Target House 300 - Tina Gordon Notes

Tina Gordon Notes, Quotes: Target House 300
‘That single step is a big one for me, team’

This weekend Tina Gordon and the #39 Yahoo! Ford team head the fast, two-mile California Speedway, for Saturday’s Target House 300 NASCAR Busch Series race.

The 33-year-old driver is a native of Cedar Bluff, Ala., and driver of the Yahoo!-sponsored Ford fielded by Jay Robinson Racing of Charlotte, N.C. Robinson is the first car owner in major league motorsports to have fielded full-time rides for different female drivers, the other being Tammy Jo Kirk the second half of last season. Gordon comes to the Yahoo! Ford team from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, but also brings strong experience credentials from the weekly short tracks of Alabama, the same tracks that spawned racing legends such as Davey Allison, and helped build legends such as Bobby and Donnie Allison, Red Farmer and Neil Bonnett.

Microtel Inn and Suites, which has received the J.D. Power & Associates award for highest guest satisfaction the past two years, and, Vassarette, a top of the line lingerie manufacturer, have joined Jay Robinson Racing as associate sponsors on the #39 Yahoo! Ford.

Jay Robinson Racing, in its fourth season of operation, is one of the fastest-growing teams in NASCAR. Robinson, a Charlotte, N.C., native who is a successful businessman, founded the team as a high-value endeavor that offers high-end equipment and efforts, while proving to be one of the most cost-efficient teams in the sport. Robinson fields two sponsored cars fulltime on the Busch Series: the #39 Yahoo! Ford and the #49 Advil Ford, and runs a third car in many Busch Series events.

The thoughts of Yahoo! Ford driver Tina Gordon heading into California:

“Part of being a rookie in this sport is going to tracks you’ve never raced before, never even seen before, but it’s a part you simply have to accept. The key is being able to take what you already know, take your experience from other race tracks, delve into the knowledge of veteran drivers who will talk to you – and put it all together.

“As a rookie, you aren’t necessarily trying to figure out how to run 500 miles at California Speedway. What I am trying to do is figure out the best way to run one lap at California Speedway. If I can do that, if I can figure that one lap out, then I can put the 250 laps together I need to run the race.

“It’s the old saying, ‘Every journal starts with a single step.’ That one lap is where it starts in stock car racing. How can I get around California well, run as fast as I can? Where do I need to run the car, what’s the best line? What gearing works best with my engine and my driving style? Then how can I make it better?

“That helps me prepare for qualifying, which is important, but it also helps me prepare for the race too. Two laps around, and I’m done with qualifying. Two hundred fifty laps around makes the race. The race, obviously, is different because there are another 42 cars out there racing against you, and a lot of them are going to want to run the same line you want to run. So being able to adjust your line to run with the other cars is the next step in preparation.

“Success is relative in anything you do. Success for me at California might mean one thing, for a veteran driver it would mean something else. Sure, everybody’s goal is to win the race but a lot of us are in different races. I’d love to win the Target House 300 just like anybody else but I know a more realistic goal for me is to run a solid, consistent race, learn a lot and come away with a solid day.

“I have big plans for my future in the sport and a lot of things I want to do. This Yahoo! race team has a lot of big plans too. But getting to where we want to go is a journey – and it really does begin with that single step.”