Max and Robby Gordon Earn Second AORC Win of 2026 at Silver State 300
For the second time this season, the father-son team of Robby and Max Gordon stood on top of the overall podium in an American Off-Road Racing Championship Unlimited Race at the conclusion of Saturday’s Silver State 300. After Max bested the field in qualifying by more than 10 seconds, the duo wheeled their #5 Unlimited Truck 4WD through three laps of the 106-mile Tonopah course in a blistering 4:58:56, making them the only racers to crack the five-hour barrier on the weekend.
The win was just the latest in a Gordon family legacy of father-son victories. 40 years ago, Robby teamed up with his father Bob to win the Parker 400 for the first time; now, he and Max have two AORC overall wins under their belt in three 2026 rounds so far.
“It’s pretty cool to be able to do this and repeat,” said Robby Gordon, who drove the final lap of the race and made the call not to re-rack tires despite a flat for Max on the second lap. “I wouldn’t be able to do this without Clyde Stacy and RPM, thanks for trusting me and putting Max in the car, I told him he could do it. (Max) qualified on the pole, drove a great two laps, and they did exactly what they needed to do. That’s how you win races and how you win championships.”
“As long as we stayed out front all day today, we knew we were going to have a good shot at it,” added Max Gordon. “This RPM truck and Geiser Bros did a great job, and Kole (Cramer) did a great job in the right seat. Thanks to Clyde Stacy and everyone that puts this team together, it feels great to win again!”
As was the case in last month’s BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400, the top three trucks across the line were split among AORC’s three premier classes. Second overall and first in Unlimited Truck 2WD was Tracy Poole, who improved on a fifth-place class finish at the Mint to win his class by more than 17 minutes over Joseph Herling.
Rounding out the podium, and taking top honors in the SPEC class, was a familiar truck with a different face behind the wheel. With Mint 400 overall winner Kyle Jergensen preparing to welcome a new child, the #222 Camburg/Magnaflow team handed the reins to Justin “Bean” Smith, who gave them their third class win and overall podium in as many events. Smith edged out RJ Stidham by just over a minute to preserve the winning streak, while Kit Stokes completed the class podium and overall top five.
All told, SPEC trucks would make up six of the overall top 10 finishers after front-runners in the other classes dealt with various hiccups along the way. 4WD podium finishers Tracy Graf and Rolf Helland, as well as top 2WD qualifier Nic Whetstone, all threatened for overall podiums; while all would make it to the finish line, only Graf could hang on for an overall top 10 despite the brake issues that added more than half an hour to his Lap 3 time.
Top finishers from the 2026 Silver State 300 Unlimited Race were as follows:
- #5 Robby Gordon, Unlimited Truck 4WD, 3 laps, 4:58:55.975
- #78 Tracy Poole, Unlimited Truck 2WD, 3 laps, 5:08:29.427
- #222 Justin “Bean” Smith, Unlimited Truck SPEC, 3 laps, 5:09:17.341
- #280 RJ Stidham, Unlimited Truck SPEC, 3 laps, 5:10:25.354
- #247 Kit Stokes, Unlimited Truck SPEC, 3 laps, 5:21:14.077
- #288 Austin Kimbrell, Unlimited Truck SPEC, 3 laps, 5:26:46.001
- #50 Joseph Herling, Unlimited Truck 2WD, 3 laps, 5:27:30.207
- #273 Troy Grabowski, Unlimited Truck SPEC, 3 laps, 5:30:04.448
- #58 Tracy Graf, Unlimited Truck 4WD, 3 laps, 5:39:40.207
- #229 Stony Kujala, Unlimited Truck SPEC, 3 laps, 5:45:59.644
For full results from the 2026 Silver State 300, click here.
For more information on the 2026 Silver State 300 and the entire American Off-Road Racing Championship season, visit https://americanoffroadracingchampionship.com.
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