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Arciero-Wells Racing announced that Robby Gordonwill succeed Hiro Matsushita as driver of theteam's Panasonic Duskin Reynard Toyota in theFedEx Championship Series.
Matsushita announced his retirement as a driverlast week, effective following the season's fifthrace, the May 10 Rio 400 at Rio de Janeiro,Brazil.
"I have known the time has come to withdraw fromthis field by realizing that my inspiration tomake a full-fledged effort has diminished," saidMatsushita, a nine-year veteran who owns 114career starts in CART competition. "Confrontingmyself in this new light came as a shock to me.Thus, looking back, what comes to my mind iseveryone who has been very supportive of me thesepast years. I feel that it is time for a newgeneration to take over."
Cal Wells III, co-owner of Arciero-Wells Racing,said, "Hiro's involvement in the development andevolution of our CART racing program, as well asthe Toyota engine development program, has beenvery important to us. We've been blessed beingable to work with Hiro over the last four years.He has had a profound impact on the sport andwill continue to be involved with our team as adriver, technical and management director."
Gordon, who was signed by Arciero-Wells as a testand development driver in January, will debutwith the team at the April 26 Bosch Spark PlugGrand Prix Presented by Toyota at NazarethSpeedway.
"The past few months, I've been doing a lot oftesting for Toyota, but there's nothing like realcompetition," Gordon said. "It is difficultwaiting for the first race, but I have beenspending my time seeing how things are done inthe pits on the Arciero-Wells side. It is good tobe able to give some feedback."
"Robby's skill will complement Max [Papis, driverof the Arciero-Wells MCI Reynard Toyota] andbenefit the entire Arciero-Wells team," Wellssaid. "Robby knows what it is going to take toget the Panasonic Duskin car up front and he alsoknows the partnership it will take from Toyota.He knows what it takes to build a winning team."
Gordon has made 71 career starts in CARTcompetition with victories at Phoenix and Detroitin 1995 and four career pole positions. His mostrecent start came for Hogan Racing in the 1997season finale at California Speedway, where hefinished eighth.
Source: CART News Service
