Robby Gordon Motorsports would love to add Riggs to team in '09
Robby Gordon may not have full sponsorship for his NASCAR Sprint Cup team next season, but he doesn't seem too worried about his prospects. In fact, the driver is talking about the potential of adding a second team to his Robby Gordon Motorsports organization.
For now, though, Gordon is focusing on running a pair of races on the Watkins Glen International road course this weekend. Based on his history, the driver expects to excel.
Carrying sponsorship from Jim Beam on the Cup side, he's hoping to build on a record that includes top-five finishes in the last three races at the track and five top-five finishes in the last six there.
As he looks forward to the race weekend, though, Gordon finds himself pelted with questions about his sponsor lineup for next season. As the economy tightens and a list of teams seek sponsorship, Gordon has found himself running some races without a primary sponsor.
"Right now, next year looks a lot like it did this year, where we have sporadic events," the owner/driver told a national teleconference with reporters Tuesday. "So there is opportunity. Obviously, sponsors and everybody wants to be involved with a team that can win races. I look at this weekend as an opportunity of putting our team in victory lane. There's only been three teams this year that have been in victory lane. So if we could pull it off, that would be big."
Gordon says that his role as owner/driver has built in a little more flexibility than some would have when it comes to racing with a car that needs sponsorship. This season, he has primary backing from Jim Beam, Mapei, Camping World and Charter, and he picked up a race from Valvoline. He has also run some races without anything on the hood, including heading to the road-course event at Infineon Raceway without backing.
Still, Gordon remains confident that his team will weather the storm. He has formed an alliance with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, one in which he gets support from the three-car Dodge organization, and has never fallen out of the top 35 in owner points despite changing manufacturers shortly before the season-opening Daytona 500.
Gordon, who has two top-10 finishes and is 30th in the driver standings, faces an uphill battle in competing against some of the top teams in the garage for sponsorship, though. As he said, sponsors want winners, and he's hoping to be just that after this weekend.
Then he'll continue to look down the road to 2009. Gordon knows that a second car would likely boost the performance of his organization, but he's not rushing to add another effort. He admits, though, that Scott Riggs, whose status with the team now known as Haas CNC Racing is unclear as Tony Stewart prepares to take it over next year, would be someone he'd look at should that become a possibility.
"I think Scott Riggs is a very good race car driver," Gordon said. "[Am I] committed to running a second car? You know, we'd love to run a second car. I think our team and our facility and our systems and procedures and policies, all that stuff, is in place now to run a second car.
"You know, we still haven't won with one car, but this weekend's race hasn't happened yet either. It's important to make one car run good first. And we've been able to stay inside of the top 35. But, you know, at the same time we'd like to position ourselves to win races."
While adding a second car to an organization that continues to build its initial effort would add its own set of challenges, it could also help both groups improve more quickly. Sometimes it's hard to know which should come first.
"A second car's going to help in that because you're going to find solutions for our problems faster," Gordon said. "I think Scott's a good race car driver. So that's obviously something that I would look at. Obviously, the thing out there is who's going to pay for it, how are you going to do it and what sponsors are going to be involved in it?"
He seems confident, though, that the sponsorship will work itself out for next season. Gordon will run the full Sprint Cup schedule either way, but full sponsorship would certainly make his task less difficult.
"We know what it takes as far as sponsorship to go and do this thing," he said. "And I feel confident that we'll get a sponsor for next year, and we'll able to continue on. I also have a lot of confidence that Jim Beam will return with us, as well."
