Gordon

The No. 31 Cingular Wireless team got something Sunday at Dover International Speedway that somehow had eluded us all year -- our first top-10 finish of the season. But with the excitement and happiness we felt with our performance, there were also many bittersweet feelings.

That was my last race with crew chief Gil Martin and his crew. Richard Childress has decided to swap the crew chiefs and crews of the No. 31 Cingular Wireless and Kevin Harvick's No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service teams to hopefully improve the chemistry and performance of both teams. As much as I don't want to lose my crew and they don't want to lose me, everyone has a great attitude and is planning on giving 110 percent to our new teams to make Richard Childress Racing a better organization.

I hadn't raced at Dover in five years and had only been there one time before, so we planned to get off to a nice, slow start Friday in practice. Gil and everyone on the team took little steps the whole time and kept adjusting on the car. We got faster every time we went out for a practice run and were even faster in qualifying. It was actually a pleasant surprise to all of us. I had no idea the car would stick to the track that well on the first lap. We qualified 12th and were very happy with ourselves.

I helicoptered out of Dover on Friday evening after qualifying and landed at QVC headquarters in Pennsylvania. I did a live, one-hour show called "For Race Fans Only," where I got to talk to fans on the phone and show off some of the Cingular Wireless/RCR/Robby Gordon merchandise. I really had a good time doing that, but didn't get back to the track until almost midnight. But I got a good night's sleep and was ready for the first practice Saturday. We struggled a bit Saturday in the early practice, but kept working on the car and ended up 13th by the end of Happy Hour.

I did a couple of interviews early Sunday morning and then sat in on the regular No. 31 team meeting before the race. Richard also attended and thanked all the guys for their cooperation in the crew swap and assured everyone that things would be better and we'd have better performances across the board. Then I thanked the guys for always busting their tails for me and being one of the best group of guys I'd ever worked with. I'm really going to miss them, but I know I'm going to love working with Kevin Hamlin and his guys.

	Robby Gordon is looking forward to competing at Pocono.

We started the 400-lap race and I got pretty nervous that it was going to be a very long race for us. I felt like I was driving a completely different car than we'd had in Happy Hour on Saturday. The first set of tires we had was extremely loose and we dropped to 34th by lap 31. We pitted on lap 48 for chassis adjustments, fuel and four scuffed tires, because scuffed tires had been faster for the car in Saturday's final practice than fresh tires.

The car came to life after that pit stop and we moved into ninth by lap 126. The car got tighter as the race went on, but I managed to keep it in the top 10. The team called me into the pits on lap 216 for four fresh tires, deciding to save the scuffed tires for late in the race. Quick work by the pit crew got me three spots and put us back on the track in seventh. We remained in the top 10 until the final 100 laps of the 400-lap event, when the car became a bit tight.

We made our final pit stop on lap 309, making slight chassis adjustments and taking fuel. Team Cingular didn't take any tires since the car was better after several laps on the tires. The car was still tight, though, and we dropped as far as 10th in the closing laps. The caution flag waved on lap 372 and we made our final stop for four scuffed tires and slight chassis adjustments.

Since several teams took only two tires, we were in 10th when we took the restart with 22 laps remaining. I worked through lapped traffic and moved up two positions before coming up behind the slower No. 55 car. While Bobby Hamilton and I fought for position, Ricky Craven's No. 32 got around both of us, so I slightly nudged the No. 55 up the track to pass him with two laps remaining. But I didn't spin or wreck him. I barely touched him.

We finished our final race as a team in eighth and moved into 28th in the Winston Cup owner points, a gain of two positions.

The Cingular team really needed that top-10 finish. I'm glad we got a little more ahead in the points and I'm looking forward to working with Hamlin and those guys starting next weekend at Pocono, Pa. I'm learning more and more about Winston Cup cars and those guys have a ton of experience. We had a great team before, but I think we'll make an even better team with these changes.

I've only got two races under my belt at Pocono, and we blew the motor in one of them before the race even started. But with the way Hamlin and his guys ran at Pocono last year, I'm really excited and confident that we'll be strong off the truck. Hamlin and these 'new' Cingular guys have good setups in their notebooks. Nothing has changed as far as how they pull together and do their jobs -- they just have a different sponsor with Cingular Wireless and a different driver with me.

	“	The Cingular team really needed that top-10 finish. I'm glad we got a little more ahead in the points and I'm looking forward to working with Kevin Hamlin and those guys starting next weekend at Pocono. I'm learning more and more about Winston Cup cars and those guys have a ton of experience. We had a great team before but I think we'll make an even better team with these changes. ”
		— Gordon

Hamlin and his crew have had a shot at winning Pocono a couple of times. I remember Dale Earnhardt almost winning at Pocono in 2000 before Jeremy Mayfield moved him out of the way on the final lap to take the win. So, these guys know how to get the job done at Pocono and hopefully I can learn a lot from them.

I expect the transition from Martin's guys to Hamlin's guys to be pretty easy on my end. I'm losing a great group of guys, but also gaining an incredible crew. Heck, these guys finished runner-up in the championship in 2000 and were expected to threaten for the title before what happened at Daytona last season. They stuck it out and came out with a great year last season under the worst possible circumstances. I know they'll get through this with no problem.

I'm not mad or upset with anyone at RCR. My job is to drive the Cingular Wireless Chevrolet. I just drive the car and tell the crew chief it it's tight or loose and don't complain too much about anything. Richard's job is to figure out the rest of it. This change will hopefully help the performance of all the RCR teams and I'm behind it 100 percent. At RCR, we all get the same equipment and help. Now, we're just swapping the crews each other had. In the shop, you can literally spit from the No. 31 to the No. 29 and No. 30 cars. We're all together in one big shop now. All the teams know what the other has under their cars and we all share information. We all have the same tools to get the job done.

Spenny Clendenen and the engine shop do their best to give all three teams motors with identical horsepower or as close as possible. There is no difference in the three teams, so we're hoping this crew swap will simply help out the chemistry and performance of the teams. We start with the same stuff, but haven't been ending up where we need to be.

I enjoy Pocono because we shift gears so much there. I think I've been shifting since I was born with all the road racing and off-road racing I've done. Shifting is almost more normal for me than not shifting like we're used to in Winston Cup. Pocono has three unique corners and you have to get through all turns really well in order to be strong. If you're capable of being good in only one turn, you want it to be Turn 3 because it's the last one going onto the long, front straightaway. Turn 3 is a very flat, long, increasing radius turn.

It's not a standard, 180-degree turn like we're used to. It's a lot different and quite tricky but you've got to be good there because it leads to the front stretch. The front stretch is a great place to pass other cars before going into Turn 1. There's more opportunity to pass on the Pocono front stretch than at most other tracks.

Pocono will be a great test for the new, one-engine rule. A lot of teams get nervous about it, but we haven't had any engine problems yet this season. I'm really confident in the RCR engine department and don't anticipate any problems. We'll probably take it a little easier on the motor this weekend in practice than we normally do and won't run a ton of laps so we can conserve the engine. But we don't think there will be any problems.

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.