hearing there will be an announcement by Robby Gordon Motorsports (RGM) at Lowe’s Motor Speedway/Charlotte, NC [hearing Saturday, Oct 14th afternoon] when NASCAR races there Oct 12-14th, that the #7 RGM team will be switching from Chevy’s to Ford’s for the 2007 season.(10-1/10-2006)
UPDATE: Nothings official and wont be until Saturday afternoon, but its almost a virtual certainty that Robby Gordon and his self-owned Nextel Cup team will switch to Ford Fusions after this season. He created Robby Gordon Motorsports with Chevrolets this season [actually in 2005], but without much success. All told, his #7 has 30 starts this year, no poles, no victories, one top-five and two top-10s. Only the most attentive NASCAR fans will remember that Gordon ran his first two stock car races (in February of 1991 at Daytona Beach and Richmond) in #90 Ford cars owned by long-time Ford loyalist Junie Donlavey. Also, Gordon was the first driver in the #28 Texaco Havoline Ford from Robert Yates Racing (at Talladega) after the July, 1993 death of Davey Allison. Gordon also did one 1994 Ford race for Michael Kranefuss before moving exclusively to Chevys when he returned to NASCAR in 1996 [Plus he had his own #13 Ford team back in 2000]. Hes driven Chevys for the late Dale Earnhardt, Felix Sabates, Buz McCall, John Menard, Larry McClure, Richard Childress, Jim Smith and now himself. His career Cup stats: 229 starts, 1 pole (for Sabates), three victories (for Childress), 13 top-fives and 31 top-10s.(Ford Racing)(10-13-2006)
UPDATE 2: Robby Gordon and Ford Motor Company will be reunited in 2007 with the signing of a manufacturer agreement between Ford Racing and Gordons company Robby Gordon Motorsports. I had a lot of success with Ford early in my career, and I owe a lot to Ford, Gordon said. I think our Nextel Cup program is at the point now where were ready to take it to the next level, and Ford has pledged its complete support of helping me realize my dream of winning a NASCAR championship as an owner/driver. I believe my best days as a Nextel Cup driver are still in front of me and I also believe we have laid the groundwork for the expansion of our program. Like all Ford Racing supported programs, RGM will get its horsepower from the Roush/Yates Engine Company. RGM, in its second season of NASCAR Nextel Cup Series competition, will field the #7 Ford Fusions from a brand new facility in Charlotte that will cover more than 125,000 square feet. Site work for the new shop began Monday. Robby is a racer in the true sense of the word and I couldnt be happier to see him back behind the wheel of a Ford, Davis said. Hes enjoyed success wherever hes raced, from off-road trucks to sports cars to open-wheel cars, and hes been competitive in Nextel Cup despite being a one-car team. The Ford Fusion is a championship-caliber race car and with the technical support well provide, I believe we can build Robby Gordon Motorsports into a championship-level team. In addition to RGMs current carthe #7it will at a minimum run a limited Busch Series schedule in 2007 with hopes of campaigning a car for the Busch Series championship, and will continue efforts to field the #77 Nextel Cup car in 2007. Ford has a long history of success in Cup racing, Gordon said. Obviously they have been very successful recently with both Robert Yates Racing and Roush Racing, and Dan and everyone at Ford are committed to helping their teams compete for championships year-in-and-year-out and we hope well be able to give them another program that theyll be able to count on for that.(Ford Racing and see a Transcript)(10-14-2006)
