r " V me - - “- y ‘vsm A'-41- y wv v fc k" 's V‘ '1 V- - - v ' i - -- - V V rK " - rJiJjJd y Standard-Examine- r tylM 'll r Mil rockv mountain momvrs SERVING THE TOP OF UTAH SINCE 1888 If you’ve got a question or a comment write: JiULLdiUiJiJclA NASCAR This Week co The Gaston Gazette 2500 E Franklin Bivd Gastonia NC 28054 Craftsman Truck Daytona 250 ESPN Feb 16 2001 Friday Busch Grand National Daytona 300 Feb 17 2001 FOX Saturday Winston Cup Daytona 500 Sunday Feb 18 2001 FOX The year 2000 was a historic one for NASCAR as Bobby Labonte joined older brother Terry as the only siblings ever to win Winston Cup championships Bobby Labonte also is the only driver ever to win championships in Cup and Busch Grand National (1991) and the first Pontiac driver to win the championship in 11 years He debuted on the Cup circuit with two appearances in 1991 He finished second in MM MUIR li J Jj 1 p1 : h) dl:i a 11 1 Letters From Our Readers Dear NASCAR This Week Over the years commentators keep referring to the boos and cheers that Dale Larnhardt receives Has anvone ever tried to take an educated guess as to what percentage of them are boos and what percentage are cheers'’ E Holbrook the 1993 Warren Ohio Bemuse of uruihle such as attendance sealing capacits ele il i umld he estiemelx difficult to estimate how main Earnhardt fans nhardl fans attend races ot non-Leach week But we can tell ou the sexen-nm- e H inston ( up champion has a er strong following Rxrtos by John ClartyNASCAR This Wtek he continued to dominate most of the season includ500 at Concord NC ing a win in October's UAW-G- winnings IH J J Firsts: Start (June 2 1991 at Dover Del) pole MSept 9 1993 at Richmond Va) win (May 28 1995 at Concord NC) Have you ever talked to Dale Jarrett or Jeff Gordon about what to expect in the aftermath of winning the championship? "The things they've told me is to make sure get plenty of sleep take a bottle of I"-- 1 Multicar owners and their drivers vs multicar owners and their drivers the multicar team owners Joe Gibbs is clearly on top with his stable which includes the Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte and the season's biggest winner Tony Stewart Rick Hendrick still has Jeff Gordon who showed signs of in the finishes (three returning to form with top-1last five races a budding star in Jerry Nadeau and a champion Terry Labonte struggling two-tim- e Jack Roush has Jeff Burton Mark Martin and rookie of the year Matt Kenseth along with a 2001 rookie contender in Kurt Busch Robert Yates has reason to expect great things in 2001 from Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd Ray Evernham will join the fray next year with Bill Elliott and rookie Casey Atwood in Dodge Intrepids Roger Penske looks for consistency from Rusty Wallace and especially Jeremy Mayfield Richard Childress has a contender in Dale Earnhardt but lost some ground with Mike Skinner's team Both of the cars Dale Earnhardt owns (Dale Earnhardt Jr and Steve Park) won races last year and now Earnhardt has added Michael Waltrip Bill Davis will also switch to Dodge with Ward Burton and Dave Blaney The long shots are Chip Ganassi (Sterling Marlin and a driver to be named) Andy Petree (Joe Nemechek Bobby Hamilton) Travis CarterCarl Haas (Jimmy Spencer Todd Bodme) Petty Enterprises (John Andretti Kyle Petty Buckshot Jones) Nelson Bowers' group (Johnny Benson Ken Schrader) and Cal Wells (Scott Pruett Andy Houston) NASCAR This Week's Monte Dutton gives his opinion Gibbs "Few are expecting a decline in the camp but superiority in this sport can be a fleeting thing teams Isn t it amazing how many two- - three- - and four-ca- r there are in this sport nowadays?" In the battle of Chloraseptic with me and II be real busy "In a nutshell that’s what I they said haven't really gone to them and asked for specifics "I think for the most part I've seen it all from the sidelines and seen it in the past and had a close look at it from being close behind in points" How have you changed? “I'm a little calmer now NASCAR lonv feels because it rejSeat the next year I definitely know how hard it is to Our win a championship team has worked real hard this year and has overcome a lot as far as some weekends that we weren't running well and came out with a good finish We would love to I just keeps getting harder with how the competition is to gain a half a second and try to really the car" fine-tun- e Can you repeat? "I think everybody who has ever won a championship wants to repeat as champion" champion Jeff Gordon seems 'primed to compete for another title in 2001 NOT: Mark Martin had his lowest points finish in 12 years He ended up eighth in the series standings won vet natn this lime it wasn t N NSC Stewart the biggest w inner on the Winston Cup circuit this veaf with six victories won the 60th annual lurkev Night Grand Pnx tor I SNC midgets at Irwindalc 1C aid J Speed-wa- v on 1 hursday I he victory allowed Stewart to erase the memorv of a bitter defeat NvW edition ot the race He the in event and dominated thit 100-lawas leading when his cjr lost power with less than two laps to go A broken oil pump belt relegated Stewart to second behind Ijson I ettler ' I have been w jitim 3 04 davs for Busch Series practice crash In May at New Hampshire International Speedway months later Kenny Irwin also died at New Hampshire and in October Tony Roper died of injuries received during a crash In a Craftsman Truck Series race in Fort Worth Texas S' A) T e Ghs'otj C Gaf”e D vOuinr - ' — am ri a MiV t Umvrsai Prrss Snji f C ) iBrtOj IIL T" rt' ah lillT 1 hud Marty good people are denied credit because of problems which are behind them MURDOCK CHEVROLET offers a great first step in putting these problems behind them With understanding and integrity we can help you major credit while obtaining reliable transportation Call Questions? our CREDIT RESOURCE DEPT 393-013- 3 or 2375 South 625 West Woods Cross UT 84087 Gazette and In Lntsersal Press Sndr-cat- e is axatlahe 52 weeks a ear 4v far as sour local paper not taming ISClR This Ueek w encourage i ou to let them know personal! i how much oueno it solution to the pnrh-ferFora sfiort-hrc lux k out htch gastongazetieeom and tluk on the ASC 4R section Ihe tnfoi motion ou are looking for can he found there History of America S Sport" (Tehabr Books and Harpdr Entertainment) which does not include the facts and figures one might expect but does offer loads of evocative pictures and an exceptionally well written text The book retails for $50 and is widely available in most bookstores and online Ajjad piPipia puujaq 9Z6t 'puooas g :(aajnewiyy uisuoosim jo AjisjaAiun '9uijaaui3ua jeoiueuoauj ‘s B 2661 ‘opinf upy SU3WSNV tionship with Cars Agajaman as mv attorney agent adviser and friend’ Stewart said ”His familv started this race and through their efforts of promoting lurkev Night all these vears have built it to be one ot the most prestigious events in midget racme m honored to have this nophy to " put on my shel f x BM FOR III! Bl CK: cm! the m inuficturer champibut an argument could be onship made that Pontiac with onK in cars in most races had the better ear With If wins in 3 IX total starts the 2MK 'sluegtnt! percentaee" for Pontiac Grand Pnx was Of 022 ford I he timers who produced 10 of those II victo- won fr Fsr rwMso ahonte Slew irt and Hohbv will drive Pontiacs next veai Waid Huiion who w ill be drv mu a Dodee next sear won the other rice tor Pont! iv I X rilh KOOklt R(l: Surprising nunc Mjtt Kenseth won the Rookie ot the V ir title in the inston ( up Vries with relative ease Kenseth finished ihe seison with s h pi mils 42 more fh in D tie I Ir Ksiisih hid finished secunlurdt in the WvX ond behind (hisch ( irnu) N ition il points st iodines and thud in ivwu (Rookie sconnu ts compktclv sepai tie from the stand ud Winston ( up points W I ' of Vnf" xvskm a 4 ft CALL - Ask For £776-847- 1: CREW OF THE WEEK so there wasn’t a Winston Cup race this week This is an appropriate space however to honor the crew of Raybestos Rookie of the Year Matt OK Kenseth Robbie Reiser himself a former Busch Grand National driver headed up a team helped the rookie driver to one victory four top-fiv- e tht s and finishes 11 e finish in the a points standings Kenseth was the highest finishing rookie in 17 of the 34 races top-10- 14th-piac- C33 J I Hitts Dodge db Layton Used Car Center 1711 N Uwn (jym UT 5404 Ptxrw au'TTS-ft- - mriH f — - Experience Lite in the I FUST LANE! IAS VEGAS HASCAR March 2-- 5 2001 Includes Bush Series Race Nascar Winston Cup Race and lodging in Mesquite Nevada mo-748-m- 2 2122W5W0SSLC IwXvXva ?! FL1 A GQEAT SEASM KEEP UP TO DATE AT ROCKY MOUNTAIN RACEWAY svwwrmracingcom rSfi WE CAN HELP!! Mike Hembree has written "NASCAR The Definitive iin bothered me ever smee (hat night I really had to work harder than do in some of mv V inston ( up races" Lewis Kacmg teammate Kacy Kahne finished second to Stewart who started on the pole Kahne took the lead at the halfwav point but Stewart passed him with 2s laps remaining and never looked back Kasev definitely had the faster car but when the track got slipperv I was able to get bv him and take oil I guess the few more vears of experience I have on the kid paid oft Stewart has competed the past two years in the race partly because of his ties to the AgJiantan familv ' his race is so rich in histnrs and is special to me because ot tm rela Dodge Trucks We're There! FanTips Trocksitkk Trivia 2 What is the highest Dave Marcis ever finished in the points standings? HOT: Three time Winston Cup this" Stewart said after winning the 2(MM) event "I osing last year has ' - Loo 1 Who was the first Winston Cup champion to have a college degree? Who’s Not Stewart although family was killed in a Two than I was a few years ago try to be a lot more understanding with how the car I By Monte Dutton NASCAR This Week Its mors promising young drivers In 2000 Adam Petty who represented the fourth generation of stock car racing's most famous 6 ISC IB This Meek pmdtued h he Gaston K Tony Stewart’s winning ways continue outside of stock cars lost three of still being wntten weekly'’ Mv local newspaper earned it each hursdaV for nianv weeks Most ot the tunc it was a full page in the paper Then this summer a e lot of the time it was only a Now since late summer week alter week goes by without it appearing in the paper at all really enoycd NASCAR This Week and it was about the only news our paper earned about auto racing Our paper rarely even carries the starting lineup of the cars or the finishing lineup I would like to see this article in our newspaper every week not just once in a while Muriel latum I ubboek Texas 7 ji'f nv?j iil!lli AllitwJatti ARCHIVES Tfefe- Buy fyiom Ike mm tjou cgh Deal NASC ART his Week Is NASCAR This Week I if ftOKUHt - Your Him Bobby Labonte began hie championship season with a sixth-plac- e finish in February's Daytona 500 top And fHl C rimrpTzA X IJJF 0 STOnCS onc'l Mn Fn - days to the Feb 18 2001 Daytona 500 race behind Jeff Gordon Labonte spent his first two seasons driving for Bill Davis Labonte succeeded Dale Jarrett with Joe Gibbs’ team in 1995 and has won at least one race in each of ig inn Iliiny NASCAR Winston Cup circuit with top name points races wins and money won: inii 2 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup champion J "" Z885S Highway 89 BOTH J" FARMINGTON 1271 H Highway 89 f BOUNTIFULNSL By Monte Dutton NASCAR This Week Weekly rankings by NASCAR This Week writer Monte Dutton '" l li i 4 m H W 20 finishers on the The on your tires ruling i& "- Countdown to Daytona: B©folby LatoooiSe Eastern All Times is A va liable A t: BURT BROTHERS iii jii ©'lF17 Because so much SPONSORED BY: Automotive FINISHES YOUNG AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 6555 West 2100 South West Valley City Utah 84128 801-252-95- 57 wwwrmrracingcom a J