Robby Gordon to run unique Baja 1000-Ford 400 race weekend double
Robby Gordon will be competing in both the Baja 1000 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Ford 400 this weekend. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
Robby Gordon Motorsports driver/owner Robby Gordon is set for another unique double-duty race weekend.
Gordon, an independent NASCAR Sprint Cup team owner/driver, will take time away from his stock-car racing this week to compete in the 42nd Tecate Score Baja 1000 beginning Friday. The race marks the fifth and final competition in the Score International Off-Road Racing Series 2009 championship, a series in which Gordon is leading the standings in both the Trophy Truck division and the overall Desert Series championship standings.
Gordon will race against 337 competitors in this weekend's Baja 1000. The field will include at least 35 entrants for the Trophy Truck division, in which Gordon competes.
The event will take place over a 672.85-mile course, with the competition both beginning and ending in Ensenada, Mexico. Gordon's class is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:30 a.m. PST on Friday. The vehicles leave the grid in 30-second increments for the timed event, which is expected to take the fastest competitors approximately 14 hours to complete. The duo of Robby Gordon and Andy Grider roll off eighth.
Meanwhile, his RGM Sprint Cup team will be working with Camping World Truck Series regular Matt Crafton to prepare the No. 7 entry for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Crafton is set to practice and qualify Gordon’s Camry throughout the weekend. Gordon will then arrive at 1.5-mile oval to compete in the 400-mile event at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday.
“I’m very excited for the Baja 1000 this year,” Gordon said. “I love this race, and I’ve made it a goal to compete in the Baja 1000 throughout my NASCAR career, even when I wasn’t able to run the entire Score schedule. My family’s background is in off-road racing, and I started my career competing in off-road events.
"The Robby Gordon off-road team has done a great job making the No. 77 Monster Energy/Toyo Tires Trophy Truck competitive for all the events this year, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to bring home strong finish in the Baja 1000. This is a very tough and physical event. All we have to do to clinch the championship is to finish the race. However, last year only two-thirds of the entrants finished the race, so it isn’t as easy as it sounds. I trust that my guys built the best truck out there, and we’ll be able to drive [it] to [the] championship.”
