Gordon

Although we just had our first off-weekend of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, some of our biggest news of the year surfaced last week. While many people in the sport were enjoying time on the beach or a weekend with their family, Cingular Wireless, Richard Childress, John Menard and I were putting the finishing touches on a deal to run the Indianapolis 500.

Cingular Wireless is going to sponsor both my teams in my third attempt at the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 double May 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway. I'll be driving for Childress and Menard in Indy and for Richard at Charlotte, as usual.

In the Indianapolis 500, I'll drive the No. 31 Menard/Childress/Cingular Wireless Chevrolet-powered Dallara and in the Coca-Cola 600, I'll pilot the No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Richard Childress Racing.

I am scheduled to have my first laps at Indianapolis next Monday and Tuesday to test in preparation for the Indianapolis 500. I'll fly from Texas to Indianapolis following Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway. I'll be going to Indy Tuesday and Wednesday of this week to have my seat fitted, among other preliminary items of business.

As I mentioned, the Winston Cup teams had last weekend off -- the first of three breaks the entire season. I wanted to go to California and see my family but also needed to get a bunch of stuff taken care of in North Carolina. With the Indy/Charlotte double coming up in less than two months, my time is going to be pretty limited in the near future.

But I'm glad a lot of the Cingular crew guys got a few days away from the shop and the track to rest up, get some yard work done and spend time with their wives and children. Most people don't realize how hard these crews work all season long with very little rest.

	Robby Gordon, left, is in his first full season driving for car owner Richard Childress, right.

The break is officially over, though, and we're off for the Lone Star State this weekend. I'm looking forward to going to Texas because it's a track similar to Las Vegas and we had a good run going at Vegas last month. Texas Motor Speedway has been repaved and it's hopefully going to make for a smooth ride and great race.

With our RCR engines and the development the guys have been doing on their qualifying tune-ups and race tune-ups, I'm looking forward to a good run. I think it will be a strong weekend for us and a place for a good performance.

I've only raced at Texas once and that was five years ago, but you never forget what a fast track it is. Going into Turn 1 is an extremely fast few seconds. We're off the throttle a little more at Texas than at Vegas because it's a faster track. Coming down the long back straightaway, the track opens up in Turn 4 but for some reason the wall doesn't let you open up like you do at Vegas. It makes the driver keep turning the car down so he can get farther around the corner before the track opens up.

The corners at Texas are pretty narrow and the straightaways fairly long so it's an engine-killer of a track. Everyone is interested in seeing how the one-engine rule plays at Texas, but I'm confident our engine department has everything under control. We've just got to take care of the motor and not run it into the ground in practice.

Having a balanced car at Texas is the key to a good race day. The Cingular Wireless Chevrolet has to be good and handle well when the throttle is wide-open. When the car is off-balance, it puts more load on the tires and we all know how hard you can hit the wall at Texas. The tires also take a beating at Texas because the corners are so narrow.

But if the Cingular guys set the car up well for me and we're on top of our game, we'll hopefully avoid all the tire and engine problems and come out of there with a good finish.

Robby Gordon drives the No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. He will be providing a diary to ESPN.com throughout the Winston Cup season.