. According to published reports, the two were involved in a scuffle over lawsuits each has filed against the other. Las Vegas police confirmed that Conway filed a criminal complaint charging Gordon with misdemeanor battery.

On August 25, 2011, Danica Patrick officially announced her plans to leave the IndyCar Series to race in NASCAR and expressed her hope that she'd keep the number 7 that she's had throughout her motorsports career. Gordon, who has raced under many numbers but had the number 7 for the last six years, refused to give up the number, stating: "Why would I?"

After the August 2011 Bristol race, Gordon admitted that he is now a "start and park" driver and will do so for most of the remainder of the season. "Start and park" is a controversial practice whereby a driver starts the race but then immediately parks his car, collecting last place prize money and protecting his car from any on-track incidents. At Bristol, Gordon completed only 10 laps but pocketed $85,960.

Ironically, in 2012, Gordon blasted past-champion Terry Labonte for "starting and parking" after 12 laps at the Daytona 500 qualifying race. As a past champion whose team was not in the Top 35 in 2011 owner's points, Labonte was guaranteed a start regardless of how he finished. Gordon stated: "It's just not right. Why take a free ride when the rest of us have to bust our butts to get into the 500?" Labonte responded that his team had only one car and they needed it for the race. Labonte ran the full race, leading three laps and finishing 18th, while Gordon retired after 25 laps and finished 41st.

Controversy continued to plague Gordon in 2012. While participating in the Dakar Rally, Gordon was running a strong second after nine stages before being disqualified after stewards ruled that the tire inflation system on his Hummer was illegal after another competitor made an anonymous suggestion to the tech inspectors along the rally route, where it was called into question. Gordon stated that if there was a problem with the system, he would plug it and still win stages. He did so the following day, winning the stage by more than 15 minutes in front of the second-place finisher.

Gordon was permitted to continue while the ruling was appealed to the French Automobile Sport Federation (FFSA). The appeal was denied two months later. After Gordon disqualification was upheld, he was stricken from the race results.

Gordon's Hummer crashed and rolled over in the sand dunes of Peru in the penultimate stage of the rally (01/14/2012), but was set back on its wheels by spectators and Gordon continued on to a 10th-place finish of that stage. He then won the final stage the following day, finishing the rally in 5th place overall.

Significant Victories

• 7 SCORE International championships (1986–90, 1996, 2009)
• 3 time Baja 1000 winner (1987, 1989, 2006)
• 3 time Baja 500 winner (1989, 1990, 2005)
• 9 Dakar Rally stage victories
• 3 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins (New Hampshire '01, Infineon 03', Watkins Glen 03')
• 1 NASCAR Sprint Cup Gatorade 125 Win (2003)
• 1 NASCAR Nationwide Series win (Richmond '04)
• 2 CART wins (Phoenix and Detroit '95)
• 1 Central Europe Rally Special wins (2008 CER Stage 5 Scratch 1 winner (1/2 stage) Hummer)

Racing record

American open-wheel racing results

(key)

CART

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Rank	Points
1992	Chip Ganassi Racing	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY	DET Ret	POR 13	MIL Ret	NHA	TOR 8	MIS	CLE 8	ROA Ret	VAN Ret	MDO	NZR	LS					20th	10
1993	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	SRF 3	PHX Ret	LBH DSQ	INDY Ret	MIL Ret	DET 8	POR 8	CLE 6	TOR 6	MIS Ret	NHA 5	ROA Ret	VAN Ret	MDO 2	NZR 4	LS 10					10th	84
1994	Walker Racing	SRF Ret	PHX 7	LBH 3	INDY 5	MIL 6	DET 3	POR 4	CLE 11	TOR 6	MIS Ret	MDO 4	NHA 13	VAN 2	ROA Ret	NZR Ret	LS 13					5th	104
1995	Walker Racing	MIA Ret	SRF Ret	PHX 1	LBH Ret	NZR 4	INDY 5	MIL 5	DET 1	POR 8	ROA Ret	TOR 5	CLE 6	MIS DNS	MDO 8	NHA 9	VAN 3	LS 15				5th	121
1996	Walker Racing	MIA 3	RIO Ret	SRF Ret	LBH 13	NZR Ret	500 Ret	MIL 17	DET Ret	POR 10	CLE 18	TOR 9	MIS 8	MDO Ret	ROA Ret	VAN 10	LS 15					18th	29
1997	Hogan Racing	MIA	SRF	LBH	NZR	RIO	STL	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	MDO	ROA	VAN	LS	FON 8				26th	5
1998	Arciero-Wells Racing	MIA	MOT	LBH	NZR 7	RIO	STL 13	MIL Ret	DET 14	POR Ret	CLE Ret	TOR 13	MIS Ret	MDO 11	ROA 12	VAN Ret	LS 13	HOU Ret	SRF 16	FON 9		23rd	13
1999	Team Gordon	MIA Ret	MOT 8	LBH 16	NZR 19	RIO 14	STL Ret	MIL Ret	POR 17	CLE 9	ROA 8	TOR 13	MIS Ret	DET Ret	MDO 10	CHI 10	VAN Ret	LS Ret	HOU Ret	SRF 8	FON 11	20th	27

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1993	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	25	27	Foyt
1994	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	19	5	Walker
1995	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	7	5	Walker
1997	G-Force	Oldsmobile	12	29	SABCO
1999	Dallara	Oldsmobile	4	4	Menard
2000	Dallara	Oldsmobile	4	6	Menard
2001	Dallara	Oldsmobile	3	21	Foyt/Childress
2002	Dallara	Chevrolet	11	8	Menard/Childress
2003	Dallara	Honda	3	22	Andretti Green
2004	Dallara	Chevrolet	18	29	Gordon

Dakar Rally

Year	Class	Vehicle	Position	Stages won
2005	Cars	Volkswagen	12	0
2006		Hummer	DNF	0
2007			8	1
2008	Event cancelled – replaced by Central Europe Rally
2009	Car	Hummer	3	0
2010			8	1
2011			DNF	0
2012			DSQ	1
2013			14	3

NASCAR Career results

* Season in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Year	Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish	Winnings	Position	Team(s)
1991	2	0	0	0	0	35.0	22.0	$27,625	55th	#90 Donlavey Racing
1993	1	0	0	0	0	14.0	42.0	$17,665	93rd	#28 Robert Yates Racing
1994	1	0	0	0	0	38.0	38.0	$7,965	76th	#07 Kranefuss-Haas Racing
1996	3	0	0	0	0	17.3	40.7	$33,915	57th	#14 Dale Earnhardt Inc. #40 Team SABCO
1997	20	0	1	1	1	25.3	29.6	$622,439	40th	#40 Team SABCO
1998	1	0	0	0	0	18.0	37.0	$24,765	67th	#96 American Equipment Racing
2000	17	0	1	2	0	29.9	29.2	$620,781	43rd	#13 Team Menard
2001	17	1	2	3	0	32.4	24.8	$1,371,900	44th	#4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports #7 Ultra Motorsports #31 Richard Childress Racing
2002	36	0	1	5	0	18.4	21.1	$3,342,703	20th	#31 Richard Childress Racing
2003	36	2	4	10	0	23.1	19.7	$4,157,064	16th	#31 Richard Childress Racing
2004	36	0	2	6	0	23.2	21.2	$4,225,719	23rd	#31 Richard Childress Racing
2005	29	0	1	2	0	27.0	30.1	$2,271,313	37th	#7 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2006	36	0	1	3	0	27.5	25.3	$3,143,787	30th	#7 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2007	35	0	1	2	0	33.9	25.8	$3,090,004	26th	#7 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2008	36	0	0	3	0	30.9	29.0	$3,816,362	33rd	#7 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2009	35	0	1	1	0	30.1	28.5	$3,860,582	34th	#7 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2010	27	0	1	1	0	33.8	29.1	$2,913,816	34th	#7/#07 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2011	25	0	0	0	0	36.5	33.4	$2,271,891	34th	#7 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2012	3	0	0	0	0	30.0	40.3	$405,300	52nd	#7 Robby Gordon Motorsports

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Year	Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish	Winnings	Position	Team(s)
2001	3	0	1	1	0	6.3	13.0	$70,266	60th	#21 Richard Childress Racing
2004	25	1	6	10	0	12.8	14.7	$542,530	21st	#55 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2005	4	0	1	2	0	11.5	19.8	$148,201	78th	#55/#83 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2006	4	0	2	3	0	19.0	13.5	$114,174	64th	#7 Robby Gordon Motorsports #88 JR Motorsports
2007	11	0	0	2	0	15.9	20.3	$253,607	47th	#55 Robby Gordon Motorsports #22 Fitz Motorsports #27 Brewco Motorsports
2008	4	0	0	0	0	15.2	23.8	$74,720	73rd	#22 Fitz Motorsports #55 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2009	1	0	0	0	0	3.0	14.0	$16,575	122nd	#55 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2010	1	0	0	0	0	16.0	14.0	$26,950	105th	#07 Robby Gordon Motorsports
2011	1	0	0	0	0	6.0	31.0	$20,150	129th1	#77 Robby Gordon Motorsports

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Year	Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish	Winnings	Position	Team(s)
1996	2	0	0	1	0	11.0	9.5	$20,700	68th	#42 Team SABCO #18 Roehrig Racing
1997	1	0	0	0	0	17.0	30.0	$5,900	123rd	#18 Roehrig Racing
2004	1	0	1	1	0	23.0	4.0	$11,450	71st	#47 Morgan-Dollar Motorsports

External links

• Stadium Super Trucks
• Official website
• Robby Gordon driver statistics at Racing Reference