CONCORD, N.C. — Robby Gordon thought he had cars good enough to win two races Sunday. A broken part ruined his bid.
Gordon was knocked out of the Indianapolis 500 late in the race when the gear box in his car broke as he left pit road.
It did allow Gordon to get an early start on his trip to NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600: He was on the plane eating turkey sandwiches when Gil de Ferran took the checkered flag at Indy.
"We were easily as good as anybody else out there," Gordon said. "The gears worked fine from first to second, but from second to third it broke the gear box."
It was one of many hitches in Gordon's day. Midway through the NASCAR race, he and teammate Kevin Harvick banged their cars together as Harvick tried to pass him. The contact probably caused a flat left tire that caused Harvick to pit.
"Why does (Gordon) have to be the hardest car on the track to pit?" Harvick complained over his radio.
"Kevin, don't worry about it. We'll talk about it tomorrow," car owner Richard Childress responded.
Gordon's day got off to a poor start when his police escort never arrived at the hotel and he had to navigate his own way to the track. With a schedule planned down to the minute, it was the first of two unexpected speedbumps in Gordon's bid to run both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600.
He arrived at Lowe's Motor Speedway outside Charlotte at 4:30 p.m. EDT, about an hour before the start of the NASCAR race. He said he took intravenous fluids on the way from Indianapolis to North Carolina.
"I feel fine," he said. "I took the IV, and I feel pretty good heading into the race. I've got a little bit of a cold, but I'll be OK."
But his Chevrolet wasn't strong at the start of the NASCAR race, and Gordon quickly fell a lap down. He came back to get back on the lead lap and was running in the top 20 when the race ended.
Although Gordon finished 22nd at the Brickyard, he improvised quite nicely just getting himself to the track.
He jumped onto the tail of another caravan that did have an escort and was at the track by 9 a.m., calm and seemingly relaxed as he snacked on a granola bar before his planned 1,100 miles of racing.
"I feel good. Real good," Gordon said as he walked along the race track to his car. "It's going to be great day."
Keeping with his California-cool demeanor, Gordon gave a casual wave to the fans screaming his name and high-fived a well-wisher who stopped him on the grid. After a wink to his sisters, he pulled on his helmet and got some last minute instructions from his crew.
Then he went racing, attempting "The Double" for the fourth time in his career.
Starting on the outside of the front row in a car considered one of the best in the field, Gordon settled in for the longest day in motorsports behind teammate Tony Kanaan. But he couldn't keep up with the leaders and fell to the middle of the pack.
"These old tires are really hurting me," he radioed 45 laps into the race.
In 13th place and losing ground, he told his crew the tires were completely worn out six laps later. It was awful timing, though. Caution came out as Gordon went in to pit, and it put him a lap down.
"Did I lose a lap?" he asked. "OK, what do I got to do to get it back?"
All he had to do was be patient. He caught a break on lap 62 when Richie Hearn and Jaques Lazier crashed, bringing out a caution that allowed Gordon to get back on the lead lap. But his good fortune didn't last, and the faulty gear box ended his race — the first one.
Travel was the biggest hurdle in Gordon's day. Because of heightened security, the Federal Aviation Administration banned helicopter flights in and out of Indy and Lowe's Motor Speedway for one hour before and one hour after the races.
So Gordon rode a golf cart out of Indy — with a guaranteed police escort this time — to take him to his rental car nearby. Then, it was on to the Indianapolis airport for a plane headed to Charlotte.
His decision to get an IV drip on the way back contrasted to last year, when he declined the extra fluids. He said Friday that was a mistake, as he suffered from cramps during NASCAR's longest race of the year and finished 16th.
Gordon arrived at the Lowe's infield aboard a helicopter owned by Carolinas Medical Center — the only aircraft allowed in the speedway so close to race time, under the FAA's rules.
Speedway officials said the helicopter was dedicated to the speedway's use, and was not diverted from any emergencies to bring Gordon in.