Preseason Rankings #32: Robby Gordon

No. 7 Jim Beam Toyota
Team: Robby Gordon Motorsports
Crew Chief: Kirk Almquist

2008 Rewind:
Nobody does more with less than Robby Gordon, though why he has to do everything on his own says more about Gordon than anything else. Despite being a single-car team, Gordon qualified for every race in 2008, collected three top-10’s and finished 33rd in points, better than quite a few teams with far superior resources. Surprisingly, though, Gordon struggled on the road courses last year finishing 36th and 27th and was never a factor to win in either race.

2009 Preview:

The biggest knock on Gordon besides his attitude is that he tends to overdrive his equipment, which explains why he finished 40th or worse six times last year. In a sport that rewards consistency Gordon is anything but. A switch to Toyota for 2009 should help on the horsepower department, as Gordon was saddled with the uncompetitive Dodge engine last year. If Gordon wants to improve his position in the point standings, leading more laps would be a good place to start; he led only four laps in 2008. Gordon is always a threat when the circuit travels to Infineon and Watkins Glen, and finished in the top-10 in three out of the four plate races last year, so look for him to do well at Daytona and Talladega, but other that don’t expect much.