NASCAR WCUP: Robby Gordon back like the 'Wolf Man' at Charlotte
5 October 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
Charlotte, North Carolina--It was a dark day back in
September when Team Gordon left the Richmond International Raceway. The
familiar #13 Ford Taurus was left without a qualifying position sending
Robby Gordon into a funk. His mind was filled with questions about how
one
car can be so good, and yet another so bad. A monster began to brew,
ready
to rear its ugly head. So ready that the ugly head reared itself and
appeared plastered on the hood and side panels of Gordons neon-orange,
Duracell/TurtleWax Menards stock car. Its the Wolf Man and hes arrived
with a vengeance to dig his newfound claws into the Charlotte Motor
Speedway
this week, beginning with tonights qualifying for the UAW-GM Quality 500.
Rarely in motorsports does a promotional campaign mirror a drivers current state of mind like Universal Studios "Monsters of the Speedway" Robby Gordon edition as the Wolf Man.
"Hes certainly taken a Monster-like approach the last few weeks in preparation for running this car," said team owner Mike Held. "There were some changes we needed to make to avoid what happened at Richmond as we move down the road and continue to build this team for next season. So we made them. One was to turn the reigns over to a new crew chief. We brought in Mark Tutor and hes been very good for us. He helped us recognize that fundamental problems in our chassis were the main reason for our struggles at Richmond and also at some of the other tracks we had been to earlier this year."
Gordon echoed Helds statement and continued further, "Weve had a couple of weekends this season where weve literally gone home wondering why weve been off because theyve come after weekends where weve been very good. I look back at our good run at Vegas and how we struggled the next race at Atlanta. We were fast a Bristol and then horrible at Richmond," explained Gordon, who last competed at Charlotte in Mays Coca-Cola 600 immediately following a 6th place finish at the Indy 500. "After Richmond we isolated the problems to the geometry in the front and the rear of the car, or pick-up points as some people also call them. We have two different arrangements and while they should both be fine in theory, on the track they havent been. Since Richmond weve made changes to pick-up points, spent a considerable amount of time in the wind tunnel and also had an excellent test at Kentucky where we were able to compare old chassis data with new. Honestly, it was night and day on the track. Based on the way the new car performed at Kentucky, I feel very good about coming into Charlotte. In a nutshell, the car turns now. Its that simple. Weve been loose in, tight in the middle, and loose off corners all year with the pick-up points weve had on some of our cars."
As Gordon mentioned, new pickup points and a modified aero package have been developed for Team Gordons stable of cars and subsequent testing provided much better results than previous tests, which all made for a much more comfortable driver. But the addition of Mark Tutor has been key. He adds experience to an area on the team that has been a weakness all season. Tutor was the crew chief last season for Cale Yarboroughs #98 team, a season in which the team qualified for every race, using only one provisional, that for a rain event.
"Hey, there really isnt any witchcraft in this sport, its all about basics first and knowing the animal youre trying to tame," said Tutor, who as a consultant this season was responsible for Darrell Waltrips front row starting position at the Brickyard in August. "My first weekend we threw changes at Robbys car at Richmond that didnt register anything on the radar screen. Nothing. And Im talking about big changes that just didnt help or hurt the car. Same speed, same driveability. It was consistently bad and unresponsive. That told me a number of things, but mostly that we had a geometry problem. Im looking forward to Charlotte, I think everyone is because its an opportunity to carry momentum from a good test and hopefully run strong, proving weve taking a big step."
Team Gordons Wolf Man liveried car will run only at this weekends Charlotte race as part of Universal Studios October promotion, "Monsters of the Speedway." The promotion runs in conjunction with Action Performance who will be offering diecast collectibles of all the Monsters cars involved, including the other Winston Cup car, Bobby Labontes Frankenstein.
"Universal is very proud of our classic Monsters legacy, which dates back to the 1930s" said Elliot Lederman, vice president of licensing and motorsports, Universal Studios Consumer Products Group. "The Monsters of the Speedway program will reach fans of all ages who will enjoy seeing the monsters scare the competition."
Opening practice for Winston Cup cars begins at 3pm eastern time with qualifying slated for 8:05pm.
Text Provided By Kinnon Marshall
Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos
and art, visit
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