So who will be the 2000 Winston Cup champion?

[Joe Fan]

Will it be Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton or someone else?

It is hard to say but Dale Jarrett should be strong again especially with the Rainbow Warriors as his pit crew, Mark Martin is healthy (which is scary) and Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart should only get better. If Hendrick solves its engine woes from last year then Jeff Gordon will be a threat again. I still think Jeff Burton is probably a year away from being a serious contender as he and his team needs to step up their qualifying efforts. If they do this year, then Jeff Burton will be in the mix at the end.

[Invader]

That is what makes this form of motor racing one of the best in the World.
If you look at the bulk of the open wheel series, you can probably pick from 2 or 3 contenders for the title...with NASCAR you can probably include at least 12 possibles and a few outsiders....can't wait!

[MR_MRee]

Cant really add much to Joes list except to note a couple of others that may have a chance.

Ricky Rudd could very well make a run at the Cup.With Yates power under the hood and not having to deal with the headaches of runing his own team may make him a serious contender.

Another driver that might surprise some people is Mike Skinner.Larry McReynolds is one of the best crew cheifs in the buisness and has really seemed to gel with Skinner.That coupled with the funds available from owner Richard Childress ought to make this team a real threat.

[Invader]

I'm still to be impressed by Skinner...I still think Earnhardt is the best chance they have.

[Joe Fan]

Ricky Rudd is a very talented and underrated driver who should do well with Robert Yates power. I am not so sure that the 2nd Yates car is in the position to win a championship yet but perhaps this is the year they make huge gains with the #28 car. Afterall, Joe Gibbs was able to field a great 2nd team from scratch.

I agree with Invader's comment on Mike Skinner. Skinner is a much better qualifier than Earnhardt but on race day Dale moves up and Skinner moves down or stays where he is at. Skinner just has too many wrecks and needs to develop consistency. I look for Mike to win a race this year finally but I still think Dale will finish ahead of him in the final points standings. Overall, I think Richard Childress has slipped a bit over the past few years in the engine department and I doubt either Earnhardt or Skinner will finish in the top five in the final point standings.

[Lee Roy]

I'm picking Bobby Labonte to win the championship this year. He came close last year, and I think his momentum is still building.

[Neil C]

I'm going with Mark Martin. He's in a Ford, he's a F1 fan, and he looks like that guy who played "My Favorite Martian".

[Joe Fan]

Any of the drivers I listed above are certainly capable of winning the championship but it will come down to who has the least mechanical failures from these five drivers: Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart.

The 2000 Taurus aerodynamically is different from the 1999 one and Rousch Racing picked up on the proper setups when the first Taurus was introduced faster than everyone else due to their 5 car operation so I think a healthy Mark Martin should be the man to beat. Also rookies get unlimited testing (veterans only get 7 test sessions-excluding the mandatory ones) so Mark Martin should benefit greatly from testing info from Matt Kenseth's car similar to how Bobby Labonte did from his teammate Tony Stewart being a rookie last year. This is why I see Mark Martin as the favorite.

However, Roush doesn't produce the horsepower or have a good superspeedway program like Robert Yates so with the Rainbow Warriors pitting Dale Jarrett, DJ should be in the mix at the end too and they do have the confidence in knowing that they can win championships now.

I don't see Jeff Gordon having as many engines problems this year as last year so he should be there in the end too but you have got to have some doubts about his chances since Evernham has left. Evernham's old notes won't mean anything with a new Monte Carlo body. Even though the new Monte Carlo is better aerodynamically than the old one, there is an adjustment period in learning how the new car will react on the track so I think this will hurt Jeff in the first half of the season as his crew chief Robbie Loomis learns how to best set-up the car. Success in Winston Cup racing depends heavily on changing the handling of the car to how the track is reacting during the course of a race so this has got to hurt Jeff somewhat in the first part of the season and will probably cost him a win or two.

Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart are capable of winning the championship but Bobby needs to improve his road racing skills because I don't think he will be able to hand over as many points as he did on the road course races like he did last year to Gordon, Jarrett and Martin and expect to win the championship this year. Bobby gave away 137 points to Dale Jarrett last year on the two road course races where Mark Martin gave away only one point, Tony Stewart gave away 42 points with Jeff Gordon gaining 60 points on DJ in these two races. This year it should be a tighter battle than last year so there will be little room for a weakness at these two tracks where blown engines are rare.

Also I think Tony Stewart has more raw talent than his teammate Bobby Labonte. If I remember correctly Tony scored more points than anybody in the second half of the season so it is a possibility that Tony could finish ahead of Bobby in the final point standings--and possibly win the championship. If Bobby or Tony aren't leading the points at half way point in the season then it doesn't look good for them winning the championship as the Fords and Chevrolet teams should gain momemtum with their improved aerodynamic package in the second half of the season. Joe Gibbs will have less testing opportunities with Tony Stewart no longer being a rookie. Gibbs will have just 14 test sessions (excluding the mandatory ones) for his two car operation but he does bring back the same Pontiac unchanged from last year which should give his team a leg up on the Ford and Chevrolet teams in the first half of the season.

Overall, Mark Martin is my pick for the Winston Cup championship this year. With Dale Jarrett finishing second, Jeff Gordon finishing third, Tony Stewart finsihing fourth and Bobby Labonte finishing fifth in a very close championship battle that will go down to the last race of the season.


P.S. Last year I thought Jeff Gordon would edge out Dale Jarrett for the championship again so if you apply reverse logic to my fearless forecast then DJ should edge out an unexpected driver (Jeff Burton?) for the championship this year.



[This message has been edited by Joe Fan (edited 17 February 2000).]

[Redneck]

Don't have time to go into a long explanation now (Got to go to work. Dad says the still is startin' to perk.)

I see Ricky Rudd unleasing a lot of pent up hunger. Tony Stewart is now full of confidence and is already on a stronger start than Jeff Gordon did when starting Winston Cup.

But my pick (and I am not a fan of his) will probably be....


Dale Jarrett

[Ax Slinger]

I have my bets on Tony Stewart. He came awfully close to doing it last year, performing better than many of the seasoned pros.

[John B]

I hope B Labonte or Stewart can take it this year. I think the key will be for the team to be strong early in the year - Labonte didn't win until Dover last year (on fuel milage) and Stewart until the second Richmond race. The big 3 Fords (88, 99, 6) will be tough every weekend, and Gordon should be up there even though it's unlikely he'll go on those 3 or 4 race tears like 1995-1998. Rudd should win a couple of races; i see he's on the outside pole for the Rock.

[Ax Slinger]

Labonte wins at the Rock, and Stewart takes fourth place... And Labonte's Pit Crew even kept track of all their tires this time!