ENSENADA, Mexico— Veteran and ultra-popular desert racer Robby Gordon returned back to the seat of his familiar bright orange No. 77 SPEED Energy / Toyo Tires Chevrolet Trophy Truck Thursday to earn the first starting position in Saturday’s 48th Annual Baja 500 desert race.
Gordon, who will race Sunday in Detroit, Michigan in the Stadium SUPER Trucks series, covered the 5.3-mile desert-qualifying course near Uruapan, 25 miles south of Ensenada in seven minutes and 26.59 seconds, averaging 42.71 miles per hour to claim his third straight Baja 500 Fast Qualifier award. Gordon’s time bested second place Bryce Menzies by 5.953 seconds, and third place Carlos Apdaly Lopez by 9.774 seconds.
Starting and finishing in the Mexican seaside port city of Ensenada, desert racers from all over the world will take on the grueling 477.52-mile course with Gordon set to take the green flag first of the cars, trucks, and UTV’s at approximately 10 a.m. Saturday morning.
With the goal of finishing in the fastest overall time, competitors will leave the starting line in 30-second intervals chasing the ultra quick Gordon whom has five previous victories in the famous off-road race.
Fans can participate in the Baja 500 experience by connecting on http://www.planetrobby.com and follow along with team updates on Facebook and Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/thespeedenergydrink, and http://twitter.com/SPEED_ENERGY.
The No. 77 Trophy Truck is supported by SPEED Energy, Toyo Tires, TRAXXAS, KMC Wheels, Arctic Cat, King Shocks, 4 Wheel Parts, Outlaw LED, Chevrolet, Magnaflow Exhaust, Eibach Springs, Mastercraft Safety, Embee Performance, MAC Tools, Replay XD, Impact, Lincoln Electric, Ron Davis Racing Products, Techni Waterjet, Hella, Mechanix Wear, Saftey-Kleen, Kartek Off-Road, Loctite, Jamar, Trelleborg, Macs, Torchmate, and T-Rex Grills.
