Gordon

Now that some of the hoopla surrounding our Indianapolis-Charlotte double has died down, I've had a little time to reflect on what we really accomplished Sunday, and I'm pretty darn proud of what we did. No, I didn't do as well as I had hoped, but I completed both races with respectable finishes on a very hot and tiring day. I was pretty worn out when the Coca-Cola 600 was over Sunday night but I'm back to my old self now -- ready to tackle Dover, Del.

I started the 86th Indianapolis 500 with three goals: win the race; take a big drink of milk in Victory Lane; and get on a helicopter immediately after the race so we could return to Charlotte in time to climb in the No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet and start the Winston Cup race. In Indy, the No. 31 Menard/Childress/Cingular Wireless Chevrolet-powered Dallara suffered from the dreaded "aero push" early on, but we stayed in the top-10 until the first caution on lap 30.

After pitting on the next lap, we took the green flag in the 12th spot on lap 37 but were back up to 10th only three laps later. We worked our way to fifth by lap 83 when we made another scheduled stop. I told my head engineer, Mark Weida, that the car was perfect and no adjustments would be needed. What happened as the stop was ending, however, was not on our schedule.

Here's where my notorious luck comes into play. The vent hose for the fuel hose got stuck as the guys were taking it out of the car, spilling fuel onto the ground and all over the car. A fire broke out and the pressure inside the pit fuel barrel blew its top off. Thanks to quick work by the crew and safety workers, the fire was quickly extinguished and I got the car out of the pit box with no damage. But we did lose several positions on the track, which really hurt us because track position was very critical this year. We were 12th when the race resumed on lap 99.

We were too loose during most of the second half of the race. The crew made adjustments and we got up to 10th on the final restart on lap 181. We knew we were going to need some good luck to get to the front because passing was at a premium. We picked up two spots and finished in the eighth position, my fifth top-10 finish in eight Indy 500 starts.

	Robby Gordon gets help from a crewman before hopping into his car for the Coca-Cola 600.

I honestly thought we'd be a lot stronger at Indy. But I was very proud of everyone at Team Menard for coming together and working so well. Indy was a lot of fun and I felt great when it was over. I was a little sweaty, but not at all too tired to tackle Charlotte.

As soon as the Indy 500 was over, I jumped onto a golf cart waiting near pit road and headed for the helipad. We took a helicopter to the Indianapolis airport and then jumped on the jet. So far, we were ahead of schedule. We flew to the Concord, N.C., airport and I tried to drink some water and energy drinks during the flight. I also munched on a turkey sandwich. But I didn't need any IVs -- I felt pretty good and wasn't too tired.

Man, I'd learn the meaning of the word "tired" in about another 600 miles. We landed at Concord and boarded another helicopter and choppered straight into the infield at Lowe's Motor Speedway at 4:32 p.m., slightly less than one hour before the scheduled start of the Coca-Cola 600. It was pretty cool to get off the helicopter and hear all the screaming fans cheering for us.

The travel portion of the big Indy-Charlotte Double was complete and we were much earlier than we thought we'd be. That was a good sign. Just another 600 miles to go.

Although we qualified the No. 31 Chevrolet in the 12th position for Sunday's Winston Cup race, we were forced to drop to the rear of the field for the start because I couldn't make the 3:30 p.m. drivers' meeting. I was on the way from Indy to Charlotte at the time.

But our car was awesome and we easily overcame that and were running sixth by lap 32. The Cingular Chevrolet developed a very tight condition after about 60 laps and we pitted for four tires and chassis adjustments on lap 71. We were as fast as the leaders soon after that, but the car soon was too loose, a problem a lot of the drivers had because it begins in the daylight and concludes under the lights, wreaking havoc on the cars' handling. But we moved back into 13th by lap 158.

Exhaustion and dehydration began getting to me about one-third of the way through the event and the guys gave me a drink consisting of Powerade, an energy drink, Goody's Powders and orange juice during a pit stop on lap 164. I was a little skeptical of how it would taste and if it would make me sick, but it actually pepped me up and helped with the cramps. They also gave me four tires and chassis adjustments, blasting off a quick pit stop that gained us four positions to return to the track in ninth.

But the car again became extremely loose and my crew chief, Gil Martin, told me to slow down my lap times to make sure I had good car control. Team Cingular made several adjustments in the next 100 miles to tighten it up and we moved back into 20th by lap 360. The crew also continued to hand me fluids and bananas to alleviate the severe cramping in my stomach and leg. I felt much better around lap 360 and the car was handling much better. We kept plugging and picked up a few more spots and finished 16th.

I was very tired when I got out of the car. I pulled the Cingular Chevrolet up to the back of the hauler and climbed out. I managed to stumble to the back of the hauler and lie down on my back and drank a couple of bottles of water. The medics were waiting for me and they put wet towels on my face and neck to cool me. It was very hot Sunday in Charlotte -- about 90 degrees. I got a cramp in my stomach at one time and then a cramp in my right leg the last 30 laps.

I'm so very proud of everyone on the Cingular Wireless team and everyone on the IRL team. I thought we were going to have something for them in both races but we just came up a little short on both ends. When we got our car right in the Winston Cup race, we were as good as the leaders. But as soon as it got dark at Charlotte, the car was extremely loose and just wore me out. For two full tank runs I was turning right more than I was left. It's hard enough to drive a loose car, but it's almost impossible when you're so worn out that it's hard to sit up straight in the seat.

But we had two good runs. We got inside the top five at Charlotte for a while and inside the top five in Indy for a while. I thank everybody at Cingular Wireless and RCR for doing the double with me and Richard Childress for coming to Indy and calling the race for me. I'd love to do the Indy/Charlotte Double again and I hope Richard and Cingular would be right there with me again.

Believe it or not, I wasn't very tired Monday morning. I actually went out and saw a few friends Sunday night after the race ended. I got a few hours of sleep Sunday night and was up by 9 a.m. Monday. I wasn't tired or sore like I thought I might be. I'm not exactly ready to do the double again next weekend, but I'd certainly love to try again next year. Racing in the Indianapolis 500 is a huge honor in itself, but to do that on the same day as the Coca-Cola 600, racing's longest race, is really special. It's like playing in the World Series and the Super Bowl in the same day. We didn't win but everyone knew we were there for both and we had a great time. That's what it's all about.

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.