Robby Gordon DEI merger?

Robby Gordon, the highly talented but stubborn NASCAR owner-driver who has made a career out of tilting at windmills, and trying to prove that a hard-working, underdog independent can indeed compete against this sport’s giants, appears at another career crossroads.

After what looks like a rather ugly breakup to the season-long partnership with the Ray Evernham-George Gillett Dodge operation, Gordon now seems to be looking at a new partnership elsewhere in the Sprint Cup garage.

And the word-on-the-street is that Gordon may now be headed back to General Motors and Chevrolet in a still murky deal with Dale Earnhardt Inc. that would make him a teammate with DEI’s Martin Truex Jr. and the others at that company.

Gordon had no comment on the report, and neither did anyone at DEI. But sources close to the situation said it did indeed look like a deal was in the works, and said something might be announced as soon as Monday.

Gordon was a Ford man last season, though apparently not very far up the pecking order. And just hours before this season opened at Daytona Gordon made the jump to Dodge, in an arrangement to get engines from Evernham-Gillett.

Gordon’s jump was so quick that he wound up with the wrong nose on his cars at Daytona, and that cost him a sizeable NASCAR fine, in an angry controversy.

While he was with Ford and Dodge, Gordon also had a major off-road sponsorship deal with GM’s Hummer division, for the Dakar Rally. And when that event was called off, because of terrorist threats, Gordon wound up in another controversy.

Where Gordon stands in the Dodge camp is unclear, because Dodge executives have been unavailable for any comment.

And just what Gordon’s legal status is at the moment, after Friday’s surprise announcement that Gillett-Evernham would be dropping its lawsuit against Gordon over what Gillett-Evernham said was breach of contract, is also unclear. More at independenttribune.net