Open Wheel
Gordon’s first start in the CART IndyCar series came in 1992. His first full season and Indy 500 start would come in 1993. He raced for Derrick Walker from 1994–96. With Walker, he captured his first career pole in 1994 (Toronto), and both his CART career wins in 1995 (Phoenix and Detroit). For 1998 and 1999, Gordon fielded his own team in the series with little success. Gordon raced 10 times in the Indy 500 from 1993 to 2004 fielding his own team in 1999, 2000 and 2004. He, along with John Andretti and Tony Stewart, are the only three drivers to race in the Coca-Cola 600 and Indy 500 in the same day. In 1999, Gordon came within one lap of winning. He inherited the lead by virtue of not stopping for a final pit stop and tried to conserve enough fuel to last until the end of the race. He ran out on lap 199 (of 200) and had to give up the lead to Sweden's Kenny Bräck.
During his time in open-wheel, Gordon earned a reputation as a tough and sometimes overly aggressive racer. According to Gordon, his decision to leave open wheel was based largely on safety concerns.
Read more about this topic: Robby Gordon
Famous quotes containing the words open and/or wheel:
“Wild Bill was indulging in his favorite pastime of a friendly game of cards in the old No. 10 saloon. For the second time in his career, he was sitting with his back to an open door. Jack McCall walked in, shot him through the back of the head, and rushed from the place, only to be captured shortly afterward. Wild Bill’s dead hand held aces and eights, and from that time on this has been known in the West as “the dead man’s hand.””
—State of South Dakota, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Having a wheel and four legs of its own
Has never availed the cumbersome grindstone
To get it anywhere that I can see.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)