Winston Cup Mailbag: Las Vegas

Robby Gordon drives the No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Before arriving in NASCAR's top division, Gordon enjoyed success in the CART Series and off-road racing.

Throughout the 2003 Winston Cup season, Gordon will answer questions from SI.com users in a weekly Mailbag.

Does the new "common template" make much of a difference from a driver's point of view, or is it mostly a new problem for the mechanics and fabricators? -- Rory Gentry, Indianapolis

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It is a big adjustment for the mechanics, fabricators, drivers, crew chiefs and everyone who touches the car. It takes a while for everyone to learn how to adjust the car to improve the handling at each track. But I like the new body on the Cingular Wireless Chevrolet Monte Carlo. We're a little loose with the new car, but we have a higher percentage of front downforce than before. We used to always be tight. We just have to keep working on it to make the car more driveable.

I have had the privilege of meeting you several times, but never seem to ask you this. How similar would you say an Indy car is to a Winston Cup car? How does the open wheel base compare to a closed Winston Cup wheel base? -- Ryan Tuttle, Clemmons, N.C.

The Indy cars and Winston Cup cars are so different aerodynamically. Right now, if the Cingular Wireless Chevrolet was loose and it was an Indy car, we could take a couple of rounds of front wing out of it. With a Winston Cup car, you don't have that ability to adjust the front downforce. You can pull the fenders out and add or remove tape on the front grille to improve the aerodynamics of the car, but basically you have to keep working on the car with shocks and springs to improve the handling.

Robby, how important is team chemistry? We hear a lot about it, but is it more important to have more talent and better equipment than chemistry? -- Adam Levy, Stamford, Conn.

You've got to have talent and good equipment to have good chemistry. Chemistry is two people getting along, and if they're performing well, they get along and mesh well. Performance helps build chemistry.

In my opinion, some of the best racing in your life was with your father, Bob, in Off-Road Racing. Do you have any future plans to race with your father again? -- Paul, Palmdale, Calif.

We tried to do the Baja 1000 together last November, but the chase vehicle got so far behind that we weren't able to work that out. We're playing with some off-road cars together now, and my father is looking into getting into the off-road buggy industry. That's something my dad would spend most of his time doing. He would love it.

You have been racing in all the top forms of racing for years now. When your racing career winds down, what do you think you will do -- own your own team?-- Chris Ouellette, Lorton, Va.

I don't know. NASCAR Winston Cup racing is so much work. It's so competitive, and it takes so long to build a good team, good sponsors and equity in the team. I'll see how the next five years in my career go, and I'll start thinking about it then.

Are you related to Jeff Gordon? So many of us are wondering. I say no, but many say yes. Which is it? -- Sharon, Ft. Myers, Fla.

No, no relation at all.