Max Gordon (born June 10, 2008) is an American professional racing driver who primarily competes in

off-road racing Off-road racing is a form of motorsports consisting of specially-modified vehicles including cars, SUVs, trucks, motorbikes, quadbikes and buggies racing in off-road environments (e.g. snow, dirt, mud, etc.). North America Desert racing D ...

such as the

Stadium Super Trucks The Stadium Super Trucks (SST), formerly known as Speed Energy Formula Off-Road, also known as the Boost Mobile Super Trucks in Australia, is an American short course off-road racing series created by off-road racer and former IndyCar and NASCAR d ...

, Best in the Desert, and

SCORE International SCORE International (Southern California Off Road Enthusiasts) is an off-road racing sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing. Founded by Mickey Thompson in 1973, SCORE International was purchased from Sal Fish in late 2012. and is run ...

. Nicknamed "Mad Max", he is the son of driver and SST founder

Robby Gordon Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American semi-retired auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, Championship Auto Racing Teams, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA, Inter ...

Racing career

Due to his father's own career, Gordon was exposed to racing at a very young age as Robby attached a child safety seat to his off-road buggies when he was two years old. While growing up in the family-run Robby Gordon Motorsports, he helped by gluing

lug nut A lug nut or wheel nut is a fastener, specifically a nut (hardware), nut, used to secure a wheel on a vehicle. Typically, lug nuts are found on automobiles, trucks (lorries), and other large vehicles using rubber tires. Design A lug nut is a ...

s onto the team's

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

cars. Gordon began driving as early as the age of three, piloting a Polaris RZR around the RGM complex. His first racing experience came in

karts Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size moto ...

when he was six in September 2014.

Off-road racing

Gordon raced in the

Baja 1000 The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula, with a course of up to about 850 or more miles. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from ...

for the first time in 2017, though as an unregistered driver due to SCORE International requiring all competitors to be 18 years old; at the age of nine, he was the youngest person to compete in the event. Sharing the No. 2933 UTV Pro Forced Induction entry with Robby,

Sheldon Creed Sheldon Michael Creed (born September 30, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 00 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Haas Factory ...

, and Todd Romano, Gordon drove the final 325 miles to become the race's youngest '' de facto'' finisher, though his ineligibility meant the car was officially classified as a retirement. For the 2018 race, he was the navigator of the No. 77 trophy truck driven by Robby and Cole Potts, finishing 52nd overall and 18th in the class. In the 2020

Mint 400 The Mint 400 is an annual American desert off-road race which takes place near Las Vegas, Nevada. It was resumed in 2008 after a 20-year hiatus. The race was for both motorcycles, until 1977, and four-wheel vehicles ( buggies, cars and trucks ...

, Gordon won the UTV Pro Normally Aspirated class but was disqualified for an illegal driver change when Robby replaced him while he was feeling sick.

Stadium Super Trucks

When Robby founded the Stadium Super Trucks, Max worked as the series' test driver. He made his competitive SST debut in 2020 at

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

, driving the No. 77 with Speed Energy, Speed RC Cars, and

Menards Menard, Inc., doing business as Menards, ( ) is an American big-box home improvement retail chain headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is the third-largest home improvement retailer in the United States (behind Lowe's and Home Depot), wit ...

as sponsors. Gordon was one of four drivers to run the full 2021 season. He finished fifth or seventh in all but one race, with the exception being a fourth in the second Music City Grand Prix event. Ahead of the season-ending Grand Prix of Long Beach, he acquired sponsorship from Baja Jerky; he had spent much of the year with

Continental Tire Continental AG, commonly known as Continental and colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational Automotive industry, automotive parts manufacturing company. Headquartered in Hanover, Lower Saxony, it is the world's third-List of the largest ...

and Speed RC Cars as his supporters. The 2022 season began at Long Beach, where Gordon scored his maiden SST win in the first round after holding off Robby for the victory. In the second and final race, he capitalized on multiple drivers' mistakes to finish third while Robby won to complete a Gordon family sweep of the weekend. Gordon won a second time at

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar, IMSA WeatherTech Sportsc ...

when he made an aggressive overtake on the final lap to pass Gavin Harlien and Robert Stout for the lead.

Open-wheel racing

Gordon has aspirations of competing in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

. In January 2022, he began

open-wheel racing Formula racing, also known as open-wheel racing in North America, is any of several forms of Open-wheel car, open-wheeled single-seater Auto racing, motorsport. A "formula", first devised by Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA for ...

by competing in the Lucas Oil School of Racing Winter Series at

Homestead–Miami Speedway Homestead–Miami Speedway (formerly known as the Homestead Motorsports Complex from 1995 to 1998) is a oval-shaped Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Homestead, Florida. It has hosted various major auto racing series thr ...

. He finished second in his maiden race.

Motorsports career results

Stadium Super Trucks

( key) (Bold – Pole position. ''Italics'' – Fastest qualifier. * – Most laps led.) Season in progress.
Standings were not recorded by the series for the 2020 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Max Living people 2008 births Sportspeople from Orange County, California Off-road racing drivers Racing drivers from California Stadium Super Trucks drivers 21st-century American sportsmen