Gordon

Track position. Track position. Track position.

We may sound like a broken record lately in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, but you've got to have track position in your favor to finish well. That's especially true when you're betting against the weather like the No. 31 Cingular Wireless team and everyone else was doing Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway.

With a cold front pushing into Loudon from the West and the tropical storm pushing up the East Coast on Sunday, we knew it was supposed to rain most of Sunday and all day Monday. But everyone kept their fingers crossed that we'd be able to get the race in.

Just before we took the green flag Sunday, the rain began falling and the track drying process began. About an hour later, the race started and the Cingular team moved up about six spots in the first seven laps. Our car was really good. But we couldn't outrun the rain, which came back after 18 laps. NASCAR red-flagged the race after 22 laps.

Almost two hours later the track was dry and the race was restarted under very dark skies. The Cingular Chevrolet was pretty tight, probably because it was so cloudy and cool that afternoon. But we were still good enough to post some of the fastest laps on the track and moved into 20th by lap 61. Team Cingular pitted on lap 76, taking only right-side tires and fuel, and the guys gave me chassis adjustments to loosen up the car. Kevin Hamlin chose two tires only to gain track position because we were thinking that the race might be rained-out after halfway (150 laps). The weather radar didn't look too promising for the race.

That pit stop moved Team Cingular up to seventh. Although our lap times were still good, we lost some ground to the guys who had four fresh tires. We fell as far as 17th by lap 142 but moved back up to lead a lap on lap 167. Then we pitted under green 25 laps later for right-side tires only and fuel. We were still trying to maintain track position because the rain was almost on top of the track at that point. The rain finally arrived a few laps later and NASCAR stopped the race after 207 of the scheduled 300 laps -- we finished 17th.

We had a better car than 17th but we ran all 207 laps on the same left-side tires because we were playing the odds against the rain. It was all about track position. One time during the day, if it had hurried up and rained, we would have finished third or fourth. It was anybody's guess on a day like that. But we picked up a couple of spots in the points, which is what it's all about each weekend.

We're getting ready for Dover this weekend and the Cingular team is pretty hopeful for a good weekend. I got my first top-10 finish of the season at Dover in June in only my second start at the track.

Dover is a very tough track but also a lot of fun because it's so fast. It seems like one big, banked corner. Dover is a lot like Bristol. We've got to have the right balance at Dover to keep a lot of momentum going on our laps, but that's hard to do. But when you get it right, like the Cingular team did in June, it's a fun track to race on.

	Robby Gordon moved up to 20th in points after the New Hampshire 300.

Balance is important to not going down a lap at Dover, but tire wear is also important. In June, our tires were good all day and didn't really fall off until near the end of a run, like they do at most tracks. The concrete surface is much kinder to tires than the asphalt and they don't seem to wear out as much at places like Bristol and Dover.

If you're going to finish up front, you've got to pass a lot of cars during the day. At Dover, the best place to get around guys is on the bottom of the track because it's the fastest way around the place. But you can also pass on the high side. Late in the race, the high side in Turns 3 and 4 was really working for me.

The last time we went to Dover, our car was very good but I had trouble getting it to drive into the corners because it was too tight most of the race. We made several chassis adjustments but couldn't get it loosened up for the whole run. But we were lucky because the car was very good and fast even if it was tight. We missed something on the shock setup because I felt every bump in the track during every lap, so hopefully Kevin and the guys can work the shock deal out for me this time. Our pit stops were great that day and helped us pick up a lot of track position. Track position is big at Dover.

Dover was a good track for me in June and hopefully we can jumpstart the end of the season this weekend. We've got some tracks coming up that are very good for the Cingular team and we still want to try to make some more gains in the points. We're sitting in 20th now but it would be great to get a little closer to 15th. That was our goal at the beginning of the year but it seemed to get a little out of sight for a while. But in this sport, you've got to remember not to give up because you can turn things around in a matter of just one or two weeks.

Look at Sterling Marlin. He has been leading the points all year. But then he had an off weekend at Loudon and the race was cut short and he didn't finish well. That opened the door for Mark Martin to take the points lead, but Sterling could easily take it away next week. The Cingular team is not running for the points lead but we're running for every point we can get, which is also very important to us. We're just trying to take it one weekend at a time.

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