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Robby Gordon knows there are times when he acts like anything but a mature racer.
The 36-year-old Californian, who has talked his way in and out of rides on the NASCAR circuit, insists he wants to change all that. There could be no better time to start than right now, with Gordon hoping to put "dumb decisions" behind him as he operates his own race team. All NASCAR tickets. "I still have that preschooler mentality," he said. "I've realized that's something I internally have to work on."
As an owner-driver, Gordon is bucking the recent trend on the Cup circuit. The concept has not worked for competitors such as Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott and Brett Bodine, who abandoned their dual efforts.
And how it will go in Gordon's second try as an owner-driver is unknown, but he certainly is off to a bad start. He's in danger of not making the season-opening Daytona 500, NASCAR's premier event.
He showed up at Daytona last weekend with an illegal engine part NASCAR quickly confiscated and will penalize him for. The infraction put Gordon behind in qualifying preparations, and he was forced to borrow an engine from Dale Earnhardt Inc.
But Gordon's No. 7 Chevrolet wound up 38th on the speed chart.
Because new qualifying procedures guarantee a starting spot to any team in the top 35 in points last season -- Gordon's is a new team with no points -- he must race his way into the 500 in one of Thursday's two qualifying events.
In those races, 18 drivers are seeking the final four spots in the field.
"Obviously, we have a huge obstacle in front of us right now," Gordon said. "But we know we can be competitive once we battle through the new-team blues."
Why would Gordon even try this?
After all, he did it once before and failed, folding his personally owned team midway through the 2000 season. He was considered lucky when car owner Richard Childress picked him up for the final 10 races of 2001.
It was a tryout of sorts, and Gordon passed by scoring his first career Cup victory in the 2001 finale, brashly bumping Jeff Gordon out of the way for a win. Childress rewarded him with a three-year contract that produced another two wins and 22 top-10 finishes.
But Gordon likes to be his own boss. So he and Childress parted ways last season, and the driver formed Robby Gordon Motorsports.
Contrary to popular opinion, Childress said the three seasons together were not unpleasant despite Gordon's clashes with RCR golden-boy Kevin Harvick and the intentional wreck Gordon caused last September that ended the championship hopes of Tony Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield.
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