Good to see Monster Energy's website with a story about Robby and his Baja experience.

Read the Story here or continue below.

CORONA, Calif., (Nov. 25, 2008) – “Luck” certainly wasn’t on Robby Gordon and the Monster Energy Off Road Team’s side this past weekend at the annual running of the SCORE International Tecate Baja 1,000 – off roading’s marquee event of the year.



Nope, someone/something just plain had it out for the three-time 1,000 champ. First he picks about the lousiest Trophy Truck starting position he could get his hands on – 28th . The choking their way through the blinding dust behind some 24 other Trophy Trucks at a seemingly safe 20 mph crawl – and using about four of the available 850 horsepower - he and co-driver Andy Grider still managed to clip a giant boulder and roll their Chevy Silverado 1500 onto its side. Then once they got it back upright, someone rear-ended them in the fog of dust there and broke the truck up even more.

Another shunt (fence post) had the Monster Energy Off Road Team hustling to get them parts to fix the wounded Chevy. Then some 90 minutes later and up-and-running again Gordon was on course and pushing it (approaching 130 mph) across a dry lake bed when he blew a cylinder (or two, they’re not sure yet) in the Chevy V8. As they say, game over.

Gordon’s pissed, yeah, but through it all and into this week Gordon was/has been the consummate professional. Focused no doubt on the race, Gordon still took plenty of time to insure the Monster Energy Baja Sweepstakes winners – a whole horde of them – were given the full effect of Baja, courtesy of his team and his Baja Hall of Fame father, Bob Gordon.

Monster Energy caught up with Robby so he could share his take on the eventful week and less-than-desirable race results with the Monster Army members. In true RG fashion he doesn’t hold back, shouldering the blame for wrecking the truck and giving our readers a the true insight on this year’s Baja 1,000.



Monster Energy: Explain how difficult it is to come from the gate pick you had to challenge for the lead at Baja.

Robby Gordon: “You know, we can blame it on the starting pick or we can blame it on the driver. I think this time here you’ve got to blame it on the driver. Maybe the driver and the navigator. We drew 28th and left 24th /25th off the line and didn’t get a much more than a mile into the race where we couldn’t see a thing – and I mean not even the hood of the truck. We were literally just driving off the GPS and I guess I just tried to push a little too hard in the dust and I hit rock and tipped the thing over, and that was about it from that point on.”

Monster Energy: How big was this rock?

Robby Gordon: “We hit a big rock. A very big rock, actually. It was about six foot tall. Had to go left around it – and we didn’t go left, we went straight. Clobbered the thing, tipped the truck up on its side. Ten minutes to get it back on its wheels. Sitting there with out helmets on and a guy rear-ended us. Bent the sway bar, ripped part of the cage apart. Guess if we weren’t there he would have hit the rock too. Then after that we got into a fence post, another thing in the dust we couldn’t see, and that broke a tie rod and broke the heat exchanger to the radiator. And that one put us even further behind.”

Monster Energy: So the race was basically over for you guys before it really got started.

Robby Gordon: “I gotta blame this thing on me. I’ve been going to Baja for a long time now and very seldom do I put the thing off the road there and we drove it off the road two times in the first 15 miles. Starting position was luck of the draw. But I knew better than that.”

Monster Energy: Now there’s definitely some insane stories about you charging from behind at Baja. Did you put on an epic charge after you got things straightened out from the first couple mishaps?

Robby Gordon: “At that point, once we got it durable again, we were going across a dry lake at the 215 mile mark, running it hard and lost the motor…lost compression in one of the cylinders or a couple of the cylinders. Getting the truck cleaned up right now. We’ll get it bore scoped and see what happened. Either burned a piston or burned a valve. Either way we lost compression somehow and that’s the one that put us to our death. Pretty sure I rolled out of the throttle just a little bit and it burnt that piston or that valve.”

Monster Energy: Not all the Monster Army members are familiar with the Baja conditions and how burly they can get. From, say, a snowboarder’s perspective, how would you explain what it was like driving in dust like that?

Robby Gordon: “I think the best way to put it is that it’d be like being in a snowstorm. You can barely, barely see in front of you – boardercross in massive storm. Not knowing where track’s at. And you’re course is like what, a mile long? We’re out there for 1,000 miles and every corner’s different. And in the dust, in a section where I could have been running like 80 (mph), we were running 20.”

Monster Energy: That’s bananas. What’s up next for the Monster Energy Off Road Team?

Robby Gordon: “Got back on Saturday, Sunday was a bit of relaxation but Monday was big reality check as we’re now wide open getting ready for the Dakar Rally (early Jan., ’09). Gonna happen this year through Argentina and Chile. We’re going to run the Hummer. Getting it stripped and by tomorrow it’ll be a bare frame and we’ll be moving forward.”

Monster Energy: Cool. So we’ll check back in with you before you head down to South America.

Robby Gordon: “Sounds good. Thanks again to everyone at Monster for all their support. Look forward to the upcoming 2009 race season starting out with the Dakar Rally!”

Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Robby Gordon digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com