A glance back to the 2001 Winston Cup season shows three statistics that point to this being the most competitive era in Cup history. Nineteen drivers reached Victory Lane, including five first-time winners, and no single driver had more than six wins. Clearly, parity is not a concept unique to the NFL.
While the big picture shows domination, as Jeff Gordon won his fourth Cup title in nine full seasons, a snapshot of last season alone shows nearly half of any given lineup capable of winning. Even Gordon in his prime, with one of the most resourceful teams in history, didn't dominate the series, certainly not the way his 13 wins in 1998 dominated the show.
So what does the 2002 season have in store? The upcoming Cup lineup shows a wave of young drivers capable of shaping a new identity for the series; but, at the same time, there's a group of veterans still capable of winning races or challenging for the points title. (Think Ricky Rudd and Bill Elliott.) Then there's Gordon. At 30, he's still just a kid by traditional Winston Cup standards, but he's also blessed with the experience of nine seasons with the same team.
If this were a tug of war, would Gordon be with the veterans or with the youngsters? And where would we put Robby Gordon and Jeff Green, drivers with previous Cup experience who are getting second or third chances at Cup success.
Whatever side they line up on, each driver will find that pulling toward Victory Lane has become especially difficult.
What exists in Winston Cup is a broad spectrum of talent, from the young and talented all the way to middle-aged and talented-and everything in between. Parity, of course, would be a boring concept without diversity, would it not?
New Looks At RCROne of the most intriguing situations exists at Richard Childress Racing, where a brash youngster (Kevin Harvick), a wily Busch veteran (Jeff Green) and a veteran driver in search of a Cup identity (Robby Gordon) will be teammates at one of the sport's most successful operations. Green will drive the No. 30 car originally intended for Harvick before Dale Earnhardt's death, while Gordon will drive the No. 31 car vacated by Mike Skinner's move to the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Chevrolet.
Yes, it's a whole new game at Childress' shops in Welcome, North Carolina. But RCR is not alone, for new or almost new situations abound in the series.
First, there's that wave of youngsters led by second-year Cup competitors Harvick, Casey Atwood, and Kurt Busch, and including newcomers Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson. Those two will be driving for two of the sport's top teams-Newman with Penske Racing and Johnson with Hendrick Motorsports-as they battle for 2002 Rookie of the Year.
Then, of course, there's the multitude of driver changes from last season. Buckle up for a fast look.
Jimmy Spencer moved from his long-time ride with Travis Carter and will be a teammate to Sterling Marlin this season. Spencer's seat at Haas-Carter Motorsports will be filled by Joe Nemechek, who will move from Andy Petree Racing.
Jeremy Mayfield was released from his Penske Racing ride in midseason and landed at Evernham Motorsports in Atwood's former No. 19 ride. Atwood will man the No. 7 Dodge of Ultra Motorsports, an Evernham Motorsports satellite team.
Kenny Wallace will start the season in a Chevrolet fielded by Dale Earnhardt Inc., a ride Wallace gained while filling in for the injured Steve Park last season.
Bill Davis Racing, meanwhile, will adopt a new look as Hut Stricklin will take his Hills Brothers Coffee sponsorship to the team, which will drop the No. 93 campaigned by Dave Blaney the past two seasons and field No. 23 Dodges for Stricklin. Blaney can now be found over in the No. 77 Jasper Motorsports Fords.