Robby
Gordon Headed to Baja Following Homestead Race
WELCOME,
N.C. (Nov. 10, 2003) — While most NASCAR Winston Cup drivers head
home for a few weeks Sunday evening following the season finale
at Homestead-Miami Speedway, No. 31 Cingular Wireless driver Robby
Gordon will board a plane for Baja California, Mexico, to compete
in the legendary Baja 1000.
Gordon, a two-time Baja 1000 champion, is scheduled
to fly to Baja Sunday night to pre-run the race course Nov. 17-Nov.
19. He will navigate the course in a pre-runner vehicle instead
of his race truck to minimize the miles put on the No. 31 Red Bull
Trophy Truck entered in the Baja 1000. The desert race, which spans
only 765 miles this year instead of 1,000, will kick off in Ensenada,
Baja California, on Friday, Nov. 21 at 8:30 a.m. local time. The
course is a loop this year, commencing and finishing in Ensenada.
In the past, the 34-year-old would pre-run the
course once to compile notes about the lay of the land and then
return a second time to run with his notes. However, this year’s
NASCAR Winston Cup schedule and sponsor obligations have allowed
Gordon only one trip around the course before race day. His father,
Bob Gordon, also a Baja 1000 champion, is scheduled to build the
pace notes with Greg Till, Robby Gordon’s co-pilot for the event,
prior to the driver’s arrival in Baja.
"The Cingular Wireless team comes first
and I’ve been very busy finishing up the season and preparing for
next year," Gordon said. "So, my first trip to Baja will
be this week, and assuming we don’t get rained out at Homestead,
I will hop on a plane after the race ends and fly to Miami, then
to California and on to Baja. My dad will go to Baja before that
and take Greg Till around so they can build our pace notes. Normally,
we compile pace notes the first time and then actually run the course
the second trip. But we’ll run off the pace notes when we pre-run
next week and then make any changes necessary to them for the race.
"We’ll run about 250 miles a day during
those three days until we cover the entire 765 miles. We’ll record
our notes to a digital voice recorder and then type them up later.
That way, we can keep talking and running without stopping to write."
Richard
Childress Racing (RCR) is supplying the engine for Gordon’s No.
31 Trophy Truck (Chevrolet CK500) for the first time this year.
Gordon will compete in a Trophy Truck he built
in his off-road shop in Anaheim, Calif. Five of the 22 Trophy Trucks
entered in the Baja 1000 were built in Gordon’s shop, mostly for
his customers. He drew the 20th-starting spot out of the 22 Trophy
Trucks entered in the competition.
Gordon is a legend in Baja after several SCORE
championships and successful runs in the Baja 1000. He won the Baja
1000 in a solo drive in 1989 and in 1987 as a co-driver with his
father. Gordon says he puts all that work into preparing for the
Baja because he loves the competition and putting on a show for
the locals.
"Running the Baja 1000 is like taking the
Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 or the Super Bowl to the people
of Baja," Gordon related. "They don’t get to see NASCAR
very often like we do and the Baja is their thing. It’s amazing
how they will follow and almost worship a driver down there. It’s
pretty cool to see everyone support you because they consider you
their friend after all the years they’ve watched you race down there.
Sometimes, I think I could run for president or at least the mayor
of Ensenada after all the time I’ve spent with the locals."
Running 765 miles through the desert is definitely
different than the 400 miles Gordon will log turning left Sunday
at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Gordon’s pit crew for the Baja 1000
also functions in stark contrast to his Cingular Wireless over-the-wall
crew.
"We have a moving pit crew for the Baja
that consists of about 50 people in six vehicles," Gordon said.
"There are six pit areas along the course that will move, rotate
and leap frog from one to the other. We usually pit the car in the
middle of the desert just off the path but we do cross the highway
sometimes. My pit crew moves as I move but doesn’t follow the same
path — they go a different route to get to the next pit area.
"One small example of the difference in
the pit stops is that it takes them longer to fuel the truck, as
we normally stop for 30 seconds of fuel. I carry 70 gallons of fuel
in the Trophy Truck. We are allowed to carry as much fuel as we
want. It’s just a matter of how much you want your vehicle to weigh."
Gordon finished third in the Baja 1000 last year
after making a lengthy pit stop to repair a wheel bearing seal.
In addition to his two wins in the race, Gordon scored a fifth-place
finish in the 1999 Baja 1000 and nearly won the grueling race in
a late charge in 1997 before finishing in the runner-up spot. Additionally,
he won four of the seven events in the 1996 SCORE Trophy Truck Series
en route to the series championship, including a third-place finish
in the Baja 1000. Gordon also won five consecutive SCORE/HDRA Heavy
Metal Off-Road championships between 1986 and 1990.
For further information on the 36th Tecate SCORE
Baja 1000 or to follow Gordon’s progress, go to www.score-international.com
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