INDYCAR: Reflections on Phoenix 1995

It took Robby Gordon 42 races to earn his first trip to Victory Lane, and when it finally came at Phoenix in 1995, something changed within the Californian. By the end of the season, Gordon scored another win in the No. 5 Walker Racing Reynard-Ford/Cosworth – the only two in an eight-year CART IndyCar career – that helped propel the former (and future) off-road racing star to fifth in the standings.

The Phoenix win was also memorable for Rob Edwards, Andretti Autosport's director of engineering and race operations, who served as Gordon's race engineer in 1995.

"You never forget your first win," Edwards (LEFT, LAT photo) told RACER. "It's funny – we were there testing last week, and it has changed in so many ways, but we still have special memories because of that day. The year didn't start off great, but somehow we all came through to win there and then at Detroit. It was good memories of Robby, good memories of Phoenix, and great to think back on that race 20 years ago."

With the Verizon IndyCar Series making its return to race at Phoenix on April 2, Edwards expects to see some of the excitement that surrounded the 1995 event return to the one-mile oval.

"When you look at Phoenix, it's such a vibrant city, and it's in part of the country we're not in, so being able to take the product back there is great, and from what I've heard, the track is doing a lot to promote the event," he continued. "We look at the good short oval events we've had over the years and hope we can keep them going at Phoenix with the new Verizon IndyCar Series."

Gordon made the most of a communication breakdown between race leader Michael Andretti and his team with a handful of laps left in the race, and swept past the Newman/Haas driver to capture an opportunistic win. Andretti would settle for a surprised second and Team Penske's Emerson Fittipaldi rounded out the podium. In an ironic twist, 20 years after beating Andretti, Edwards now leads Michael's team.

Whether it's from a dominant drive by Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, or Carlos Munoz, or involves a little bit of the old Phoenix luck, Edwards hopes the race next April takes a page from the 1995 event.

"Nothing would make me happier than to repeat the experience 21 years later!" he said.

Click on the thumbnails for larger images from that 1995 race.

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