Robby Gordon Motorsports: Menards Chicago Race Report

The bad news was evident to everyone – a transmission failure foiled
another strong run by Robby Gordon and his No. 7 Menards Chevrolet
Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.  The good news was just as evident to
the driver and team members – Gordon had another fast race car capable
of contending for a win or at least a top-10 finish.

          “Considering where we started the season, yea, I think we took
a lot of good from the race despite the transmission failure,” Gordon
said.  “Don’t get me wrong, I’m plenty mad that we had a failure, and so
is the team.  But I’m also optimistic that once these issues we’ve seen
over the last few weeks stop haunting us we’ll be finishing up front
regularly as well as starting there.”

          Chicagoland marked the fourth consecutive week that Gordon
started 12th or better – good by any team’s standards.

          “We’ve proven that our cars are fast in qualifying and fast in
the race,” Gordon continued.  “Now we need to show some more reliability
and we’ll prove once and for all that a one-car, first-year team can run
at the front against some of these veteran teams.

          “The old adage that you win races in the shop certainly
applies for us.  We’ve added some new people to our staff in
Charlotte, and the fact
that we seem to be fast off the truck every week is a testament to our
team that gets us ready for every race.  We’re still looking for several
qualified mechanics and fabricators to help us in the shop, and
hopefully prevent some of the problems we’ve been having in cars before
they occur.

          “Now that Greg (crew chief Greg Erwin) has our cars tuned
properly, it’s all about proper preparation, and a few additional people
back home will take us another step closer.”

          Because of the 45 laps the team spent in the garage Sunday
changing the broken transmission, Gordon finished 35th Sunday at
Chicagoland.

          Immediately following the race, Gordon and company flew to
Indianapolis for a one-day test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in
preparation for the Aug. 7 Brickyard 400.

          The Fruit of the Loom Chevrolet clocked in the fourth fastest
of 23 cars testing Monday at Indy, lapping the 2.5-mile oval at 181.722
mph, just 0.241 mph off the fastest speed of the day set by Greg Biffle
(181.963).

          Robby Gordon Motorsports will travel to New Hampshire
International Speedway this weekend for Sunday’s New England 300 with
Harrah’s on the car.  Gordon recorded his first career NASCAR Nextel Cup
Series win at the Loudon track in 2001, and has historically done well
at the tricky 1.058-mile oval, recording three top 10 finishes including
a fifth-place run in 2003 and a seventh-place effort in 2002.