New day, New Hampshire next, we must move forward

I'm sure the "what if's" and "why?" has all been played over and over. The startegy was working. Robby was sticking to the plan and leading the race, racing luck fell and took Robby's chances away? But the reaction cost him. Robby made a setup call that seemed to be way too extreme and it cost him a ton of points. I'm sure it was a desperation call out of frustration, but it knocked alot more than than yellow flag did. Robby restarted near the rear but soon was sitting in 17th with more double file restarts to come. He easily had the equipment for a Top 10 or even Top 5 finish. But the ill-handling car wouldn't perform and Robby couldn't pick up spots. He was slowed by a spinning Biffle that put him in the 25th position and then collected in a wreck that finished him up in 36th. It's sad because even without the win, Robby easily had 75 to 100 points sitting in his lap. Those positions would have moved him up 2 spots in the Owner's Points and closed the gap on the Top 20. That's the down side to being an owner/driver, he needed someone to say "Negative! That car is good, we'll tighten you up a little with air pressure. Go out there and see if you can put yourself within striking distance. We're gonna get some cautions. Get after it!"

Well, it's over and New Hampshire is next...Jim Beam won't return until Chicago, so this weekend and Daytona will be TBA. Crazy thing is these two tracks actually are better tracks for Robby and give the team a chance, Robby won at New Hampshire with RCR and the plate track program has been solid.

I know it takes money & time, but if RGM would put the effort into building a couple of cars like they did their road course car they would be contenders. Build 2 plate cars, 2 road course cars and 2 intermediate cars like they did this past weekend and he'd look more like Stewart-Haas.

Robby must not think of what could have been and think about what his team has done. They had a car built better than anyone and it was bad fast. He has the team, we all know he can drive. Having the Baja 500 win taken away, and leading at Sonoma when the caution flag dropped has to be one of the hardest weeks Robby has ever endured. This will be a long, hard week for Robby Gordon, but he has to move forward.

Now is the time for Robby fans to show support. It's easy to be behind him when he wins, but it's when he's down is when the real fans stand tall.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by MikeNIN7 on June 22, 2009 at 2:31pm

I still think he did I think he was at least a half lap short on fuel and seen Robby stayed out. He will never admit it so I guess I need to let it go.

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Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on June 23, 2009 at 10:43pm

If he would have been short on fuel at ALL at lap 74/75 then the #7 was never in the race and has far more serious issues being that far off on fuel mileage. You're talking a seven to eight lap difference, at Sears Point, on fuel mileage. Other hit the pits at 67 and 68, and made it.

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Permalink Reply by TOG on June 23, 2009 at 10:46pm

all those cautions and caution laps gave the lap 67 and lap 68 pitters the required mileage.

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Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on June 24, 2009 at 7:51pm

That's the gamble they took. Kudos to them. It has worked out four years in a row though so it doesn't seem like much of a gamble.

Even without the cautions the guys pitting at lap 70 to 74 seem pretty damn safe.

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Permalink Reply by shawn rhinehart on June 22, 2009 at 2:40pm

Well cheer up folks we are going to the place where Robby moved a slow Jeff Gordon out of his way to score his very first cup win. Time for a repeat.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on June 22, 2009 at 2:41pm

Robby is an incredible talent and an even better person with a ton of work ethic and passion. When all is said and done in his racing career, those are two things that I sure wouldn't mind being remembered for. There is no need for us to second guess anything about Infineon; I'm sure Robby has done plenty of that. But if it weren't for that passion that probably caused a good points day after the dreaded caution, I wouldn't be a Robby fan in the first place. If anyone wants to bail out on Robby after yesterday, go ahead, but he isn't giving up on himself and I'm not either. This is a week when Robby really needs our support. He's only human and without support, he's going to get down. It is NOT hard to be a Robby fan; He's the best driver out there. What more can you ask for? Frustrating at times-yes, Hard-absolutely not!!!

That's enough from me on this past weekend. If this had been Martinsville, we wouldn't even be talking about it. It's one race, put it behind you and go get em at New Hampshire!!!

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Permalink Reply by brewski on June 22, 2009 at 3:13pm

Amen !

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Permalink Reply by alan4s on June 22, 2009 at 3:33pm

Early reports are for hot and steamy 80+ in Loudon this weekend.

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Permalink Reply by alan4s on June 22, 2009 at 3:54pm

Which will be fun with the double-file restarts. I'm thinking there will be a good bit of grudge-paybacks happening this weekend. I just hope that if Robby takes part, he keeps the car clean and on the lead lap - and he certainly doesn't need any attention from NASCAR right now.