Gordon

It's a huge relief to be out of Talladega with everyone's cars in one piece -- just like they were in the race shops. Talladega in October is one of those races that can make or break a team in the points race because the chance of getting into a big wreck is usually out of our control. But luckily, we didn't see that Sunday at Talladega. What we did see was some good racing with lots of lead changes and fuel mileage as the deciding factor of the afternoon.

NASCAR mandated smaller, 13-gallon fuel cells for Sunday's EA Sports 500 at Talladega to try to break up the large pack of cars, but most people thought going into the weekend that what we'd end up with would be a lot of pit strategy to see who could make it on fuel. Although the No. 31 Cingular Wireless team led 21 laps in the race, fuel mileage ultimately knocked us out of contention for the win.

Not knowing what the smaller fuel cells would bring, we had to assume going in that there would be another "Big One." So, we patiently worked the draft at the beginning and didn't push the issue with anyone. We were ninth by lap 20 and pitted under green for fuel on lap 35. I found that the Cingular Wireless Chevrolet worked best on the bottom of the track, so I did everything I could to keep it down there. I tried to be patient with passing and drafting partners and we were third by lap 67. Still no caution flag.

Team Cingular made our second green-flag pit stop on lap 72 for right-side tires and fuel only, but we lost a little time on pit road when I overshot the pit box and had to back up before the pit crew could go to work. Despite that extra time on pit road, we were running 11th by lap 100 and third by lap 121.

Keeping the car on the bottom of the track, we powered past the leaders and took the lead on lap 122. We held the lead through lap 142, when we had to pit under green for left-side tires and fuel. We continued to run around the fifth position, but got shuffled back as far as 11th on lap 171. Unfortunately, Team Cingular didn't get the fuel mileage we had hoped for and we had to pit for three seconds of fuel on lap 174.

My teammate Kevin Harvick could go farther on fuel than we could but his crew pushed it a little too far and ran out of gas. So, we were playing it a little conservatively. But we weren't the only team that had to pit that one last time, but it did probably cost us a top-five finish, if not a shot at the win. We hung onto the draft after our pit stop and finished 12th.

	Robby Gordon is close to completing his first full season with Richard Childress Racing.

We had a great car. The guys worked hard all weekend and the pit crew kept me up front with great pit stops all day long. We had a shot at the race if we could have gotten better gas mileage. I'm not sure if the smaller fuel cells did what NASCAR wanted them to do or not. I do think they made it interesting with the fuel mileage games. Pit strategy was huge -- guessing when to pit and when not to pit, when to take two tires and when to take none. There weren't any wrecks, but I don't know if that's because of the smaller fuel cells or not.

But now we can breathe a sigh of relief that we made it through Talladega with no cautions and no wrecks and it's time to gear up for Charlotte. That's a huge race for all of us for many reasons. First of all, Charlotte is in most of our backyards and everyone wants to do well at the "home track." Secondly, all the sponsors come out for the Charlotte race and we have the chance to show them what we're all about. Thirdly, many of our families and friends go to the Charlotte race and we don't want to disappoint them. You add all that pressure to the fact that Charlotte falls near the end of the year when the points race is coming to a close and everyone who hasn't won a race yet is still trying to do so -- like the Cingular Wireless team.

I think we have a good shot at a win this weekend at Charlotte based on what we did there in May and what we have been doing ever since. We ran in the top five at Charlotte early in the race and in the top 10 for most of the race until the end. But I had just run the Indy 500 and didn't take an IV like I should have on the plane from Indy to Charlotte. I wasn't at 100-percent like I needed to be for 600 miles at Charlotte.

But we've improved a lot on our 1½-mile tracks this season and hopefully we'll see it all come together Sunday. Kevin tested at Charlotte a couple of weeks ago and found a couple of things. We'll plug those into our car and see what we come out with.

Getting to Charlotte makes you realize how little time is left in the season, or how little time is left until next season begins. It's all in how you look at it. The Cingular team still has some pretty high goals for this year. We're 19th in the points and would like to get into the top 15. I don't know if that's mathematically possible but we're going to try like heck to get there.

Maybe we shouldn't do the calculations because I don't want to know if it's not possible. We still haven't pulled into Victory Lane and that is still a big goal for this team. We've been in contention to win a handful of races but they got away from us for one reason or another. We're going to keep striving to win a race this year and if we can't win one week, at least we can strive to get a top-10 finish out of it.

But on the flip side, we're looking ahead to next season. Richard Childress Racing has been working very hard on the 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and is trying to make sure it's the best it can be for next year. I've tested our 2003 car a couple of times this year and have learned a lot of things about it. We've got a good piece there but we're trying to make it much better. I've learned a few things with the 2003 Chevrolet that I hope we can put to use the rest of this season in our current car.

I think we've hushed some critics this year. Not that we've won everyone over or impressed everyone, but I think we've done better than most people expected us to do. Kevin Hamlin and his crew have been behind me 100-percent each weekend. Not only have they supported me at the track, but they've been good friends away from the track. Remember those guys were with me when I broke my feet riding dirt bikes at Pocono?

We have a good time together and I think that shows on the track. We've come a long way this year. I think most people thought I'd be running 35th in points at the end of the year based upon some of my past seasons in Winston Cup. But Richard Childress has been a great coach and boss to me. He really knows his stuff and any driver should consider himself lucky to drive for Richard.

He puts good equipment under me each week and always makes sure I have what I need. He doesn't ask what it costs but how and when we can get it. He is one of the most committed car owners out there today and he's helped me have the type of season I've had -- much better than many people thought we'd have.

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.