In one breath, #7-Robby Gordon is bemoaning the fact he couldn ‘t quit NASCAR even if he wanted to. He has money tied up in a race shop and airplanes, with crew members depending on him for their livelihood. Minutes later, though, Gordon is talking with boundless optimism about the potential of Speed Energy, a brand of energy drink that he’s trying to market on his own. And does he have a deal for you.
‘Race team’s for sale,’ Gordon said. ‘It’s been up for sale. Really, what I ‘d like to do, I think the smartest thing for us to do as we ‘re talking candidly here, would be to bring in investors that have more opportunity to [attract] big sponsor relations. Obviously, I can drive it, we can run it, but between doing that and operating Speed, we need people that have more relations than I have.’ Does he make money in NASCAR? ‘Right now? No,’ Gordon said. ‘We haven ‘t made money in NASCAR in a long time.’ Would he consider getting out? ‘I ‘ve got a 100,000-square-foot building,’ Gordon said. ‘Unfortunately, I ‘ve got airplanes that I can ‘t even afford to use today that are sitting there, I ‘m still paying insurance on them, I ‘m still paying payments. The race shop, it’s not paid for, obviously I ‘m paying rent on it. So I ‘m stuck. Plain and simple.’ Gordon later reconsidered his use of the word ‘stuck,’ saying he would prefer to stay in NASCAR on a limited schedule and take on investors. ‘The reality is, I don ‘t want to be all the way out,’ Gordon said. ‘I would like to run about 15 stock car races a year. That would be my goal.’ That would allow him to continue pursuing his diverse racing interests outside of NASCAR ‘ and continue to build Speed Energy, which he insists is on its way to becoming a marketing success that can grow to take on the likes of industry titans such as Red Bull.(NASCAR.com /AP)
UPDATE: been told by the team, that Gordon on NOT looking to sell the team but is looking for investors and sponsors.(2-19-2012)
