Gordon to Drive 4 in 2001

Larry McClure, owner of Morgan-McClure Motorsports, Inc., announced Sunday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway that the team had signed Robby Gordon to a five-year deal driving the No. 4 Kodak MAX Film Monte Carlo beginning in 2001. Veteran NASCAR Winston Cup crew chief David Ifft will call the shots in the pits for the No. 4 Chevy team next season. Ifft joined Morgan-McClure at Phoenix this season.

ROBBY GORDON (No. 4 Kodak MAX Film Chevrolet Monte Carlo) "I'd like to say thanks to everybody on the Kodak team and everybody from Kodak for giving me the opportunity to drive the race car. The team has won races in the past, and we're going to work very, very hard to win races sometime in the very near future. I'm a little concerned with what David (Ifft) said about the Tim Richmond thing. Hopefully he's just talking about performance on the track. I just wanted to clear that up before we went too far down the road.

"I'm been fortunate enough to learn what it takes to run a race team.. I think that'll be a very good experience for me now driving for Morgan-McClure. I'm really excited and looking forward to it.

"It's important that we have success. There will be some other announcements later as we work out the details. This is the longest program I've ever signed up for. We've signed up for five years just so everybody is aware what it is. Kodak has signed up for five more as well. I'm excited about the opportunity. It gives us time to work through it and hopefully come up here someday and hold that same check Bobby Labonte was holding not too long ago ($3 million Winston Cup champion's check).

"We started talking about the program before I went to Baha. Obviously there were no contracts in place. We got back from Baha, Larry and myself were very interested in finishing up if that's the direction he and his team and sponsors wanted to go. It gave them 10 days to look around. I'm flattered they chose me. I think one of the things we talked about, I told Larry to check around. If there's somebody else, I'm not the guy, I understand. He came back and he was excited to have me drive the car and I'm excited to be here.

"Right now, I don't know exactly what's going to happen with my race team. We're trying to work through a few details with some possibilities. I have a partner in Mike Held who will answer any questions about Team Gordon, but right now, the most important thing is the No. 4 Kodak car.

"The change in thinking, this team here has won races. They have great sponsors. They have everything it takes to get to victory lane. Obviously this series is not as easy as just all those things. You have to put in some hard work, research and development and I am going to be the driver. I'm not going to be the car owner. We've talked a lot about working with Gary Grossenbacher (engineer), working with David (Ifft), and the most important thing to me is I just want to be close to the race car. We're going to sit down in Monday morning meetings and debrief and talk about the pros and cons of the weekend and hopefully build from there. They're willing to have those Monday morning meetings with me and let me sit in and be involved with the driver part of it. As far as the ownership, part of it, Larry can have it.

"I did have opportunities outside of NASCAR. Pat Patrick was talking. There were some guys around, and we made the decision last year when we came and sat in this room that Winston Cup was the place to be. Then you go out and look at all the programs out there and look at where we're at in our program and we've worked really hard putting the program together, but we just didn't have what it takes to be competitive. You have to have the money to have the research and development, and we didn't have that to get started. We weren't deep enough to continue, and it's kind of a Catch 22. If you don't have performance, then you're not going to have sponsorship. We were smart enough. The most important thing is to win races and prove we can win races in Winston Cup. I signed a five-year deal. In five years, we'll worry about what it takes to do something else.

"If you go on the internet and look at the teams that have won races and what races they've won, there was no other real opportunity I felt that could win races and knows how. Obviously I thought I knew how, but our race team didn't get to victory lane this year. Now I have people that know how to get to victory lane, and I'm just going to work with them the best I can and put more than an honest effort into it. When these guys are sleeping, we'll still be working.

"The most important thing is this program and win races. We'll look at other things as time comes up and we have time to think and weigh out all the options. The 10 days down in Baha was good for me. It allowed me to weigh out my options. On Wednesday of last week, I was sitting at the pool in Baha not knowing really what I was going to do. I still have a lot of things to work through. It was an excellent opportunity but a tough decision, too, because you have to look at all the people involved and all the things involved. I had Jimmy Smith, a friend of mine, I worked out of his race shop when I was growing up in California. He wanted me to drive the 7 car, and I had to call him and say the 4 car is where I need to be. This was a career decision and hopefully a good one for the future.

"The ownership part for me was a great learning experience. If I didn't do that, then I wouldn't know what it takes like the simple things. Getting the car to the race track or an employee's wife is pregnant. All these things I learned this year. At one time we had 45 employees. I wouldn't have learned all that if I didn't have a race team. Now I understand what the owner goes through as well, and I think that will be able to build on that and learn from those experiences. For sure, I will be a little more hesitant before I open my mouth and say something. I know what that side of it is now. A lot of guys don't know that. Everybody talks about having a race team. We had one.. We finished in the top 10 twice this year. It's tough. This is not an easy game. I probably could have gone back to IRL and won the first race out. Here, we're going to have to work for it. It's a competitive field.

"The most important thing is for David Ifft and myself and the crew communicating. I don't think it's so much the last word. It's the communication thing, and as long as we're talking, and we're all on the same page, I believe we're going to be very, very competitive.

"It's a good seat for me to sit in. Larry offered me a stable, long term fair program. I'm looking forward to it. You have to be realistic. You have to have success to get a sponsorship, and you have to have money to get success. We were kind of stuck right there in the middle on the Winston Cup side. This team has won races in the past, and hopefully that will allow me to get to victory lane. That's the most important thing today, to be competitive in Winston Cup.

"Larry seems very open minded. It's a great opportunity for me, a good sponsor. Larry has won races in the past. This will allow me to get to victory lane.

"It's an excellent opportunity. I'm looking forward to driving the No. 4 Kodak car and doing everything I can to get back up to victory lane. I haven't been to victory lane in Winston Cup, but in every series besides Winston Cup. I'm going to work really hard and learn as much as I can.

"We talked since Phoenix. The last thing I wanted was another failure like I had with Felix. I researched everything, what my beliefs are and what his beliefs are. I think we can work together. It's a great deal. It gives us time to work through things. Larry's going to run the race team, and I'm going to drive the car. I've worked with Gary Grossenbacher and he's awesome. I have respect for him, and you have to respect the guys you're working for. I've never had a five-year deal. The longest I've ever had was three years and we won races and sat on poles. I think this will give me some security to dig some roots a little deeper in Winston Cup and understand exactly what it takes. I'm still new at this. It might take us a little while, but we're going to stick with it."

LARRY McCLURE (Owner No. 4 Kodak MAX Film Monte Carlo) "Fifteen years ago we made a commitment to Eastman Kodak Company that we would field a competitive race team for them in exchange for their sponsorship. Over the years, we've had quite a bit of success. We've won 14 races, and we want to position ourselves to get back running up front and maybe being up on the stage like Bobby Labonte. Making that commitment, we have committed to Eastman Kodak to get back where we were and in doing so we had to make some choices and some changes. Our new crew chief, who has been with us the last couple of races, and he's someone all of you have seen here at the race tracks and who has been responsible for 27 wins. He was the crew chief for Darrell Waltrip's first win and also for Ron Bouchard's. He's been a crew chief for several different drivers.... David Ifft.

"We're excited to announce that our new driver for a long time is going to be Robby Gordon. We have made the commitment to him, and he has made the commitment to us. We hope that it's a popular decision with the race fans and all you folks. We ask that you support our endeavors and we're looking forward to seeing you in victory lane.

"I like the way Robby handles himself. I know he's aggressive, and I like that. He's got tons of talent. With our experience, I think it'll compliment his talent and we can win some races. I think everybody does (see some of Ernie Irvan's talent in Robby Gordon). That's what attracted me to Ernie.. We harnessed that and we were successful. I know Robby is going to run real good at the road courses, and it's our responsibility to make sure he runs good on the ovals. His main focus is going to be Winston Cup.

"We've seen him win in CART, and we're real excited about having him with us. Bringing David Ifft in here is even more exciting. Maybe we can get there quicker. We know we're going to make some mistakes, but the fewer mistakes we make, the quicker the success will come. Eastman Kodak has been with us for 15 years. They made a big commitment to us and we've got a new five-year deal with them. Getting this decision behind us will allow us to focus on winning races and being competitive for every race."

DAVID IFFT (Crew chief No. 4 Kodak MAX Film Chevrolet Monte Carlo) "Everybody knows that Larry's cars have run up front. One of the reasons I'm with Larry, he's a racer. I know we can get it back up front again. I know a lot of you young people don't know me, but this might be the next Harry Hyde and Tim Richard deal.

"It's a lot easier to slow somebody down than to get them pumped up. I think that's why I'm here. It's a real big challenge, but I know what I can do. I've done it, and I'm looking forward to it. I just know there's no magic to this stuff. It's getting people going in the right direction, getting everybody working together. Robby has come to Winston Cup racing and he just never got with the right chemistry. You know in this business it takes chemistry. If we can get that going and get everybody dialed in and going in the right direction, we can win races.

"I told Robby if the car isn't right, just come in and tell me. You can't hurt my feelings. I've been abused by professionals."