NASCAR's car gap, Ricky Carmichael's future, Jeff Gordon's lull

Readers' questions for our motor racing beat reporter Jim Peltz:

Question: In NASCAR, what is the difference between the Cup cars and the Nationwide cars? Is it horsepower only?

Answer: The differences were minor until this year, when the top-level Cup series began using NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow, a completely redesigned car that's safer but boxier than the old models.

NASCAR hasn't placed the COT in the Nationwide Series yet, so think of the Nationwide cars as slightly smaller versions of last year's pre-COT Cup cars.

Both series still use a 358 cubic-inch V8 engine, but the Cup cars' horsepower is about 850, compared with 750 in the Nationwide Series. Also, the Cup cars have a slighter wider wheel base, 110 inches versus 105 for the Nationwide cars.

Q: Do you know what's up with Ricky Carmichael, the motocross/supercross champion? I heard he was trying out for NASCAR.

A: That's exactly what Carmichael is doing. The 15-time off-road motorcycle champion is cutting his teeth in NASCAR's minor leagues, competing in the Camping World Series East division, with an eye toward reaching the Cup series one day.

Carmichael, 28, drives for a team owned by Cup driver Ken Schrader and had his series debut at the series' season opener April 19 at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway. He finished a respectable fifth in a Chevrolet after starting 11th.

His next race is the U.S. Cellular 200 on Sunday at Iowa Speedway near Des Moines, a track designed by former Cup champion Rusty Wallace.

Q: Why does the winner of the Indianapolis 500 always take a drink of milk from a bottle?

A: Tradition is everything at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including the customary gulp of milk in Victory Lane. It started with Louis Meyer, a three-time winner of the Indy 500 in the 1920s and '30s. Meyer followed his mother's advice to drink buttermilk to keep him refreshed on hot days and, as a matter of habit, had a swallow after his third win in 1936.

A dairy industry executive saw a newspaper photograph of Meyer taking the drink and helped to see that the gesture was repeated. Except for 1947-55, it has been a tradition at the Indy 500 ever since.

Q: Jeff Gordon hasn't won a NASCAR Sprint Cup race yet this year. What's wrong?

A: What's wrong is that he works in an ultra-competitive sport, facing strong drivers every week such as Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., to name just a few.

There also have been times through the first 11 races this season when Gordon has complained that his No. 24 Chevrolet wasn't competitive enough.

After Saturday night's race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, where he finished third, Gordon said "we know we have some work to do" but that he was "excited about heading in the right direction."

With 81 Cup wins and $95 million in career winnings -- including six victories in 2007 -- it would be unwise to bet against Gordon, 36, in any given week.

But after Busch collected his third win of the season at Darlington, Gordon couldn't help but be a bit self-deprecating.

Asked about how Busch must be feeling as though he can win every time he climbs into the car, Gordon quipped: "I've forgotten what it was like, so I can't answer that."

Want to be part of Peltz's Q&A column? E-mail him a question atjames.peltz@latimes.com.

jim.peltz@latimes.com