Robby Gordon expects Tony Stewart to be competitive owner/driver

*if this is a dup, just delete it, I haven't had the time to be on and get caught up. ;)
Robby sounds up (sure would like to know why all the 'first of the season', not-so-happy, Robby media shot pics?) and excited about this year.
Anyway, I thought this was a nice read.

By SceneDaily Staff
Tuesday, February 10, 2009

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Robby Gordon expects Tony Stewart to be competitive in his new role as a NASCAR Sprint Cup owner/driver but sees some notable differences in the way Stewart’s new operation compares to his own.

Gordon points out that Robby Gordon Motorsports basically started from scratch in 2005, while Stewart’s Stewart-Haas Racing has operated since 2003 under the banner of Haas CNC Racing.

“I think those are two completely different scenarios,” Gordon said at Daytona International Speedway as teams prepare for the start of the 2009 season with Sunday’s Daytona 500. “One, Tony’s is not a startup team. It’s a team that’s been in business for six years now. So it’s completely different than how we did ours, which is fine. I’m happy for Tony to have his team and be partners with [co-owner] Gene Haas, but the buildings were in place, the cars were in place, the chassis dynos were in place; everything was in place when he walked into that deal.”

And that’s one of the reasons Gordon believes Stewart-Haas Racing can be competitive right out of the gate, with Stewart and Ryan Newman behind the wheel.

“I’m confident that they’re going to be competitive,” Gordon said. “He and Ryan are good race-car drivers. I welcome them to the ownership side of things. I think he’ll do a good job. Obviously, he can sell. What I mean by sell is, he can entertain sponsors and excite them, and that’s an important part of it.”

Gordon says that he and Stewart both have an advantage that some owners don’t because they are both drivers. He notes that the same is true of owners such as Richard Childress, who competed in NASCAR’s top series before handing over the wheel to Dale Earnhardt near the end of the 1981 season.

“I think Tony and myself, at the end of the day, we’re racers,” Gordon said. “You look at the ones that are successful today, they’re a little different than Tony and myself, but Richard Childress is a racer. … And the same thing for Tony and myself. This is what we do.

“We wake up every day to build our race teams and to not only beat each other but to try to beat everybody else, and I think there’s the passion side of it that makes a difference. That’s the difference between us and, for example, Hall of Fame [Racing]. I don’t think the guys are as passionate as we are about what we do.”

As for how Gordon expects to run this year, his expectations are high after an offseason switch from Dodge to Toyota.

Last season, he struggled to a 33rd-place points finish while netting just three top-10s in 36 outings. Two of those top-10s came at Daytona, where Gordon posted the 39th fastest speed in Sunday’s round of qualifying for the Daytona 500.

Gordon, who is guaranteed a spot in the race, will start 20th in Thursday’s first Gatorade Duel qualifier that will set part of the Daytona 500 grid.

“I think we’re going to have a good year,” he said, adding that unlike many teams, Robby Gordon Motorsports didn’t lay off employees during the offseason but rather added some. “I think we’re going to be very strong.”

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I am ready for Daytona, Anyone else Excited!!!!
Man this just jacks me up.....................I wish Robby would just walk down the starting grid and slap the lips off a few of the drivers walk up to old man Hendrick put his finger in his chest and put him on notice that their is a new sherrif in town and his name is Robby Wesley Gordon then before he climbed into his car give ole DW a world class wedgie and thump Little brothers left nut and then go on to win the Daytona 500...........Man I 'm really jacked.............
If he ever needs a mob...hes got 1,500 ready to war!
I posted this yesterday in another forum...

Pay attention to the HAAS logo on Ryan's car... it's cryptic... the "A"s are smooshed together... as the car rolls by it looks more like HMS.

Kyle Petty has said publicly that the Stewart-Haas deal is just a joke... any one who knows understands it's really Hendrick South.


I assume Tony's car has the same logo... I'll pay closer attention.
OH jesus...

I agree it is Hendrick South, but it has always been! So was MB2 Motorsports.

As far as the "A's" being smooshed together, people need to stop sipping the conspiracy kool-aide. Thats has been the HAAS CNC Machine logo for years!

http://www.haascnc.com/home.asp

Im not calling you out Keith, rather Im calling out the person that posted what you saw and Kyle Petty. If Kyle Petty spent half as much time worrying about his driving as he did moaning about crap he cant control, he probably would still be in a car; and Im saying that as a guy who has rooted for him in the past.
Kyle is now defacto retired.

His comments were made last season when this thing came up and he was still CEO of Petty Enterprises.
It was in response to the question of whether Roush and Hendrick were stretching the 4 team limit rules.
He had every right to respond just as Robby has as a team owner today.

As for the HAAS thing... Haas... convicted felon, Hendrick... convicted felon... birds of a feather. Maybe the conspiracy has been going on a long time? Just yanking your chain.
At the end of the day, Robby is still the only TRUE owner/driver in Nascar!
Well Mayfield and Nemecheck join him this year as owner drivers - for as long as they'll last at least.
Based on what?
i wonder how long all these new teams will last. it would be nice if as they drop off (and they will) robby could pickup some of their sponsors. or even pick up a second team.
no 2nd team until he wins some races.
just same old bullshit hendrick south is funny but most likely true...you dont see robby jumpin in with gibbs yet and probably never will...

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