Robby Gordon had Matt Brabham and Robert Stout all over his rear bumper in the waning moments of Saturday’s Stadium Super Trucks Race #1 at the Big Machine Music Grand Prix. Despite the pressure, he kept them at bay to become the inaugural SST race winner in Nashville.
Gordon started tenth while Brabham and Stout were the top qualifiers and were thus at the rear. Series newcomer Stanton Barrett was on the pole ahead of twelve other drivers in the largest SST race grid since 2018 at Long Beach. As Barrett led the opening laps, the Crosley Brands trucks of Bo LeMastus, Ricky Johnson, and Jeff Ward followed. By lap three, Gordon broke up the Crosley contingent as he moved into second before Johnson spun while racing Stout.
Barrett and Gordon, who raced against each other in the NASCAR Cup and now-Xfinity Series in the 2000s, comprised the top two at the competition caution on lap four. The duo pulled away on the restart a lap later as Stout took third from Ward while going over the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge.
Shortly before lap six, Barrett started to slip as he lost the lead to Gordon before Stout passed him to start said circuit. Brabham joined the picture a lap later and held third at the second competition yellow.
The next green flag set up a three-lap run with Gordon leading Brabham and Stout. Jett Noland caught the trio but nearly drifted into the wall as the final lap began. Brabham and Stout chased down Gordon as they entered the final three corners, with Brabham attempting a pass on the inside in the penultimate turn but failing. Another try came in the last corner, resulting in Brabham running into Gordon’s rear bumper, to no avail as Gordon cleared him.
The win is Gordon’s second of the year and twenty-seventh of his career. While commonly associated with his bright orange SPEED Energy truck, Gordon scored the victory in a purple Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge livery. It was his first win in a non-SPEED truck since his 2018 triumph at Road America adorned in blue with Toyo Tires sponsorship.
“That was a gnarly race to the finish,” Gordon said in Victory Lane. “I did have to get a little bit wide with the Tootsie truck there a couple of times. Tried to break the draft across the top of the hill.
“That’s what racing is supposed to be. You got to have cars that are tough enough to be able to do this. Can’t say enough about Matty Brabham. […] He actually got hung up in the last turn where he hit me and then we got hooked and I’m like, ‘Oh, okay, I guess I’m just going to toe you to the finish.'”
Brabham held off Stout for second, though the latter still notched his first career podium. Gordon praised the rookie Stout, saying he had been “catching on” and is proof that “the ladder of racing does help” in reference to his sports car and off-road résumé. Brabham also commended Stout for “an amazing drive.”
“I was trying to take [Gordon] out. I was trying to lean on him just a little bit to move him out of the way because that Tootsie truck was in front of me and it was purple and it was pissing me off,” remarked Brabham. “It was leading the race all race and I was like, ‘I really want to win.’
“It was an awesome race out there. I wanted to win so bad, and Robby just placed his truck in the perfect spot to block me. I was trying to push him up the track but I just couldn’t get it done, so congrats to him.”
“I was really trying to conserve brakes,” said Stout. “I feel like I got a hold of him way too hard trying to get to the front early on. Before the second caution, I was tucked in behind Robby and I got so comfortable just trying to conserve brakes and I totally forgot Brabham was behind me and let him go for the easiest pass of all time.
“[…] To be on a podium with Robby Gordon and Matt Brabham says a lot. Really happy to be here with SST and Nashville. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Brabham added, “All three of us, we were running as hard as we could and we were all nose to tail and there was no giving an inch.”
Noland missed the podium but his finish of fourth ties his career best from Road America Race #2 in 2020. Ward finished a career-high sixth in his first start since the inaugural season in 2013, while Johnson placed thirteenth after also last racing that year. The former was the highest runner of the five Crosley drivers, while team-mate Arie Luyendyk Jr. struggled with a broken sway bar and was behind him in seventh. Barrett and Jacob Abel respectively finished eighth and twelfth in their SST débuts.
The second and final race of the weekend is scheduled for Sunday, 8 August, at 1:45 PM Central Daylight Time.
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Status |
| 1 | 10 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Running |
| 2 | 13 | 83 | Matt Brabham | Running |
| 3 | 12 | 28 | Robert Stout | Running |
| 4 | 8 | 50 | Jett Noland | Running |
| 5 | 11 | 77 | Max Gordon | Running |
| 6 | 6 | 4 | Jeff Ward | Running |
| 7 | 9 | 25 | Arie Luyendyk Jr. | Running |
| 8 | 1 | 31 | Stanton Barrett | Running |
| 9 | 3 | 57 | Bill Hynes | Running |
| 10 | 7 | 22 | Zach Van Matre | Running |
| 11 | 2 | 42 | Bo LeMastus | Running |
| 12 | 5 | 40 | Jacob Abel | Running |
| 13 | 4 | 5 | Ricky Johnson | Running |
