12 Out Of 12: An Interview With Robby Gordon

Our weekly series of interviews continues: 12 questions with NASCAR drivers who aren’t currently in the top 12 of the Sprint Cup Series. Since the Chase drivers already get plenty of publicity, we thought this would be a good way to get to know some of the non-Chase drivers a little better. This week: Robby Gordon Motorsports driver/owner Robby Gordon.

What’s the best race you’ve ever driven, in any series?

RG: Oh wow. I don’t drive very many of them very good, so... (laughs). Anytime you win, those are the best races you drive. By far, NASCAR is the most competition I’ve ever raced against. So it would have to be a NASCAR race to start with. There are that many good cars out here. When you have 15 cars that can win on any given Sunday, you’ve got to be on your ‘A’ game to win those races. I’ve only won three of them, so I haven’t been on my ‘A’ game many times.

Who is the most talented driver in NASCAR?

RG: For years, we would have said Jeff Gordon. But Jimmie (Johnson) has definitely raised the bar. He’s a good driver. I raced with Jimmie in off-road. NASCAR’s more of a team though. I gotta be honest, a driver is just fortunate to sit behind the wheel with a good team. Jimmie’s got both: He’s got talent and he’s got a good team, so they’re tough to beat.

If a new driver was coming into the series and he asked you one driver he should learn from and one driver he should not, who would those be?

RG: Well, they’re all different. They act different, they think different. But as far as just a driving discipline, Tony Stewart’s been one to definitely consider. Tony’s a pretty good natural talent race car driver. SBN: Anyone’s path you would tell them not to follow? RG: Mine! (laughs) I’m joking when I say that. It depends. You look at a guy like Mark Martin, he’s not aggressive and he’s probably the most second-place finisher in the history of motorsports. Now, he’s a great guy and he has ultimate respect from everyone in the industry and everyone races him ultra-clean. But then Dale Sr. was known for the bump-and-run and hey, hats off to those guys, good job.

You’ve got so many different disciplines to choose from: The aggressive guys like Tony and myself and a few others who will just root their way to the front, and the guys like Martin. Obviously it works for Mark, because he’s still here doing a wonderful job.

Let’s say a fan wants your autograph. What’s the best time to approach you at the track?

RG: See, that’s where I think I do the best job. That’s the truth. I realized a long time ago that with these fans in the grandstands and these people working around the garage area, you never know who knows who. And so anytime, come get me. Sometimes I might be in a hurry so I might say, ‘Hey, walk with me,’ so I can continue in the motion where I’m headed. But without those fans we’re not fortunate enough to do what we do.

What’s something people don’t understand about you?

RG: I think the biggest thing is that I’m just a hard worker. I don’t think anybody realizes how many hours out of the day we actually think about our race program. And when I say hours a day, there’s only a few hours a day for shuteye. It’s a full-time job and we have the ultimate passion to succeed at this level.

What is the worst track NASCAR goes to?

RG: From my eyes, I’m going to look at it from a business side. There are some tracks where you can’t entertain your sponsors. ... In the last five years, there’s a couple events that could just go away. I can’t get anybody (sponsors) to buy them. They need to just go away. Nobody wants to sponsor them. I don’t want to say what they are, because I’m always trying to sell them. But I always say there are four or five events per season that should just disappear and I don’t think it would hurt us at all.

If you were in charge of NASCAR, what would you change?

If you’re going to race in Southern California, my opinion is we need to be at the Long Beach Grand Prix. It would be great. It would be the ultimate show of all time. We’d pack the house, and it would be a good time. We can race stock cars there, no problem. And it’s a great place to entertain sponsors. L.A. is 30 minutes away, 15 minutes away. There’s just so much opportunity.

In my opinion, there are some different things we need to do with the sport, but I’m smart enough to realize NASCAR has done a wonderful job. We have something we can sell here, for sure. We are still the No. 1 motor racing sport in America, by far. In terms of audience, attendance, TV, viewership, etc. I’m proud to be a part of it.

The other thing is that I think Saturday night shows would work for everybody as well. It gives us an entertainment day all day Saturday, we race at night, travel back home and have a day to recover on Sunday. SBN: What about the lower TV ratings on Saturday nights? RG: I don’t know. You know, on Sunday, I look at the Western region, you’re going to have a low rating at 9:30 in the morning. I mean, who’s going to be up at 9:30 in the morning watching NASCAR races?

Outside of NASCAR, what driver do you admire the most?

RG: Well, you look at (Michael) Schumacher and what he did, and Jimmie’s on that path to win as many championships in a row. You look at Schumacher and (Ayrton) Senna, they kind of paved the way for us young race car drivers. Also, Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt, Mickey Thompson, guys like that.

How long do you see yourself driving?

RG: I’m 41, but I still feel 25 or 30, if that makes sense. I still have a lot of fun with it. At that point it’s not fun anymore, I will decide to do something different. Right now, I really enjoy having a race team and it’s important for me to continue down that path.

What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long weekend?

RG: Go to sleep. Take a shower, unpack my bag and go to sleep. But lately, we’ve been off somewhere else before we go home. If we had two-day weekends, that would help all the race teams. We need shorter weekends.

Who wins the Sprint Cup in 2015?

RG: So we’re talking five years from now. You know, you never know which way the wind is going to blow. There’s a lot of talented drivers coming up right now – you’ve got your Loganos, you’ve got your Keselowskis. Kyle Busch will still be as strong as ever in 2015, so I’d put my money him. But in 2015, Jimmie Johnson’s 39 years old – why is he still not going to be winning the championships?

Would you rather be known as a great person or a great driver?

RG: All you have is your name. I have no problem if I’m not the greatest person, but as long as I’m fair and straightforward, I think that’s the important part for me. Great driver? To date, I’ve already done that piece of it, and I’d like to continue doing it. But on the other side of it, when I give someone my word, that’s my word.