Forced exposure: a new TV contract and a fatal crash put Winston Cup in the spotlight last year. A talented collection of title contenders, led by Kevin Harvick, figures to keep it there in 2002 - Winston Cup

Auto Racing Digest, May, 2002 by Ken Willis

Johnson's competition for top-rookie honors, Ryan Newman, is considered a can't-miss future star. The Indiana native brings the type of successful open wheel background familiar to followers of Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. But Newman also brings a short but wildly successful background in stock-car racing in ARCA, Busch, and Cup cars. Newman will also have the advantage of an experienced and well-financed car owner, Roger Penske, as well as a teammate with championship experience, Rusty Wallace.

The three marquee teams that stood pat--Yates, Gibbs, and Roush--each figure to be championship threats this season. Yates' two drivers, Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd, were in the title hunt throughout much of 2001. Each, however, eventually faded as Jeff Gordon cruised to his fourth championship. Rudd returned to Victory Lane last season--his second campaign with Yates--and there's nothing to suggest he won't have a chance to plant himself in the championship hunt again this year. The same thing is true of Jarrett, whose 2001 fade from being a Cup contender may have been related to a pair of nasty crashes that left him nursing injuries.

For Roush Racing there is really nowhere to go but up. Of Roush's four drivers, only Jeff Burton won a race or cracked the top 10 in points last season. With Mark Martin in his first year of a big sponsorship contract with Viagra and Matt Kenseth coming off an excellent rookie season, 2001 was supposed to be a competitive year for Roush. Instead, the entire team struggled. When pressed for reasons, most blamed the team's inability to get a handle on the new tires Goodyear supplied to Winston Cup teams. Another year wiser, they crack the code this year and make a lot of noise.

Like Yates, Gibbs features a two-car team with two potential championship drivers: Stewart and Bobby Labonte, who had a below-par season in 2001 in defense of his 2000 Cup rifle. In spite of a year that featured several high-profile controversies, Stewart still managed to finish second in points last year.

Off the track, NASCAR appears as strong as ever--despite the downturn in the U.S. economy. There are plenty of individual teams throughout all NASCAR series, including Winston Cup, who are finding it more difficult to find the sponsorship funding necessary to become or remain competitive. In many cases, it's a matter of the rich getting richer--big-money sponsors preferring to spend their valuable resources on a proven product--while the lesser-financed teams struggling more than ever.

On the whole, however, the NASCAR organization is strong. The biggest source of its strength is its TV numbers. Ratings were solid last year, NASCAR's first season with new network partners Fox and NBC. What the exposure eventually means to all those up and down the food chain--owners, drivers, and crews--remains to be seen.

Key Driver Changes

NAME               OLD TEAM                           NEW TEAM

Casey Atwood       Evernham Motorsports      Ultra Motorsports

Stacy Compton      Melling Racing            A. J. Foyt Racing

Jeff Green         (Busch Series)             Childress Racing

Jimmie Johnson     (Busch Series)         Hendrick Motorsports

Jeremy Mayfield    Penske Racing          Evernham Motorsports

Ryan Newman        (ARCA)                        Penske Racing

Jimmy Spencer      Haas/Carter                  Ganassi Racing