Gordon looking for more positive Sonoma win

CONCORD, N.C. -- A lot of people don't necessarily remember Robby Gordon's victory at Infineon Raceway in 2003 as much as they remember the way he did it.

En route to winning the Dodge Save Mart 350, Gordon slipped past Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick for fourth place as the field raced back to the yellow flag.

	Robby Gordon swept both road courses in 2003.

That was before NASCAR changed the rules that eliminated racing back to the caution, but Gordon still was criticized for his actions.

"If Robby was as fast under green as he was under caution that one time, he'd win a lot of these things," Jeff Gordon said.

Looking back a year later, Robby Gordon said the criticism still stings.

"You know, everybody thinks that we won Infineon because I passed under the yellow," Gordon said. "We didn't win that race because we passed on the yellow last year. We set the fastest race laps, we easily controlled the race, and when I passed Kevin Harvick under the caution, he was running fourth and I was running fifth.

"Jeff Gordon was so mad, but he was running third, and I didn't pass him under the caution. I passed him when it went green again."

Dodge/Save Mart 350  •  Entry List  •  2003 Race Recap  •  Complete Race Coverage

Indeed, Gordon led the most laps and had the fastest car on the track for much of the day.

But some people don't remember that. Some only remember Gordon as the bad guy, the one who helped NASCAR decide to eliminate the "gentleman's agreement" of not racing back to the yellow.

Gordon, you may recall, asked repeatedly in the pre-race drivers' meeting about passing while racing to the caution, and NASCAR repeatedly told him it was legal.

"All the drivers looked at me like I had three eyes," Gordon said. "I think after the race they realized what I had asked."

That was simply taking advantage of the situation that was presented to him, Gordon said.

"Unfortunately, everybody looks back and says, 'Well Robby messed up this whole caution thing,'" Gordon said. "Trust me, I feel bad about it because in racing, rules are rules. You try to position yourself to be right on the edge of those rules. We pushed the rules to the limit and that probably gets underneath some of the top officials at NASCAR's skin, that we do push them to the maximum. So I agree with some people or some of the drivers being a little disappointed.

"At the same time, I did ask the question twice and got a very clear answer from Mike Helton. If I didn't get as clear answer as I received from that, I might have gotten a stop-and go-penalty. But the key is that I asked the question twice, I understood what the rules were, and I played those rules to my advantage."

Not that Gordon needed that much of an advantage. He's long been regarded as one of the best on a road course, and he followed up the Infineon victory by winning at Watkins Glen. Though he doesn't have Casey Mears' sponsor, Gordon is clearly the target of his fellow competitors this weekend.

2004 NEXTEL CUP SERIES  •  Results  •  Standings  •  Schedule  •  Drivers  •  Crew Chiefs  •  Teams  •  Statistics  •  Video Highlights

"Well, I appreciate everybody thinking I'm 'the guy,'" Gordon said. "We were on our game last year at both road course races. We capitalized on that. We've worked real hard, we've came out and tested -- we did a one-day test at Sonoma -- and we do get into a hot stretch here in the middle of the season.

"I think that's a compliment that everyone is gunning for me, and that probably makes it harder. When everybody knows that that car is going to be the toughest car to beat, they seem to put that car in as many awkward positions as you can. Last year, we weren't the car to beat and that was our first road course win. We were fortunate enough to follow it up at Watkins Glen as well."

Gordon's road course expertise comes from his background in IndyCars and sports cars, having run CART, IMSA and SCCA before coming to NASCAR.

But even though he's regarded as one of the most aggressive drivers in the sport, that's not what makes him so good on road courses, he said.

"Actually it's really weird because when I drive the road courses I put everything in like slow motion," Gordon said. "I don't spin the tires, I don't do anything fast. I'm sure a lot of you guys will watch the in-car cameras, and you will probably be very surprised how I drive that car. It's all very slow, non-quick movements. The biggest thing is not spinning (the tires) and not locking them up and not flat-spot them and stuff like that."

Gordon is using the same chassis he won both races with in 2003, a chassis that Gordon built four years ago. But it's clearly still a good piece.

"It brakes and turns good," Gordon said. "We don't seem to lock up tires like a lot of other people do."

And that has him pumped for this weekend.

"A year ago we said we were going to go there and score maximum points," Gordon said. "It's going to be harder to do that now just because everyone's gunning for you, they know what the goalpost is. We obviously went there and tested and were very pleased with our Cingular Wireless Chevrolet when we tested.

"I think were about a second under the track record. Because the track was repaved there were a lot of guys under the track record. I think we were one of the quickest cars there, and we're looking forward to going back."

And maybe he can erase some folks' memory about how he won in 2003.