Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Robby Gordon not surprised he won in N.H.

Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2001 | 10:41 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Although many observers might have been surprised that Robby Gordon's first NASCAR Winston Cup win came on an oval, it didn't come as a shock to the 32-year-old California native.

In fact, Gordon's first CART victory came on the 1-mile oval at Phoenix International Raceway in 1995 and he has had a modest amount of success on ovals in his various Winston Cup stints.

Long thought of as a road-course specialist, Gordon earned his first -- and only -- Winston Cup pole at the 1.54-mile oval at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1997 while driving for Felix Sabates and he earned a seventh-place finish last month at Phoenix.

Following his victory in Friday's New Hampshire 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, Gordon said he never doubted he could be successful on ovals in a Winston Cup car.

"I'm just proud that Richard (Childress) believed in me," Gordon said of his car owner. "He point-blank asked me if I could win on an oval. I told him we can win on an oval if we can get the car to where I can live with the balance. My road-course driving showed him that I can do that.

"I think we showed a lot of people that we can get to victory lane with a Winston Cup car. The last two races -- Phoenix and (New Hampshire) -- we've been in the position to win."

Gordon, who drove the No. 31 Chevy for Childress in the final 11 races this season, said his past failures in Winston Cup have made him more appreciative of what many believe was his last chance in the series. Childress will run Gordon fulltime in 2002 in the car, which will be sponsored by Cingular Wireless.

"I've struggled in Winston Cup and I think it makes you appreciate it more," Gordon said. "A lot of people doubted me. I had to do a lot of talking to Richard to convince him to take me and believe in me when I told him I could win races on an oval.

"I haven't won a race in six years -- since the Detroit CART race. I've come close to winning the (1999) Indy 500 but ran out of fuel on the last lap. When I saw that white flag come out (Friday), you start hearing all kind of weird noises. When we came off of turn four and we were pulling strong, I was really ecstatic."

"I didn't wreck him," Robby said. "I can see (him being mad) if I had wrecked him and he hit the wall, but he had a car still good enough to win the race. He took himself out of the race.

"I got into him a little bit (but) I didn't spin him. I just moved him up the racetrack a little bit. I've heard a lot of people over the years call that racing. But I didn't mean to get into him. Once the No. 12 car got sideways, he got on the brakes ... I wasn't really focusing on the No. 12 car, I was focusing on the No. 24 car. I got into him but I didn't hit him hard."

Jeff Gordon retaliated by passing the pace car on the ensuing caution lap and ran into the back of Robby Gordon's car. He was black-flagged and penalized a lap for passing the pace car, not for the retaliation.

The money was raised by Roush and his employees following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Roush matched contributions made by the 1,800 employees of his three companies and also donated a percentage of souvenir sales from the final 10 Winston Cup races.

All firefighters, police and emergency medical technicians are invited to participate in the day for free.