Robby Gordon leaves his bad luck in Baja

Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005 | 7:34 a.m.

Here's a switch: Robby Gordon actually had a better run in his NASCAR Nextel Cup Series car this past weekend than he did in Friday's Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race in Mexico.

Gordon, a long-time off-road racer, returned to his desert roots and raced his Chevrolet Trophy Truck in the grueling 708-mile event. Plagued by shock problems, Gordon was the 14th finisher in his class and completed the trek in 20 hours and 17 minutes. Class winner Bob Shepard of Phoenix toured the course in 15 hours, 48 minutes, 49 seconds.

"I'm disappointed with our finish," Gordon said, referring to his Baja adventure. "Obviously we came to win, but we had a couple of issues with the shocks. What I'm not disappointed in is how our team performed. My guys prepped an awesome truck; nothing fell off and nothing broke. Aside from the shock issue, the truck ran flawlessly."

After hopping a plane to the Nextel Cup season finale in Homestead, Fla., Gordon piloted his No. 7 Chevy to a 14th-place finish after starting the race at the back of the pack because he did not qualify the car. It was Gordon's second consecutive top-15 finish after switching from Menards engines to ones supplied by Dale Earnhardt Inc.

"We struggled with some pretty serious engine problems in September and October, but in the last two races we proved to ourselves and a lot of others that we have a team capable of competing at this level," Gordon said of his Cup effort.

"When we roll out in Daytona in February, I think people will see a very different Robby Gordon Motorsports."

Gordon, a two-time winner of the Baja 1000, plans to race a Hummer H3 in next month's Dakar Rally, a 6,000-mile off-road endurance race from Lisbon, Portugal, to Dakar, Senegal.

BUSMAN'S HOLIDAY

NHRA Top Fuel drivers Rod Fuller of Las Vegas and Jack Beckman will compete in the Super Pro category at the fourth annual Las Vegas Bracket Nationals, which begins Thursday morning at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The four-day meet runs Thursday through Sunday evening. Super Pro, Pro and Sportsman/Sport Compact will be competing and each day's race is a complete and separate show. Super Pro is racing for $5,000 to win each day while the top prize for the Pro category is $1,000. Gates open at 7 a.m. each day.

Fuller finished 10th in the NHRA Top Fuel standings this season despite competing in only 15 of 23 national events for David Powers Motorsports. He earned his first Top Fuel victory in August at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Beckman, from North Hills, Calif., finished 15th in Top Fuel points this season.

ALSO NOTED:

BY THE NUMBERS:

48 -- percentage of the race vehicles that finished last weekend's Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in the 30-hour time limit

3 -- The number of consecutive seasons in which Dennis Setzer has finished second in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings

$1,000,000 -- The amount Jeff Gordon earned from the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series points fund for finishing in 11th place in the 2005 standings

Brian Hilderbrand can be reached at 259-4089 or at bh@lasvegassun.com.