Laughlin, NV (January 16, 2011) - From the dunes of the Atacama Desert for the 2011 Dakar Rally to the tough terrain of the Laughlin, Nevada for the Laughlin Desert Challenge, Robby Gordon showed up with something to prove. After a disappointing 2011 Dakar Rally for SPEED Energy/Toyo Tires team, Gordon looked for redemption as he would contend for his first victory of the 2011 SCORE International Off-Road Series season and try to repeat his 2009 championship title run.

For the Robby Gordon Off-Road team, preparing for the Laughlin Desert Challenge is one of their more difficult events. With most of the team still in South America wrapping up the Dakar Rally HUMMERs, Gordon would end up getting to the race course in Laughlin hours before the SCORE Trophy Trucks would line up for time trials.
Gordon went out in his bright orange SPEED Energy/Toyo Tires No.77 trophy truck and qualified on the pole for Saturday afternoon's race, taking a time of six minutes, 23.08 seconds averaging 58.75 miles per hour around the 6.25-mile loop. Gordon would end up beating 2nd place qualifier B.J. Baldwin by nearly 9 seconds. Gordon would lead a field of 123 official entries, which includes 32 vehicles in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division.

After winning the pole for Day 1, Gordon would take the time to park next to the grandstands and meet with the off-road fans and enthusiasts that were getting set to watch drivers participate in the Laughlin Leap. When the sun fell behind the surrounding mountains of Laughlin, Gordon launched his No.77 SPEED Energy/Toyo Tires trophy truck off the famous leap thrilling the 5,000 fans in the stands with a leap of 125' feet, a number that no one in the trophy truck class would reach on their first attempt. Gordon watched as the field of trophy trucks would try to beat his leap of 125' on their second attempt. Gordon and his team earned the win of $2,500 for first place in their class. This would make it 2 for 2 for Gordon as he would head into Saturday's race with momentum on his side.

The momentum would quickly turn into heartbreak as the race started with Gordon racing side-by-side with B.J. Baldwin into the race course's first jump. Baldwin would take advantage and lead the race over Gordon for the first two laps. By the time the leaders would come around for their third lap, Gordon was on Baldwin's tail looking to take the overall lead. With the motor sounding down on power, Gordon would make it to race mile 5 on lap 3 before pulling over for mechanical problems. Gordon sat helplessly as the field of trophy trucks went by him. The team would later diagnose the situation, determining that the problem was internal in the engine and unable to fix it for Gordon to attempt to race again on Sunday. With a pole and Laughlin Leap win, the team had high hopes of sweeping the weekend. Instead, they will now prepare for the second race of the 2011 SCORE series in San Felipe coming up in March, looking to earn a win after finishing second their two times in a row.