2019 Robby Gordon Headquarters
Update on Riggs, State Water Heaters & RGM Rumors
According to one paper, Scott Riggs manager is in discussions with 3 potential owners: Bill Davis Racing (Toyota), Robby Gordon Motorsports (Dodge) and Yates Racing (Ford). Riggs currently drives a Chevy with Stewart/Haas Racing, but is almost 99.99% sure he will be the odd man out when the season concludes.
All 3 of the teams offer a different path and alot of unanswered questions.
Bill Davis has tried to field a 2nd full-time team 4 times and failed with all four. His #93 Amaco team closed up. His #23 Hill Bros Coffee team shut down, his #36 OTC 360 went belly up and his #27 closed before the season got going. Davis' track record doesn't look good with expansion. Davis also seems to be behind on the Toyota pecking order with JGR and Red Bull.
Robby Gordon has been trying hard to add to his team, but has been challenged at keeping sponsors on his own #7 team. The biggest answer Riggs is looking for, will Robby keep it's alignment with GEM. Riggs would love to get back behind a Dodge and Gordon may offer him the best opportunity.
Yates would be a great opportunity for Riggs, but State Water Heaters has previously been contacted by Yates marketing team about moving their sponsorship to David Gilliland's #38 team. Would Riggs want to take a gamble with Yates and possibly be released due to a performance clause and loose his sponsor State Water Heaters in the process.
Riggs won't make any decisions until he gets official word from Stewart/Haas, but that doesn't mean he won't have a plan ready for action.
All 3 of the teams offer a different path and alot of unanswered questions.
Bill Davis has tried to field a 2nd full-time team 4 times and failed with all four. His #93 Amaco team closed up. His #23 Hill Bros Coffee team shut down, his #36 OTC 360 went belly up and his #27 closed before the season got going. Davis' track record doesn't look good with expansion. Davis also seems to be behind on the Toyota pecking order with JGR and Red Bull.
Robby Gordon has been trying hard to add to his team, but has been challenged at keeping sponsors on his own #7 team. The biggest answer Riggs is looking for, will Robby keep it's alignment with GEM. Riggs would love to get back behind a Dodge and Gordon may offer him the best opportunity.
Yates would be a great opportunity for Riggs, but State Water Heaters has previously been contacted by Yates marketing team about moving their sponsorship to David Gilliland's #38 team. Would Riggs want to take a gamble with Yates and possibly be released due to a performance clause and loose his sponsor State Water Heaters in the process.
Riggs won't make any decisions until he gets official word from Stewart/Haas, but that doesn't mean he won't have a plan ready for action.
Views: 38
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Garrett Gleason on
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I could see him going to Yates, as they are the best performing team on the list.
Never been a big fan of Riggs, but if he is what it takes to get RGM a 2nd car going to help the #7, I'd be all for it. I'd have no choice but to become a Scott Riggs fan.
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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on
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Problem with Yates, they need a sponsor for 2 teams. It doesn't help they tried to lure State Water Heaters without Riggs being part of the deal. They're trying hard to land Gilliland a sponsor.
For whatever reason they still believe Gilliland is the Yates future.
From what all I've heard, Riggs wants to know what Robby intends to do next year, if he keeps his alliance with GEM then I believe it's a strong possibility. If Robby decides to change manufactures again I doubt Riggs would be intrested.
Of course Riggs wants to stay with Stewart/ Haas if at all possible. State Water Heaters would love to also.
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Permalink Reply by NIKAL on
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Where did you get your info that Riggs would like to get back in the Dodge camp? Also getting back with Dodge would be aligning himself with GEM in a round about way and I thought he was not happy the way he lost his ride with GEM.
And do we know if the rumor about State Water Heaters and Riggs is even true? We also heard last year that when Johnny Sauter was let go by HAAS that Yellow Freight would follow him, and that was all rumor and not true. Yellow Freight left the series completely. Kinda funny two drivers who have or are losing their rides with HAAS are rumored to be taking a sponsor with them.
I'll believe it when I see it!
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I have several close friends in the media (radio) business. You would be stunned with how many crew members from teams email one of my friends with information. They ALL want to break news when they have it.
If I post anything that's my opinion, I will indicate. As a Robby fan, I try and let other Robby fans know what I've gotten whenit pertains to Robby.
I posted last year that Robby was buying Yates...I got blasted by 90% of the Uprising....turned out Robby did indeed have an agreement to purchase Yates. Yates decided not to uphold the deal.
Anyway, Riggs was never unhappy at GEM. He just got shuffled out due to sponsorship. Valvoline wanted to scale back. Carpantier was able to attract sponsors due to his presence and popularity in Canada. Riggs hated to leave GEM.
Just look at his statements today even.
The State Water Heaters rumor comes from Riggs manager. He stated during an interview that State Water Heaters wanted to remain in Nascar and he was working with them to move to another team in 2009. I'm sure the move would probably be a 1 or 2 year deal and based upon performance.
The Johnny Sauter & Yellow Freight deal last year was mostly speculation. Many thought it MIGHT happen since Yellow followed Johnny from his Busch team to Cup. When Johnny practiced for Robby the rumores really heated up. I'm sure Johnny tried to convince Yellow to move again with him to another team. Robby had also moved into his new building and was on a mission to field a 2nd team at the time. (Which goes back to him buying Yates).
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Permalink Reply by Texas SpeedDiva on
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Riggs stated as much in his interview on NASCAR Now within the past day or two. That he was odd man out at GEM when Gillette came in. Basically same deal now that Tony has come in. He stated he'd just like to be at a team long enough to develop himself and the team and have some stability.
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Permalink Reply by MOracefan7 on
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Umm..I know someone who works for State Water Heater and I wouldn't bet more than a plug nickel they will be around for more than the 2009 season. I wouldn't be building castles in the sky based on their sponsorship $$$$.
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Well not according from the people at State Water Heaters. They've been very happy with the return on their investment with Nascar. They even stated at Daytona, "Nobody knew who we were until we jumped into Nascar. We feel there's nothing better than Nascar for brand awareness and customer loyalty."
Riggs manager even said "State Water Heaters wants to remain in Nascar and is working with us to help Riggs find a team for 2009, hopefully it's here at Stewart/Haas."
Of course all indications are Stewart/Haas only wants to field 2 team right now.
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During Robby teleconference today he addressed a 2nd team and Scott Riggs. (interesteing the media would ask that question and mention Riggs)
Q. Are you committed to running a second car next year? If yes, would you consider Scott Riggs? Looks like he’ll be out of a job.
ROBBY GORDON: Well, I think Scott Riggs is a very good racecar driver. We’ll start there. Committed to running a second car? You know, we’d love to run a second car. I think our team and our facility and our systems and procedures and policies, all that stuff, is in place now to run a second car.
You know, we still haven’t won with one car, but this weekend’s race hasn’t happened yet either. It’s important to make one car run good first. And we’ve been able to stay inside of the top 35. But, you know, at the same time we’d like to position ourselves to win races.
I think, you know, a second car’s going to help in that, though, because you’re going to find solutions for our problems faster. I think Scott’s a good racecar driver. So that’s obviously something that I would look at. Obviously, the thing out there is who’s gonna pay for it, how are you gonna do it and what sponsors are going to be involved in it.
Robby's last remarks also went back to a 2nd team
But, you know, like I said, we’re four years into it now. So if an opportunity opened up for a second car, we do have a lot of our policies and procedures in place, and our systems where we’re kind of routine now. And we’re not racing the race of Wednesday or Thursday to get the car in the hauler. We’re actually racing the race on the racetrack, and that’s the most important thing.
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Gotta wonder if that was Robby's pitch to State Water Heaters at the end.
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Permalink Reply by alan4s on
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If not a pitch to State Water Heaters, it's certainly a message to any other potential sponsors. Someone interested in JV, for example.
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Permalink Reply by Blues on
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Honda comes in, RGM switches to Honda, and Jeremy McGrath is the second driver, brings tons of sponsors ....
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Honda won't be coming to Nascar anytime soon, maybe down the road.
Robby needs to stick with Dodge, get some notes and build. The new engine will be coming out soon and I'm willing to bet Robby wouldn't mind running one. If you listen to his scanner, he's constantly complaining about the lack of horsepower. Even if it's a risk, Robby will get the new motors when they become available. GEM has already stated that Khane wouldn't run them due to his chances with The Chase, until they've been race tested a few times.
I'd love to see Robby get one and win a race with it...that would be priceless, not to mention worth the GEM technical agrement!
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