WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Robby Gordon, driver of the Rockwell Automation Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Richard Childress Racing, had a lot of confidence entering Sunday’s GNC Live Well 200 at Watkins Glen International.  

After an extremely close qualifying session that separated the first three cars by a mere .03 seconds, Gordon qualified third, starting behind fellow road racers Scott Pruett and Ron Fellows.

For the first half of the race, Gordon kept the leaders in sight, knowing he would need to save his car for a strong battle with Fellows at the end.

Unfortunately, Greg Biffle missed Gordon’s hand signal on the back stretch warning that he would be pitting. Biffle slammed into the back of Gordon as he was entering pit road, causing him to spin. After Gordon recovered he headed to his pit to later find that NASCAR officials had closed the pits due to his incident. Gordon was penalized and forced to re-grid at the end of the longest line (approx. 25th position).

Gordon called into his crew and asked, “First, I’m a victim of circumstance and now they’re making me go to the back?”

Not giving up, Gordon bullied his way through the field to gain 20 positions in 23 laps, finishing fifth in the Rockwell Automation Chevrolet.

“I’m really disappointed,” said Gordon. “I feel we had a awesome car today. We could have had a better finish, but I’m still happy with a top five. I can’t say enough about the RCR Team.”

This is not the first time Gordon has had to come from the back at Watkins Glen. Last year, in the Winston Cup event, a rained-out qualifying forced Gordon to start in the back of the field, but he still pulled through for a fourth place finish.

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