YEAR-BY-YEAR NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES RECAP
2006 Finished 30th in series points.
Started all 36 events.
Best start and finish of 2006 came in same event at
Watkins Glen.
Started sixth and finished fourth for only top five of season.
2005 Finished 37th in series points.
Started 29 races.
Best finish was a second place at Watkins Glen.
Other
top-10 finish was at Phoenix (8th) in November.
2004 Finished 23rd in series points.
Struggled in his final season with Richard Childress Racing, ending the season
with two top-five finishes and six top 10s.
Started own NASCAR Busch Series team in 2004, competing in 25
races and winning at Richmond in Sept.
Will own his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series team in 2005.
Competed in
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol, finishing fourth in his first appearance in the series since 1996.
Attempted to complete double-duty on May 30 by competing in both the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600, but failed
to complete the 500 due to a rain delay, turning driving duties over to a relief driver.
2003 Finished 16th in series points.
Set the tone for a career-best season with a win in the first qualifying race for
Daytona 500.
Came back from three laps down to finish fourth at Richmond in May for his first top five of the season.
Completed double-duty on May 25 by competing in both the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600, finishing 22nd
and 17th, respectively.
Swept seasons two road-course races, leading 81 of 110 laps at Infineon and 30 of 90 laps
at Watkins Glen.
Posted career bests in wins (two), top fives (four) and top 10s (10).
2002 Finished 20th in series points.
First full-time season.
Led 21 laps on the road course of Watkins Glen,
earned his best finish of the season third.
Completed double-duty chores on May 26 by competing in both the
Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600, finishing eighth and 16th, respectively.
Posted one top-five finish, five top10s.
2001 Finished 44th in series points.
Drove for three different teams.
Won career-first NASCAR race in 10th start
for Richard Childress Racing in New Hampshire 300 on Nov. 23.
Began the season with Morgan-McClure Racing
for five races.
What began as a substitute situation at Infineon with the Jimmy Smith-owned Ford, turned into a
semi-permanent deal in July.
Offered to drive the Richard Childress-owned Chevrolet in September, while thendriver
Mike Skinner elected to have surgery to repair an injured left knee.
Announced as the driver for the No.31
Cingular Wireless Chevrolet for the 2002 season.
Qualified third and led 22 laps in the Indianapolis 500 in a car
co-owned by Richard Childress and A.J. Foyt.
2000 Finished 43rd in series points.
Returned to NASCAR racing in 17 events as driver for team he co-owned with
Mike Held and John Menard.
Earned two top 10s, both at road course events, Sears Point (ninth) and Watkins Glen
(fourth).
1998 Finished 67th in series points.
Drove one race for car owner Buz McCall, finishing 37th at Infineon.
1997 Finished 40th in series points.
Competed in 20 races for car owner Felix Sabates.
Won first career pole
at Atlanta.
Finished fourth at Watkins Glen.
1996 Finished 57th in series points, starting only three races.
Drove at Charlotte for DEI.
Drove in two races for
Felix Sabates, at Rockingham and Phoenix.
1994 Finished 76th in series points.
Made only one start, for Kranefuss-Haas Racing at Michigan, starting 38th and
finishing 38th.
1993 Finished 94th in series points.
Made only one start, but a highly significant one. ... Drove the No. 28 Texaco
Havoline Ford at Talladega in that teams first race since the death of Davey Allison, finishing 42nd.
1991 Finished 55th in series points.
Started only two races.
Made series debut in Daytona 500, finished 18th.
Also competed at Richmond, finishing 26th.
Drove both races for car owner Junie Donlavey.
PREVIOUS RACING HISTORY
Qualified on the outside front row (third) and finished 22nd after a gearbox failure in the 2003 Indianapolis 500.
Qualified 11th and finished eighth in the 2002 Indianapolis 500.
Led 22 laps in the 2001 Indy 500.
In the 2000
Indy 500, qualified fourth and finished sixth.
Led 33 laps near the end of the 1999 Indianapolis 500, only to run out
of fuel on the last lap, relegating him to a fourth-place finish.
Ran own team in Championship Auto Racing Teams
series in 1999 and for Arciero-Wells Racing in 1998.
In May 1997, he qualified 12th for the Indianapolis 500. On Lap
19, fire erupted in the cockpit of Gordons car ending any chance he might have in this race. He suffered second and
third degree burns on his hands, wrist and right thigh that sidelined him for a month.
Finished second in the Baja
1000 that same season.
Finished second in the 1996 and 1997 IROC series.
Won the 1996 SCORE Off-Road
Trophy Truck Championship with four wins.
Won CART races at Detroit and Phoenix in 1995 and finished fifth in the
point standings.
Voted most improved driver by peers in 1994 CART series.
First full CART season was in 1993,
driving for the legendary A.J. Foyt.
Won GTS class in IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona, his fourth straight victory in that
event, all for car owner Jack Roush.
Won Sports Car Club of America Trans-Am race at Long Beach, Calif., in 1992,
also for Roush Racing.
In 1991, won five IMSA GTO races in a Roush Racing Ford Mustang.
Finished second in
1990 GTO season standings.
Overall winner of the Baja 1000 in 1987 and 1989.
Won Mickey Thompson Stadium
Series championships in 1988 and 1989.
SCORE Off-Road champion for five straight years, beginning in 1985.
NOTEWORTHY
Opened Robby Gordon Off Road in April 2003 in Anaheim, Calif., a race shop for off-road enthusiasts and is also
used as a race shop for Gordons off-road racing pursuits.
Favorite place to visit is Mexico.
Nickname is Flash.
Pre-race ritual is eating a turkey sandwich.
First job was working in his dads feed yard raking chaff (strands
leftover from bales of hay). ... Known for being an outstanding trick water skier.