Robby Gordon seeks redemption at Sears Point

SONOMA, Calif. -- Robby Gordon has waited 364 days for this.

	Robby Gordon

Gordon gets his first chance at attacking the 10-turn Sears Point Raceway in a Richard Childress Racing machine when the green flag falls on the Dodge/Save Mart 350 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET FOX, PRN, RaceCast).

Gordon lost a shot at victory at Sonoma in 2001 when he tangled with the lapped car of Kevin Harvick with 11 laps to go, costing Gordon a real chance at his first Winston Cup victory.

Gordon -- driving the No. 7 Ultra Motorsports Ford at the time -- was leading the Dodge/Save Mart 350 when he unwisely refused to let Harvick's No. 29 Goodwrench Chevy by in any of the steep turns at Sears Point.

Harvick finally tired of racing Gordon and pulled alongside him, leading to contact between the two machines. Tony Stewart slipped by the two cars and went on to win the event -- his first career win at a road course.

	Tony Stewart won last year at Sears Point. Credit: ASP

Harvick got his lap back and finished a respectable 14th. Gordon had to settle for a disappointing second.

Although things worked out for Gordon, (he landed a full-time ride with RCR and later broke though by winning at New Hampshire International Speedway) he has not forgotten how close he came to victory.

"That's all over with," said Gordon, who will bring a brand-new car for this event. "We're planning on going and winning the race. We won't be happy with anything else."

Gordon and Harvick have just three top-10 finishes among them in 2002 and both badly need a strong finish before the final off-week of the season.

"Coming off of last year's finish, I'm confident about our chances there," Harvick said. "We had a strong car last year, and this year we've got a new car."

There have been nine different winners in the 13-race history of the 1.99-mile Sears Point Raceway. Rusty Wallace (1990, 1996), and Jeff Gordon (1998, 1999, 2000) are the only active drivers with more than one Sonoma victory.

Pit road at SPR. Credit: ASP

The track features a tighter front straight and entrance to Turn 1 -- just one of many changes made over the years to the track.

The track will have one pit road this year -- in the past, cars that qualified in the rear were forced to pit on secondary pit road called "Gilligan's Island," which usually added 15 seconds to a normal pit stop.

Qualifying will be at 5:05 p.m. ET on Friday. In all, 45 cars are attempting to qualify for the event, including road-racing specialists Boris Said and Ron Fellows.

Winston West regulars Austin Cameron and Brandon Ash will also attempt to make the race, as is part-time Craftsman Truck Series driver Jim Inglebright.