Robby Gordon Michigan Preview

Aug 19, 2006 22:04

First of all, I'd like to apologize to any and all of my faithful readers here on the ol' LJ. I've been so busy with school and work everyday all day that I haven't been able to update in nearly 3 weeks. I'm on it now, however. Now, let's get to business.

This weekend, Robby Gordon Motorsports will come into Michigan International Speedway with a lot of momentum. Coming off of a season high 4th place at Watkins Glen, the team is brewing with confidence. Solid runs here in June and at Fontana in February also have many fans optimistic for this weekend.

Before getting into the details of this weekend, Gordon qualified 24th yesterday. The car was a little too tight for Robby and resulted in a middle of the pack run. But you have to remember, it's not where you start that's important.

“We have learned a lot over the last 18 months and it’s starting to pay off with the runs we’ve been having. Our database or information pool gets larger and larger every week and that helps us a lot when it comes to things like our aero package or our setup for tracks like Michigan. We’re bringing the same car that we raced at Chicago and have made a few changes to it. We were pretty happy with the numbers we saw in the wind tunnel and we should have a pretty good run in the No. 7 Menards/Energizer Chevrolet this weekend.” Gordon appears to be confident in his ability to race at this 2 mile speedway. Being a single car organization is very tough in the modern racing world. I can only think of 1 other organization where a 1 car team can be successful and that's in the world of sprint car racing.

This weekend also marks another run in the NASCAR Busch Series for Robby Gordon. He will pilot the #88 NAVY Accelerate Your Life Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, who fired driver Mark Macfarland just two weeks ago after not having that "killer instinct." Gordon was flattered at the oppurtunity to drive for such a high dollar organization, and is scheduled to race at California speedway on Labor Day Weekend in September. More to come on this in the coming weeks.

This weekend will be the 4th race in which Menards will share sponsorship duties with Energizer. Unfortunately for RGM, this has been with a lot of bad luck, including the tough days at Richmond, Sonoma, and Bristol. Look for Jim Beam to be on the car next weekend in Bristol.

Now sitting in 26th place in points, Gordon and his crew are just 5 out of the top 25. He is only 164 markers behind 20th place driver Elliott Sadler who is with a new team this weekend. Sadler joing Evernham Motorsports in what appeared to have been the worst kept secret in the NEXTEL Cup garage area. David Gilliland is replacing Sadler, who qualified on the front row for this weekend GFS Marketplace 400.

The chassis for this weekend's race will be #104, which last saw action in Chicago, another top 20 run for RGM. It was taken to the wind tunnel in late July, and the team is happy with the numbers they got. #106 will be back-up this weekend, and as I say each week, hopefully will stay on the trailer. In fact, it's too late to whip it out as the race is tomorrow.
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