The 2010 Dakar Rally is scheduled to begin on Saturday, January 2nd and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Robby Gordon will be in Argentina to once again try his hand in the grueling event.

The Rally has mostly been held in Europe and Africa throughout its 32-year history. This will be only the second time it is held in South America. The 5,592-mile course will kick off in Buenos Aires, and take competitors through the Andes Mountains, the Pampas plains and the Atacama desert before ending back in Buenos Aires.

"In my mind, there is no tougher race out there than the Dakar Rally," Gordon said.  "As an avid racer and car builder, a win at the Dakar Rally would be a major accomplishment for my team.  To be the first American to ever win a stage of the event was great, but to be the first American team to win the Dakar Rally would mean so much more - not just to me but to the people that are as passionate about this program as I am - from our sponsors to our dedicated employees.”

The race vehicles for Team HUMMER left the shop on December 19th for transport to Argentina via airfreight. The team’s support vehicle left over a month ago to travel to Argentina by sea.

Last year, was a successful one for Gordon and Team HUMMER.

“2009 has been an amazing year for Robby Gordon Off-Road; we took 3rd place in the Dakar Rally and went on to win the SCORE Championship," he said. "I hope that we can continue to build on that momentum and that the  Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER H3 team will continually be recognized as a valid threat to become the 2010 Dakar Rally Champions."

Both Team HUMMER drivers finished in the top-15 last year and a third teammate has been added to the team for 2010.

Fans can track Gordon and Team HUMMER through robbygordon.com, planetrobby.com and Twitter throughout the event. Versus will provide television coverage of the Rally through 30-minute daily programs at 3:30 pm throughout the event and will do a 60-minute re-cap of the entire event on January 24th at 3:00 pm.

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