Max Gordon (born June 10, 2008) is an American professional racing driver who primarily competes in off-road racing such as the Stadium Super Trucks,

Best in the Desert The Best In The Desert (BITD) Racing Association is an American desert off-road racing association, based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. It was founded by Casey Folks, and is currently owned by his sons Daryl and Bryan Folks. BITD runs the Vegas To R ...

, and SCORE International. Nicknamed "Mad Max", he is the son of driver and SST founder Robby Gordon.

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 A child safety seat, sometimes called an infant safety seat, child restraint system, child seat, baby seat, car seat, or a booster seat, is a seat designed specifically to protect children from injury or death during vehicle collisions. Most c ...

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 nuts onto the team's

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

cars. Gordon began driving as early as the age of three, piloting a

Polaris RZR The Polaris RZR (pronounced "razor") is a sport side-by-side produced by Polaris Industries. When launched in 2007 as a 2008 model, it was officially known as the Ranger RZR, as it was marketed as a sub-model of the larger, work-oriented Ranger. ...

around the RGM complex. His first racing experience came in

karts Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with 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 f ...

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. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from six continents. The race was founded by Ed Pearl ...

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, and

Todd Romano Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporate ...

, Gordon drove the final 325 miles to become the race's youngest ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' 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 Cole may refer to: Plants * Cole crops of the genus ''Brassica'', especially cabbage, kale, or rape (rapeseed). People * Cole (given name), people with the given name Cole * Cole (surname), people with the surname Cole Companies *Cole Motor C ...

, 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 in 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) s ...

, 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 course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...

, driving the No. 77 with Speed Energy, Speed RC Cars, and Menards 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 or colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational automotive parts manufacturing company specializing in tires, brake systems, interior electronics, automotive safety, powertrain and chassis compo ...

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. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regio ...

when he made an aggressive overtake on the final lap to pass

Gavin Harlien Gavin Harlien (born August 20, 1999) is an American professional off-road racing driver. He has raced in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, Global RallyCross Championship, and Stadium Super Trucks. Harlien has also competed in stock car racing ...

and Robert Stout for the lead.

Open-wheel racing

Gordon has aspirations of competing in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

. In January 2022, he began

open-wheel racing Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single-s ...

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

Homestead–Miami Speedway Homestead–Miami Speedway is a motor racing track located in Homestead, Florida. The track, which has several configurations, has promoted several series of racing, including NASCAR, the IndyCar Series, the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship ser ...

. He finished second in his maiden race.

Motorsports career results

Stadium Super Trucks

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (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 People from Orange County, California Off-road racing drivers Racing drivers from California Stadium Super Trucks drivers