Robby Gordon Speaks About The Tragic Death Of His Father And Stepmother
NASCAR and Baja racing legend Robby Gordon spoke to the press today about the tragic and sudden deaths of his father Robert "Baja Bob" Gordon and stepmother Sharon. The story surrounding the incident is still incomplete, but Gordon is maintaining "the truth will come out."
You can watch the unabridged broadcast of Gordon's address to media on TMZ. It's not easy to look at Gordon's pain, but at least somewhat comforting to hear that it sounds like the communities to which he belongs are stepping up to support his family.
The couple were found in the Orange, California home Gordon (Robby) had grown up in and left to this father and stepmother when he moved to North Carolina for his NASCAR career.
Lt. Fred Lopez of the Orange Police Department apparently told the OC Register the incident is considered to be a possible murder-suicide, or double suicide, but that there were also "several [other] possibilities" as to why Gordon Sr. and his wife were killed.
It's being reported that police performed autopsies on both bodies. It was determined that Bob died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and Sharon died of strangulation. One firearm was apparently discovered, but no other weapons or drugs were apparently present.
"This is devastating," an emotional Robby Gordon told the Register, "He taught so many, and I want everyone to know what a good man he was."
Gordon is a uniquely talented individual, having a successful go at on-road racing in NASCAR and IndyCar and eventually going on to dominate desert racing. Today he's regularly at the top of the pack in Baja races and has started his own all-new series, Stadium Super Trucks, which basically looks like motocross in trucks on pavement.
In fact, the series is running a race this weekend which is scheduled to go on as planned. Whether or not Gordon himself will be driving remains to be seen.
Robby's father Robert (Bob) was a well-known and successful racer in his own right– you don't earn a nickname like "Baja Bob" without putting some numbers on the scoreboard.
In fact the last time I saw Bob he was racing a vintage Chenowth DR2 buggy in the NORRA Mexican 1000 landing second-place-in-class by seconds, and actually ended up being less than half a minute behind the overall winner who was driving a technologically superior machine.
Bob and his wife are survived by Robby and his sisters Robyn, Haylee and Beccy who just had a baby with her husband Indy 500 driver Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Here's hoping the motorsport and general community can come together to support this family as much as possible.