Gordon Will Drive Allison’s Car : Auto racing: At the moment, Talladega is a one-race agreement for versatile young driver from Orange.

Robby Gordon, who has been racing Indy cars and off-road trucks this season, will replace the late Davey Allison in Robert Yates’ Ford Thunderbird in Sunday’s Winston Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway.

“This is tragic circumstances, but I’m a racer,” Gordon said at a news conference Tuesday at Yates’ headquarters in Charlotte, N.C. “I will do the best job I can to make Davey and all of his fans proud of us. Davey was my favorite stock car driver and I’d hoped someday that we could be teammates.

“I know it’s a big risk (putting me in the car), but I’m excited that they’re willing to take the chance.”

Allison died last week after a helicopter he was flying crashed in the Talladega infield. Yates did not enter his No. 28 car in last Sunday’s race at Pocono.

“We felt we had to take off at Pocono last week to show our appreciation for everything that Davey meant to everybody on our team,” Yates said. “We didn’t feel we could field a racing team with tears in our eyes. Now it’s time to move on, and I’m sure Davey thinks we’re doing this one week too late.”

Gordon, 24, of Orange, was selected for his versatility and his tie to both Ford and Texaco, Yates’ sponsor. It will be his second Winston Cup race. He finished 18th after running as high as fifth before spinning to avoid another car in the 1991 Daytona 500. However, he has never seen the 2.6-mile Talladega track.

At the moment, it is a one-race agreement, because Gordon is contracted to drive a Lola-Ford for A.J. Foyt in the Indy car series, which does not have a race this week. He is eighth in points, his best finish a third in the season opener in Australia.

“We’re going to put Robby in the car for one race,” Yates said. “His name came up because he has so much obvious natural talent, but when (Ford and Texaco) first called me and asked what I thought, I admit I hadn’t considered him. But the more we talked about it, it made a lot of sense. With Robby, we’ll approach the race the way we always did with Davey--we’re going there to win.”

The next NASCAR race after Sunday’s is Aug. 8 at Watkins Glen, N.Y., the same day the Indy cars will be at Loudon, N.H.