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December 27, 2009
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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It is the last Sunday of 2009, which means we are just weeks away from the start of the NASCAR season (48 days to be exact) with the 52nd annual Daytona 500.
While many of the drivers are still trying to recover from their holiday-induced food comas, one driver is getting ready to hit the sands of Argentina and Chile in the 32nd annual Dakar Rally. OK, so while Argentina and Chile are not the wilds of Africa, they still call this 9000km race the Dakar Rally to honor the tradition of the race, if not the locality. Not that it matters to Robby Gordon, who will be taking part in his fifth Rally when it starts next Saturday (which also happens to be his 41st birthday) in Buenos Aires.
Gordon, who drives the No. 7 Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, is better known by many for his adventures in off-road racing. Earlier this month, he was recognized as the 2009 SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck point champion as well as being honored by the SCORE membership as the 2009 SCORE Person of the Year. He also received a coveted SCORE Toyota Milestone Award for completing every required mile in the 2009 SCORE Desert Series.
Four years ago, Robby made Dakar history as he became the first American to lead a stage of the two week race (he has since led two more stages). Last year, despite losing nearly an hour in the early stages of the race due to a clutch problem and rolling his Hummer H3 during stage four, he was able to finish third overall in the car group (in this event, a Hummer is a car, not a truck).
“As soon as the (2009) Dakar stopped, we started improving the car. It’s now lighter, faster, and more efficient” Gordon said of his plans for the 2010 rally. While Gordon and co-pilot Andy Grider will be spending 14 days in the No. 302 Monster Energy Toyo Tires Hummer H3, they will have teammates helping them along towards the finish line. Ronn Bailey and Chilean Carlo De Gavardo will be driving the RGM No. 326 Hummer, providing an extra helping hand to beat the best of the rest. “Last year we beat all the BMW and Mitsubishi cars and half of the Volkswagens. We’ll just need to do a little better (this time around)” said Gordon before the holiday. The Hummers were sent to Buenos Aires last week. Robby and his team will be arriving this week to check out the Hummers, review the course maps, and prepare for 14 days running across the southern end of South America.
“Six or seven days in the sand will make a huge difference” explained Robby about how much better this year’s race will be compared to last year’s inaugural race in South America. “We’re good in the desert. That’s where we can give the best of what we’ve got. Last year was more of a World Rally Cup rally type course and on that (kind of course) we’re beat.”
For those who want to follow Robby and his off-road adventures in South America, you can do so several ways, thanks to the internet. Toyo Tires' Ramses Perez has a blog that will be providing coverage as the race gets underway toyotires.com; you can register to become a member at PlanetRobby.com; if you have a Twitter account, you can follow Robby’s twitter site for updates; and for video from the rally you can visit Robby Gordon Motorsports.
Moving on to a much more serious note, I want to close out 2009 with condolences to two members of the NASCAR family.
Bobby Hutchens, the director of competition at Stewart-Haas Racing lost his wife, Sharon, to breast cancer Tuesday evening. She was only 45-years old. It is never easy to lose a loved one, but to do so the week of Christmas is especially difficult. With her good friend, Michelle Hemric, Sharon founded “The Pit Lizards” to help raise money to fight breast cancer.
Sharon was passionate in supporting the local Triad Chapter of the Susan G. Komen “Race for the Cure” for fighting breast cancer, and this past May, she was the recipient of the inaugural “Survivor of the Year” award presented to her by Hota Kotb after the 2009 Triad Race for the Cure.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in her memory to Susan G. Komen, c/o The Pit Lizards, 1106 Burke Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101 or Camp Cheerio, c/o Sharon Hutchens Memorial, P.O. Box 6258, High Point, NC 27262.
The Richard Childress Racing (RCR) family suffered a loss on Christmas evening as Donald "D.J." Richardson died as the result of complications of the H1N1 virus. Richardson, who was nicknamed "The Freak" in the garage, worked as a tire changer for Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Sprint Cup Car for Braun Racing in the Nationwide Series. He had been hospitalized with H1N1 since Thanksgiving, and suffered kidney failure a week ago.
Because NASCAR crew members are "independent contractors", they do not have health insurance, and web sites were set up by friends and family to help cover the costs incurred by the month-long stay in the hospital at In Memory of D.J. "The Freak" Richardson.
As word spread yesterday about Richardson's passing, members of the NASCAR quickly family sent condolences via Twitter and Facebook: "My condolences to the family of D.J. Richardson. He passed away from complications from the H1N1 virus.
"He will be missed." said Denny Hamlin. "So terrible to hear about D.J. Richardson thoughts and prayers are with his family and teammates" was Ray Evernhams reaction.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to D.J. Richardson's family & friends" tweeted DeLana Harvick.
"Just got back to Florida tonight. Found out some sad news. D.J. Richardson, who was infected with H1N1, lost his battle today. Thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, Braun Racing and RCR Team Members tonight." said Brian Vickers.
Hundreds of fans posted condolences on the facebook page "In Memory of DJ "The Freak" Richardson".
Richardson, who was 37, began his Cup Series career with Andy Petree Racing in 1999. He also had worked for Penske Racing and Hendrick Motorsports.
And closer to me, on Christmas Eve, sportscaster George Michael lost his two-year battle with leukemia. For those of us in the DC area, many of us didn’t even KNOW he had leukemia, much less how sick he was.
George was more than the guy who did the “George Michael Sports Machine” to me…he was my local sports guy. Living in the Nation’s Capitol, you might not think there would be much attention paid to the NASCAR world, but George was a big time NASCAR fan, and made the annual trek to Daytona for speed weeks even after he retired from his role as lead anchor at WRC Channel 4.
Started as a local program on Channel 4 in 1980s, “The Sports Machine” was syndicated in 1984 and aired Sunday nights across the country for more than 20 years. It was the first nationally syndicated sports highlights show, eventually airing in 194 markets in the U.S. and in 10 foreign countries. (It was also my first exposure to George, since the station I worked for in Greenville, NC, aired the show after the 11 p.m. news on Sunday nights.)
Many credit his use of NASCAR highlights on “Sports Machine” with bringing the sport to viewers who might otherwise have never been exposed to racing. For those of you who watch TNT’s coverage of NASCAR, you are familiar with Lindsey Czarniak. She was hired by Michael to do sports at WRC and on “Sports Machine”, and when Michael retired in 2007, she took over as sports anchor.
Brian France, NASCAR CEO and Chairman, had the following statement following Michael’s passing. "NASCAR is saddened by the passing of George Michael. His pioneering work on 'The Sports Machine' created the standard for use of sports highlights. George was a friend to the NASCAR community and promoted the drivers and the racing with passion and enthusiasm."
As Michael Wilbon, another co-hort of Michaels at WRC and a regular sport s columnist with the Washington Post, explained in his memorial column in the Post Christmas Day, “George worked wherever he wanted and did it all: football, basketball, baseball, hockey, golf, tennis, 'rasslin', rodeo, racin', here, there, everywhere.
You think there was anybody else who could comfortably engage Wayne Gretzky, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Cal Ripken, and tell them on-camera they were full of it? There wasn't.”
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The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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