CART: Team Gordon Portland Preview
18 June 1999
Robby Gordon - NEWS AND QUOTES #22 Johns Manville/Panasonic/Menards Toyota/Swift PreRace Notes/Quotes Friday, June 18, 1999 Budweiser GI Joe's 200 - Portland International Raceway - Portland, Ore. WHATS NEW AT TEAM GORDON? DAVID CRIPPS, ENGINEER - Team Gordon has hired engineer David Cripps to replace Kenny Anderson, who departed after the Milwaukee race to focus on the development of his own open-wheel chassis. The parting was a mutual one. Team Gordon was fortunate to have the opportunity to bring in an engineer of the caliber of Cripps right away. He was immediately put to task when Team Gordon tested at Mid-Ohio the Tuesday and Wednesday following Milwaukee's Miller Lite 225. TESTING AT MID-OHIO - Robby Gordon posted very encouraging times at a two-day test on Mid-Ohio's road course last week with a best time of 1:06.2 seconds - two seconds faster than his qualifying time of a year ago. Out of eight cars in the test, led by Michael Andretti, Gordon's time was third best, signaling that the Toyota motor is truly coming around as the midway point of the season approaches. Gordon was impressed with the motor's increased torque and ability to get off the corners. Compared to last year's motor at Mid-Ohio, Robby commented, "There's no comparison, this motor is 100 percent better. If we can qualify further up front, I think you'll see us do some damage to the leaderboard. Christiano can follow my tail all the way to the front!" NEW PAINT SCHEME UNVEILED AT MILWAUKEE - Much has been said about Team Gordon changing its stripes after the Indy weekend and rolling out a predominantly yellow car at Milwaukee. The real truth is that the team felt the car needed to stand out more on TV. There was simply too much blue on the top portion of the car, which made it blend with the other darker-colored cars on the track. Only from above the car and the top of the side pods could it be picked out of a crowd. The latest design is a replication of Robby's favorite car design, the '95 Valvoline entry of Walker Racing, in which he won two races and two poles. Aside from a genuine fondness of the design, Gordon also hopes it brings some of 1995's racing luck! A WEEKEND OFF: ROBBY GORDON RELAXES AT THE RIVER - After a stretch that saw Team Gordon run four races in four weeks, plus Indy Pole Day, Robby Gordon used his weekend off to enjoy some time at the Colorado River in Arizona. He was told by fellow co-owners John Menard and Mike Held to get out of town the second he returned from testing at Mid-Ohio (following the Milwaukee race) and not come back until the team was ready to head to Portland. It was a much-needed break. Robby used it to do some of his favorite watersports hobbies, including air-chairing (a hydrofoil-type chair with a long skag that's pulled behind a ski boat) as well as dune buggying. QUOTES ROBBY GORDON ON PORTLAND "It kicks off a stretch in which six of the next seven races are on road courses, and it's just a short plane ride up the West Coast from Home Sweet Home. "We had a tough time scoring points on the ovals. We would have liked to come away from that segment of the season with our bags packed for Hawaii, but instead we have to put the hammer down and start scoring, now. We had a good test at Mid-Ohio last week, so we're optimistic about the next few races. We'll see what happens. Regardless, I'm ready to run through the trees here. Portland is a fun track and a great setting for a race. For us, it's like a new season beginning. We have the craziness of the early schedule behind us with its two overseas races, Indy, and the growing pains of a startup team. David Cripps was just hired to engineer the car for the remainder of the season and he's going to be great. I was impressed with him at the (Mid-Ohio) test. He's a buttoned-up guy and he knows what he's doing. It's all about patience. Patience, patience, patience - that's the key to getting through the first year with a brand new team. Our day is coming, trust me. We have a helluva group in our corner, including (co-owner) John Menard and the great racing minds at Toyota. If we just keep working hard, the results will come. I believe in our package more and more every day."