All He Needs Is a Little Luck

He can’t create any luck, but there’s plenty of fate in Robby Gordon’s life.

He had to stop for gas going into the last lap while leading the 1999 Indianapolis 500.

Earlier this season, he was leading a Winston Cup race at Sears Point, was bumped by a lapped car, lost the lead and finished second.

And last week, he had the car to beat at Watkins Glen and appeared headed to his first Winston Cup victory. Then a telemetry box--a nonessential piece of equipment required by NASCAR for the benefit of television--caught fire.

End of race for Gordon.

“What a joke,” he said from his office in Charlotte. “I must have been a bad boy when I was young.

“I think this one has to fall right behind Indianapolis. To be that close at Indy and run out of fuel on the [second-to-last lap] is pretty big. This week, I was leading before I pitted, we were pretty dominant all day, and other guys knew it as well. It wasn’t just us that thought it. Jeff Gordon said it as well.”

Jeff Gordon, the race winner--the Gordons are not related--admitted he probably could not have beaten Robby. But Jeff doesn’t have Robby’s bad luck, either.

“The TV telemetry box has its own battery, its own power,” Robby said. “Nobody’s ever heard of it catching on fire during a race.”

Instead of winning, he finished 40th in his third race for Richard Childress Racing, subbing for injured Mike Skinner. For the moment, Gordon’s Winston Cup season is over.

But remember, this is Robby Gordon, who will race just about any kind of car at any invitation.

“Hey, you could see me in an IRL car before the season’s over,” he said.

He says he is joking about that, but he isn’t joking when he says he doesn’t think he has run his last Cup race of the season.

“Right now, I’m focusing on Winston Cup for 2002,” Gordon said. “I have been performing lately, getting a lot of exposure, but unfortunately the results didn’t show. At the Brickyard 400, I pit under green, and all the guys who pitted earlier lapped me, and then a caution came out. I can’t make luck.”

Gordon said he is talking with three “top 25” teams about driving for them next season, one of them Childress’. “I can’t sit around and wait, I’ve got to make something happen.”

Gordon, an Orange native who owned his own under-funded team last season, began 2001 driving for Morgan-McClure Racing but was replaced after only five races by Kevin Lepage.

“I thought I could make the No. 4 car a top-25 or top-15 team, but if they’re not willing to allow that to happen, I can’t do it,” he said. “Everything happens for a reason, and it worked out for the best. If it hadn’t happened, I never would have got a chance to drive for Richard Childress.”

The Childress experience has been eye-opening.

“I understand Winston Cup cars better than I ever have before, and understand what top teams do different, and I can build on those experiences,” he said.

In fact, Gordon, who has owned CART and Winston Cup teams, said he would really have to think twice about ownership again, and only if it was properly financed.

“Everybody likes to control his own destiny, but it’s nice to drive for an established race team like I was driving for there,” he said. “If I had Richard Childress on one side, and a sponsor on the other side, it would be a real tough decision to make. With the right amount of funding, I think I could field a competitive Winston Cup program, but it would be nice to drive for a team like Richard Childress as well.”

With Childress, Gordon was the teammate of Kevin Harvick. And it was the lapped Harvick who’d spoiled Gordon’s chances of winning at Sears Point. There were no hard feelings.

“It’s been OK,” Gordon said. “It’s actually been very good.”

So how does it feel to be Robby Gordon right now?

“On one side, I’m a little disappointed--I wanted to be in good enough shape that I could find a good ride for 2002,” he said.

“I think it makes it a little easier when you’re a race winner. Not being a race winner, it makes my job a little more difficult. It allows a lot of opportunities to come your way if you’re a driver. If you’re a race winner, it cleans up a lot of stuff.

“Look at the luck I’ve had. The Indy 500, the lapped car, now this.”

Silly Season

The musical chairs season has begun, and while Gordon hopes his name soon leaves the list of the unemployed, some drivers are starting to show up in different camps.

Most notable was the announcement Thursday by Chip Ganassi that he has signed former IRL champion and current CART series leader Kenny Brack for next season.

Rumor was that Brack’s current boss, Bobby Rahal, wanted to re-sign Brack and let Max Papis go, especially after the Italian driver took out Brack last Sunday at Mid-Ohio, costing him championship points, which Rahal called “inexcusable.” Brack holds a one-point lead over Helio Castroneves heading into this weekend’s race at Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Ganassi didn’t say what Brack will earn, but he did say, “For what we’re paying him, I expect results.”

Another driver who signed Thursday is Alta Loma’s Jaques Lazier, who will join Team Menard immediately and continue through 2002 as a replacement for 1999 IRL champion Greg Ray, who is 13th in the standings.

“I have the highest regard for [Ray], but the chemistry of the team just wasn’t working out,” owner John Menard said.

Menard’s move left rival team owner Sam Schmidt in a tizzy. Lazier, younger brother of defending champion Buddy Lazier, has driven for Schmidt the last four races, and finished third on July 21 at Nashville.

“I’m disappointed in John Menard and I am disappointed in Jaques,” Schmidt said. “The Lazier family has always been known for keeping their word.”

On the Air

CART announced Thursday a contract with CBS and Fox Cable Networks for next season. At least seven races will be on CBS, and total air time devoted to the series will increase by about 60% with complementary coverage on Fox and its Speedvision network, and expanded race coverage will include pre- and post-race activities.

The catch? CART will pay CBS $235,000 an hour for the telecasts.

International Venture

China will have its first major auto race, the Shanghai Super Prix, in October 2002, and will get its first look at big-time auto racing later this year. The Chinese government will stage a series of exhibitions the weekend of Nov. 31-Dec. 2 with drag racing by funny car driver Jerry Toliver and top fuel driver Gary Clapshaw, some teams from CART and the American Le Mans series, a motocross exhibition, and a legends motorcycle race on a 2.6-mile street circuit.

According to Bill Marcel, general manager of Auto Racing Legends, government leaders will view the event to determine the future of racing in China.

“We’ve talked with CART for about six months about bringing a race to Shanghai in spring 2003,” Marcel said. “We’re trying to tie into the race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan.”

Drag Racing

California Speedway announced details of its three street-legal drag racing event weekends on the speedway’s new quarter-mile strip.

Race weekends are Sept. 8-9 and 22-23, and Oct. 6-7. Prices are $10 a person, and $10 for racers to purchase Tech Cards, which will be limited to 500.

Details: https://www.californiaspeedway.com.

The latest in the NHRA’s list of its top 50 drivers are Jungle Jim Liberman, No. 17; Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen, No. 16, and Ronnie Sox, No. 15.

Last Laps

Only two points separate Saugus’ Sean Woodside and Escondido’s Brent Reynolds as they prepare for Saturday’s Twin 50s in the Food4Less Super Late Models at Irwindale Speedway. Also on the schedule are NASCAR super stocks, Grand American modifieds and the modified 4s. Racing begins at 7 p.m. . . . Alex Harris of Simi Valley holds a 10-point lead over Canyon Lake’s Danny Ebert in the USAC Western States midget series, which will race Saturday at Perris Auto Speedway. Also on the bill are the winged California Lightning sprint cars.

Shawn McConnell of Brea won the Costa Mesa Speedway scratch and heat main events last weekend at the Orange County Fairgrounds, his first scratch victory of the season. Racing continues Saturday at 7:30 p.m. . . . With his victory last week, Ventura’s Cory Kruseman became the first driver to win five consecutive Sprint Car Racing Assn. main events at Perris Auto Speedway. Kruseman had shared the record with Yorba Linda’s Rip Williams, who did it twice, in 1997-98.

George Gervais of Mira Loma remained unconscious and in critical condition at Riverside County Regional Medical Center on Thursday after his July 28 accident at Perris.

Passings

Jay Chamberlain, a Tucson resident but a regular on the West Coast sports car scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s and a class winner at Le Mans in 1957, died on Aug. 6. He was 75. . . . Al Brown, the only driver in NHRA history to compete in all 46 U.S. Nationals, died Sunday. He was 67.

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This Week’s Races

WINSTON CUP

Pepsi 400

* When: Today, qualifying (CNNSI, noon); Sunday, race (TNT, 11 a.m.)

* Where: Michigan International Speedway (D-shaped oval, 2 miles, 18-degree banking in turns), Brooklyn, Mich.

* Race distance: 400 miles, 200 laps.

* Last race: Jeff Gordon set the NASCAR record for road-course victories by winning at Watkins Glen International, his seventh road-course triumph.

* 2000 winner: Rusty Wallace.

* Next race: Sharpie 500, Aug. 25, Bristol, Tenn.

* On the net: https://www.nascar.com.

BUSCH

NAPAonline.com 250

* When: Today, qualifying, 10:15 a.m.; Saturday, race (TNT, 10 a.m.)

* Where: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich.

* Race distance: 250 miles, 125 laps.

* Last race: Series leader Kevin Harvick drove to his fourth Busch victory of the year, holding off Greg Biffle in the Kroger 200.

* 2000 winner: Todd Bodine.

* Next race: Food City 250, Aug. 24, Bristol, Tenn.

* On the net: https://www.nascar.com.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS

Sears Craftsman 175

* When: Today, qualifying, 11 a.m.; Saturday, race (ESPN, 2 p.m.)

* Where: Chicago Motor Speedway (oval, 1 mile), Cicero, Ill.

* Race distance: 175 miles, 175 laps.

* Last race: Dodge driver Scott Riggs raced to his fourth victory of the season, leading 131 of 150 laps in the Federated Auto Parts 200.

* 2000 winner: Joe Ruttman.

* Next race: Chevy Silverado 200, Aug. 26, Nazareth, Pa.

* On the net: https://www.nascar.com.

CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMS

Motorola 220

* When: Saturday, qualifying, 10:45 a.m. (ESPN2, 1:30 a.m., Sunday, tape); Sunday, race (ESPN, 10 a.m.)

* Where: Road America (permanent road course, 4.048 miles, 14 turns), Elkhart Lake, Wis.

* Race distance: 222.64 miles, 55 laps.

* Last race: Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran produced their second consecutive 1-2 finish at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the Miller Lite 200.

* 2000 winner: Paul Tracy.

* Next race: Molson Indy, Sept. 2, Vancouver, Canada.

* On the net: https://www.cart.com.

FORMULA ONE

Hungarian Grand Prix

* When: Saturday, qualifying, (Speedvision, 4 a.m.); Sunday, race, (Speedvision, 4:30 a.m.)

* Where: Hungaroring (road course, 2.466 miles), Budapest.

* Race distance: 190.982 miles, 77 laps.

* Last race: Ralf Schumacher won a wild German Grand Prix on his home track in a race marked by a crash that involved his brother and forced a restart. Michael Schumacher, the defending series champion and points leader, was not injured. He quit on the 24th lap of a race in which only 10 cars finished.

* 2000 winner: Mika Hakkinen.

* On the net: https://www.formula1.com.

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSN.

Colonel’s Truck Nationals

* When: Today, qualifying, 11:45 a.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 9:45 a.m. (ESPN2, 5 p.m., tape); Sunday, eliminations, 8 a.m. (ESPN2, 2 p.m., tape).

* Where: Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minn.

* Last event: Kenny Bernstein raced to his 58th victory, beating David Grubnic in the top fuel final of the FRAM Autolite Nationals. Del Worsham and Tom Martino also won in their divisions.

* 2000 winners: Tony Schumacher, top fuel; John Force, funny cars; Kurt Johnson, pro stock, and Antron Brown, motorcycle pro stock.

* Next event: U.S. Nationals, Sept. 3, Clermont, Ind.

* On the net: https://www.nhra.com.