Robby Gordon says team will continue to race without Jim Beam
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Friday, September 25, 2009
NASCAR Sprint Cup owner/driver Robby Gordon will continue to race next season without sponsorship from Jim Beam.
David Griffin
NASCAR Scene
DOVER, Del. – Robby Gordon lost one of his bigger sponsors this week, but the driver/owner has several sponsors that should help him handle the departure of Jim Beam.
Gordon said Jim Beam was the primary sponsor for 12 races this year and a to-be-announced sponsor has committed for four of those, leaving him eight to replace from that sponsorship next year.
Menards and Mapei are returning, and Gordon said he has a good opportunity for other sponsors such as Polaris, Monster and Camping World to return.
“The nice thing about our program is one sponsor does not dictate the whole swing of things,” Gordon said Friday at Dover International Speedway. “I don’t know if that’s by design or just by luck over the years. When Harrah’s went away a couple of years ago, they were an equal partner of Beam and we continued for three more years.
“Obviously we’ve got to find new partners. Jim Beam has been a great sponsor for five years, and I appreciate what they’ve done. That said, it is what it is. This is what we do – we race cars.”
Gordon said he can generate a lot of exposure through his various racing avenues, which includes offroad racing. He said he is still not interested in merging with another team.
“We’re five years down the road headed in one direction,” said Gordon, who drove for car owners Felix Sabates and Richard Childress before starting his own NASCAR team in 2004. “And that’s obviously the best thing for our company. We mix other things as well. My shop just doesn’t work on stock cars. The machine shop works on off-road parts. Those two programs work hand-in-hand and they both need each other.”
One thing that could help Gordon is if the Indianapolis 500 starts earlier next year, allowing a driver to do both that race and the Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.
“I have a sponsor that I talked to today that said they would take Indy and Charlotte at the right dollars today,” said Gordon, who has extensive experience in open-wheel cars. “They’ve already told me that. If Indy changes, I think you can count me in it - with a new sponsor, a different sponsor that’s not on my car today.”
There also might be another opportunity for sponsorship if Toyota gives the team some engineering help and engine stuff, but Dodge has lost a three-car team in Richard Petty Motorsports.
Gordon drove a Dodge without a contract with the manufacturer in 2008.
“We do have a relationship there, and that’s all I can say on that matter,” said Gordon, who is 33rd in points. “I think our cars, we run good at times. What we have to do is the ‘at times’ part, we have to figure out how to make them run all the time better.”
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10 responses to "Robby Gordon says team will continue to race without Jim Beam". Post a Comment.
galvan18244 said:
Sep 25, 2009 at 5:33 PMRobby is prob. gonna run a dodge next year.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportPhoenix987 said:
Sep 25, 2009 at 7:07 PMI can't see him going back to Dodge, for some reason. It just doesn't make any sense for him to do it. He's switched manufacturers almost every year, and I would think that he would be done with that.
Report as AbuseHowever, if Dodge offers him the right dollar amount, he would probably be really happy to switch. Plus, wouldn't he get into the Bud Shootout?
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» Confirm Abuse Reporttinynascarfan said:
Sep 25, 2009 at 11:55 PMabout the shootout? busch,hornish and kesoloski, are there any start n park dodges?
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» Confirm Abuse Reporttinynascarfan said:
Sep 26, 2009 at 12:00 AMRobby is the best overall racer in nascar, that is not just my opinion, it is a fact! The only ones who could even put up an argument is Stewart,Montoya, and maybe kyle busch sometime in the future if he decides to run some dirt races, 3 wins in the cup series, wins in nationwide, off-road championships, indy car, the only question i have is has he ever raced a season at a dirt track?
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» Confirm Abuse Reportbthompson133 said:
Sep 26, 2009 at 3:12 PMrg should stick with off road where he only wrecks himself. i guess sis will start drinking again
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdtk1952 said:
Sep 26, 2009 at 8:19 PMRG is the last of a dieing breed, single car owner/driver. I wish that those days were back or at the most allow a two car garage. Racing was better back before Roush, Hendricks and others became multi car owners.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdale said:
Sep 26, 2009 at 10:25 PMtinynascarfan, sorry, your statement is just an opinion. It is clearly not a fact. Maybe you should take the time to actually look up those big words before you use them next time.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportrobby_7_fan said:
Sep 27, 2009 at 5:04 AMJust like your statement is your opinion Dale. As for #5, I think that your comment should be addressed to other drivers like David Stremme and some others who wreck more people in races that Robby does. You also might want to watch a race next time and actually see that. Or maybe the driver you root for should race in another series themselves.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdale said:
Sep 27, 2009 at 3:53 PMActually Robby fan, what I said is a fact. I didn't make any claim to how good or bad anyone is (and no, I wasn't saying anything negative about Robby). It is comments like tiny's that give NASCAR fans a bad name. You can like or dislike a driver all you want, however when someone starts spouting off these so-called facts they typically look like an idiot.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportnitro07 said:
Sep 28, 2009 at 8:58 AMFinally a driver not ready to merge more power to ya Robby this sports needs more leaders than followers!!
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