Dave Marcis - Sure, he went out with an engine failure and finished 40th, but Marcis certainly made a splash this weekend in the No. 71 Realtree Chevrolet. On lap 2 of this race, the records will show that Dave Marcis made a pass off turn 4 and took the lead - not under caution, not because he didnt pit yet, because at that point in the race, Dave had the fastest car under normal, green-flag conditions. I've been watching NASCAR racing since 1989, and I honestly can say I've never seen that happen (Marcis pass for the lead). I don't care whether you were an Earnhardt fan or a Gordon fan or even a Jeremy Mayfield fan (whom Marcis controversially pinched into the wall at Darlington while leading)....you had to be rooting for Dave. When his engine blew, he was battling for 5th and looked to be a serious contender for a win, almost certainly a Top 10 finish if things fell right. With his limited funds, I think going to a limited schedule is going to be the best decision Dave Marcis ever made, one he probably should have done years ago. If he just runs the tracks 2 miles or longer (Michigan, California, Daytona, Talladega, etc.) next year he could have a competitive car everywhere he goes. The last of the independents ain't dead yet.
Kenny Wallace - After a promising first season in the No. 55 Square D Chevys fielded by Andy Petree, Kenny Wallace has got to be having one of the most disppointing seasons to date. He ended 1999 with three Top 5s, a career high 22nd in points, and wondering what might have been in a handful more races where he was a Top 5/Top 10 car, only to be taken out by engine failures or accidents. But his best friend and teammate, Ken Schrader, left Petree Racing at the end of 1999, and Kenny started off 2000 with twelve straight finishes of 20th or lower. The only race he has led (even after Talladega) has been Sears Point, where he finished 13th, his best finish of the season until yesterday. Wallace seemingly came out of nowhere to post his career finish, but it has to be uplifting for one of the nicest guys on the circuit, just trying to go out on a high note with this team before he moves on to the No. 27 car next year. Definitely served notice he can still get the job done, and the team had been running slightly better as of late anyways (2 Top 15s in last 5 races).
Dale Earnhardt Jr. - He may have ended up 14th, but for only the fourth time since his last Top 10 at Dover in June, the Intimidator's son led a race. The major difference in this one, though, was that Earnhardt Jr. was leading the race when it counted, down the stretch, and was able to hold off quite a few challenges for the top spot until the waning laps. In fact, he would have probably had that Top 10 finish if he didn't nearly wreck coming to the white flag. But as Earnhardt Jr. said after the race, he wasnt going for a Top 10, he was going for the win. Sounds like someone very familiar...races like these are what Earnhardt Jr. needs down the stretch to wrestle the rookie title like Matt Kenseth. No, hes not gonna catch Kenseth in points (Kenseth leads Earnhardt by 28 in Rookie points and will probably finish higher in points), but dont forget that 50 point bonus thats awarded to the best rookie driver at the end of the season. Kenseth is more consistent, but Earnhardt has more wins (2 plus the Winston compared to Kenseth's 1) and a strong stretch run will remind those voters of how dominant Junior was the first third of the season.
Jeff Gordon - With all his problems on Saturday, the last of which (cut tire) caused Gordon to go to a backup car and start at the rear of the field, the fact that Jeff was still able to come to the front in relatively little time and end up with a strong 4th was amazing. Hendrick Motorsports has certainly struggled this year, to say the least, but Jeff still has racked up 3 wins, 9 Top 5's, and 18 Top 10s. Hardly anthing to complain about...still one of the few Cup drivers who can win on any racetrack, any given week.
HONORABLE MENTIONS...
Mike Bliss - career best 9th place finish will help him land a ride somewhere, though likely not in the Cup series. Happy to be leaving all the Viagra jokes to Mark Martin, im sure.
Joe Nemechek - polewinner didnt lead a lap but came up with strong 3rd place finish. 3 Top 10s and a low finish of 14th in the last 5 races.
Terry Labonte - First Top 5 since Richmond in May.
Mark Martin - Still finished 7th after Lap 168 accident with Hamilton that left the back end all torn up. Impressive piece of driving.
Steve Grissom - 16th in the 44 car, the best finish since Kyle Petty left in September. Still think he should be rewarded with the Cup ride, not the Busch one.
Ford - Although Bill Elliott led the most laps of the race (40), the other Ford drivers combined to lead only 13 laps as Chevrolet swept the Top 6 spots. In what began as a dominating year for the Taurus, Ford hasnt won a race since Bristol August 27th (save for the New Hampshire "race"), and there is some concern that the Ford model is beginning to struggle as the teams head towards 2001. Roush Racing, Robert Yates, and Penske South, the Top teams in the Ford camp, noticably struggled, with 4 of Roush's five teams running 40th, 41st, 42nd, and 43rd for much of the early part of the race. Afterwards, NASCAR took a car from all three manufacturers to the wind tunnel for testing, and it will be interesting to see what rules changes are made before the Daytona 500 to make the models more equal.
Bill Elliott - Speaking of Elliott, he seems to have some of the worst luck of any driver out there. While he got off to a strong start this year, his efforts have trailed off, with no Top 10s since a 3rd at the Brickyard 400. Bill's had a lot of good runs, but has had many of them cut short by either mechanical failure or accidents not of his own making. This time, it was a recurring engine problem that dropped Elliott out of his position up front...his car was far better than his 23rd place finish.
Jeremy Mayfield - This week had to have been horrible for Mayfield. Rumors are swirling about a possible move to the 4 car after Michael Kranefuss sold his share in the Mobil 1 Ford to Roger Penske, who is rumored to be firing the driver. However, Mayfield insists he is staying with Penske and honoring his contract, yet he hasnt talked to the car owner since the sale...if there's one thing that's perfectly clear, it's Mayfield's disastrous performance in the last 8 races. Basically, he has a 2nd place at Charlotte, and 7 finishes of 35th or worse (42nd in this race with engine failure). Accidents, engine problems, you name it, this team's experienced it. Now the lowest of any driver in points who has won this season, Mayfield has to at least be privately wondering about his future, especially with Ryan Newman newly announced as a third Penske driver to move to Cup in 2002...
Tony Stewart - This team definitely had a chance to win until a cut tire dropped them a lap down, and the resulting 27th place finish took them out of the Top 5 in points. Yet, I could have also put Stewart in the winners category as well, because for awhile at the end of the race it looked like he would team up with bobby labonte and protect him from any possible harm or wrecks, as bobby settled in the Top 5. But his decision to fall back with 10 to go and let the lead lap cars settle things among themselves shows what a true racer the guy is. Tony's made his mistakes, but he's still a class act.
HONORABLE MENTION:
Rick Mast - Discovered his long term contract with AJ Foyt was stolen away by Ron Hornaday, then struggled with ill handling car to 31st place finish.
Travis Carter Motorsports - Experienced engine problems with both Darrell Waltrip and Jimmy Spencer, who finished 35th and 37th. Hey, at least Darrell got to drive his old car around the track before the race.
Ken Schrader - Looked very strong, then blew his engine.
Mike Skinner - In position for his first win until Earnhardt failed to work with him - for about the 100th time.
Unfortunately, the biggest loss this week occurred to the Roper family, as Tony Roper was tragically killed in the Craftsman Truck Race on Friday. My prayers go out to Tony and his family in their time of grief. Three NASCAR deaths in 2000 is three deaths too many...this sport is a dangerous one, but i cant understand why theres no sense of urgency to make some safety changes. Does Earnhardt, Wallace, or Gordon have to die before NASCAR does something? I used to brag about how NASCAR was the safest division of racing...now I'm not so sure.
RESULTS of the Winston 500 - Talladega
1. 3 - Dale Earnhardt, Chevy, 188 laps, 180 pts.*
2. 33 - Joe Nemechek, Chevy, 188 laps, 170 pts.
3. 55 - Kenny Wallace, Chevy, 188 laps, 165 pts.
4. 24 - Jeff Gordon, Checy, 188 laps, 165 pts.*#
5. 5 - Terry Labonte, Chevy, 188 laps, 160 pts.*
6. 31 - Mike Skinner, Chevy, 188 laps, 155 pts.*
7. 6 - Mark Martin, Ford, 188 laps, 151 pts.*#
8. 2 - Rusty Wallace, Ford, 188 laps, 147 pts.*
9. (R) 27 - Mike Bliss, Pontiac, 188 laps, 143 pts.*
10. (R) 17 - Matt Kenseth, Ford, 188 laps, 139 pts.*
11. 28 - Ricky Rudd, Ford, 188 laps, 130 pts.
12. 18 - Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 188 laps, 132 pts.*
13. 25 - Jerry Nadeau, Chevy, 188 laps, 129 pts.*
14. (R) 8 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, 188 laps, 126 pts.*
15. 88 - Dale Jarrett, Ford, 188 laps, 118 pts.
16. 44 - Steve Grissom, Pontiac, 188 laps, 115 pts.
17. 21 - Elliott Sadler, Ford, 188 laps, 112 pts.
18. 97 - Chad Little, Ford, 188 laps, 109 pts.
19. 1 - Steve Park, Chevrolet, 188 laps, 106 pts.
20. 43 - John Andretti, Pontiac, 327 laps, 108 pts.*
21. 60 - Rich Bickle, Chevy, 188 laps, 100 pts.
22. 22 - Ward Burton, Pontiac, 188 laps, 102 pts.*
23. (R) 9 - Stacy Compton, Ford, 188 laps, 99 pts.*
24. 94 - Bill Elliott, Ford, 188 laps, 101 pts.**
25. 77 - Robert Pressley, Ford, 188 laps, 88 pts.
26. 11 - Brett Bodine, Ford, 188 laps, 85 pts.
27. 20 - Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 187 laps, 87 pts*.
28. (R) 93 - Dave Blaney, Pontiac, 187 laps, 79 pts.
29. 99 - Jeff Burton, Ford, 187 laps, 76 pts.
30. 50 - Ricky Craven, Chevy, 187 laps, 73 pts.
31. 14 - Rick Mast, Pontiac, 187 laps, 70 pts.
32. 01 - Ted Musgrave, Chevy, 186 laps, 72 pts*, engine.
33. 10 - Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 186 laps, 64 pts.
34. 7 - Michael Waltrip, Chevy, 186 laps, 66 pts*.
35. 66 - Darrell Waltrip, Ford, 186 laps, 58 pts.
36. 4 - Bobby Hamilton, Chevy, 167 laps, 60 pts*, accident.
37. 36 - Ken Schrader, Pontiac, 166 laps, 57 pts*,. engine.
38. 26 - Jimmy Spencer, Ford, 134 laps, 49 pts, handling.
39. (R) 32 - Scott Pruett, Ford, 120 laps, 46 pts, handling.
40. 71 - Dave Marcis, Chevy, 101 laps, 48 pts*, engine.
41. 40 - Sterling Marlin, Chevy, 81 laps, 40 pts, engine.
42. 12 - Jeremy Mayfield, Ford, 69 laps, 37 pts, engine.
43. 16 - Kevin Lepage, Ford, 20 laps, 34 pts, ignition.
* - led a lap, 5 pts
** - led most laps, 10 pts
# - used backup car in the race
R - rookie
