Feb 18, 2005 4 min read

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Robby Gordon will watch the Daytona 500 from a recliner in his living room after a failed first test as owner of his own team. Gordon couldn’t race his way into NASCAR’s biggest event of the year, falling one spot short of transferring into the season-opener in one of Thursday’s qualifying races.

“It sounds crazy that a team as good as we are is going home,” Gordon said. “That’s why it’s big-time racing. That’s why so many teams try to be here, but to be honest, not that many teams are in Nextel Cup and (NASCAR) makes it very difficult to start new teams.”

Nothing came easy for Gordon from the moment he unpacked his brand new No. 7 Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway.

NASCAR officials found an illegal part in his engine, immediately confiscating the manifold and promising a hefty fine would follow. The error came from the builder, Menard Engineering out of Indianapolis, which is new to Nextel Cup racing this year and had no idea the part they had used was incorrect.

Unable to get the problem fixed in time for qualifying, Gordon borrowed a motor from Dale Earnhardt Inc. But the engine was short on horsepower and he wasn’t fast enough to make the field under new qualifying procedures implemented this season.

So he headed into Thursday’s qualifying race needing to beat nine other drivers who were all trying to make it into Sunday’s season-opener.

Gordon seemed like a lock to make it when he moved into third place with under 10 laps to go. As he and his crew debated strategy over the radio, Kevin Lepage crept up on Gordon’s rear bumper and knocked him out of the way.

Gordon had to hang on to keep from wrecking, was shuffled back in the pack, and ended up seventh. But Lepage and Martin Truex Jr., two drivers who also needed to race their way in, finished ahead of him and claimed the final two qualifying spots for Sunday.

“We knew we were going to have to giddy-up,” Gordon said. “We were in position to do what we needed to do, but I got knocked into the corner. Kevin got to us, moved us up a little bit. It happens.”

Doing his best to keep a brave face on, it was difficult for Gordon not to be a little bitter at the new rules NASCAR has this season.

The top 35 in points from last year are guaranteed starting spots in the first five races of the year.

Gordon ended 23rd last season and had plenty of points to make the field.

But he left them all with car owner Richard Childress when he left to start his own team, and came into this year with a big fat zero next to his name.

NASCAR officials are privately rooting for Gordon to make it, knowing that if a driver/owner can succeed against the mighty super teams, it bodes well for marketing and publicity.

“Look, we don’t make it easy for any team. New teams or teams that have been around 20 years,” said NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter. “We think the playing field is even.”

So Gordon heads home to North Carolina, his confidence intact and his associates certain the team will survive.

“The worst part about this is it adds to the perception that he can’t do this,” said general manager John Story. “But this is a good program, and we have sponsor support for the entire season, and we’ll make it.”

Gordon does have strong commitments from various sponsors, all aware that the start of his endeavor would be difficult.

And the team knew that Menard, a noted open-wheel builder that has had six engines on the Indianapolis 500 pole, would need time to catch on in Nextel Cup. Gordon will use a Menard engine when he heads to California in two weeks.

Menard vowed to be better by then.

“We are going to need some time to be at our absolute best,” said Christopher Sumner, executive director of Menard. “But we will get there very quickly.”