At least some good has come out of it:
Bad Boy Gordon turns Hero
Marcos will make Nextel Cup debut ? in Robby Gordon?s second car!
From MeNews #016
A SIMPLE email from a fan has had the extraordinary effect of allowing Marcos Ambrose to make his NASCAR Nextel Cup debut at Watkins Glen this weekend, driving for the man who took him out of last Sunday?s controversial Busch Cup race in Montreal.
In a sensational overnight development, Robby Gordon has come up with the ultimate
?make-good?, which will see Ambrose make his Nextel Cup debut in the #77 Camping World Ford Fusion ? a brand new ?Car of Tomorrow? ? at this weekend?s race.
Gordon has exclusively told Motorsport eNews that a fan suggested that he give the Aussie a drive.
?I got an e-mail last night from a fan that said I should put Ambrose in my second car,? said Gordon. ?It sounds crazy, but I immediately called Marcus Lemonis at Camping World. I told him that this kid (Ambrose) was a good racecar driver and we ad an opportunity to put him in our back-up car. At 9:30, I called up Marcos and said, ?Hey, I?ve got a deal for you.??
Ambrose had provisionally been scheduled to debut in Nextel Cup this weekend, with Wood Bros, but reported problems with funding the entry had brought it to a halt.
Gordon, of course, heads his own racing organisation, Robby Gordon Motorsports.
Following the weekend?s fracas, in which he disobeyed NASCAR officials? instructions to move back down the restart grid and, instead, took Ambrose out of the lead at Turn 1, he took the decision and rang Ambrose.
?Why am I doing it?? Gordon continued. ?There are a couple of reasons why I?m doing it. The first reason is that it?s unfortunate that Marcos got put in a position in Montreal where I was thinking, ?OK, if I?m not going to win, he?s not going to win, because he put me in this position.? ?But at the same time, I think he?s a talented race-car driver, and obviously he has the ability to compete at the highest level. He showed that last weekend in the Busch race, and I felt that it would be a make-up ? here?s an opportunity to race in Nextel Cup, your first opportunity, with a car that?s equal to mine. ?Like he said, unfortunately, we didn?t get to finish the race the way either one of us wanted to finish it last weekend, and now we?ve got an opportunity to try to put on a good show again this weekend at Watkins Glen.?
What has emerged since is that the two have, during Ambrose?s time in the US, become friends and were planning to ?catch up? this week.
?Marcos and I have been friends for a while,? said Gordon. ?We had been talking (before the Montreal race) and we were finally going to hook up and get together this week. It?s funny, because we talked last Thursday about going to the lake and doing something on Wednesday. ?So last night I called him before I had this idea (to run two cars) and I said, ?So does this mean we?re not getting together on Wednesday?? He said, ?We?re probably a week away ? let?s give it a week to calm down a little bit and then let?s go forward.?
Ambrose will drive under the management of RGM, but with supporting pit crew from is regular Wood Bros/JTG team. The #77 car will carry the livery of Gordon?s Camping World sponsors, along with signage from Marcos? Busch Cup backers Kingsford Charcoal.
In the meantime, Gordon was fined US$35,000 for his Montreal antics, placed on probation for the rest of the season and suspended from last Sunday?s Pocono Cup race, where PJ Jones drove his entry.
