Robby Gordon Mailbag: May the best team win

I have two questions for you. The first: right before the race, when you are getting into the car, do you ever get nervous? The second question is do you have a good luck charm? Thank you so much! - Olivia, Portland, Oregon

I don't get nervous, but I have this dry cough for some reason. So, I guess I must have some kind of subconscious nervousness that triggers the cough right at the start of a race. As for lucky charms, I do not have one.

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How do you manage to keep your schedule straight? Do you have a team behind you to help keep you going to the right places at the right times (e.g. visiting us at Wrigley) or are you just really, really organized? Thanks! -- Lyn, Chicago, IL (Go Cubbies!)

I definitely have a team behind me, but not only at RCR. I have the team, crew chief, public relations and marketing managers, but I also have a group over at Team Gordon, including a general manager and personal manager, who help me control my schedule with RCR and personal stuff at the same time. So, it is not that difficult because of the support staff I have behind me.

Hey Robby, I'm a huge fan of yours from the hay-hauler days. We used to drive to the Parker 400 every year just to see you. My question is I heard you're building your own sand cars. Where can I get info? Thanks and stand on the gas! -- Mike B., Phoenix , AZ

Our first sand rail car is on wheels and about finished. We will take it to pre-run it at the Baja 1000 and we will also bring it to Glamis. You can go to robbygordonoffroad.com and click on photos, then projects. You will find some digital pictures of the sand rail car there.

Hello, Robby! I have been a NASCAR fan for a couple of years. I am, however, disappointed that it seems racing this year is much more about strategy and fuel mileage, than it is about a fast racecar. What is your thought about how racing in NASCAR is done now? Speaking for myself, I liked fast race cars winning the race, not a lucky car that probably would not have won if it wasn't for strategy. -- Kristen, Massillon, Ohio

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I have to be honest. Racing has been a fuel-mileage race or track-position race for as long as I can remember it. It is not always about the fastest car winning the race. It is about a team having good pit stops and a good strategy, such as when you take tires, and when you take two or four. I think those are the teams that set themselves apart from the rest. What Ryan Newman has recently done here is have a good understanding of how fast new tires are compared to old tires. They also have a good system in place when they go for just being the fast car or being the car that comes in early for fuel and goes.

Robby, after qualifying, why is there such a difference between first practice speeds and second practice speeds or "happy hour"? Which practice is a truer indication of how the race car will run during the race? Keep up the great work, Robby! -- Rick Payne, Kennesaw, GA

One of the bigger differences between practice and qualifying is this .... Next time you're watching qualifying, notice there is tape on the front of the cars. When they tape up the front of the cars, it creates a smaller hole in the air and it makes more front down force, which doesn't always give a driver more front, but gives more total down force because you don't have that air going underneath the car. The other thing is the tires have about one or two good laps in them, then will always fall off a couple of tenths of a second after that very first run.

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.