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 Tuesday, March 20, 2001
Winston preview: Handicapping the 2001 season
By Jack Arute
Special to ABC Sports Online
Bobby Labonte begins his defense of the Winston Cup title on Feb. 18 when the Daytona 500 kicks off NASCAR's 2001 season.
It's a long road to the NAPA 500 in November. The Cup brigade traverses the United States, making 34 stops along the way. It takes a blend of consistency and victories to earn NASCAR's highest honor.
|  | | Bobby Labonte is looking to defend his Winston Cup title, starting in Sunday's Daytona 500. |
It's a good bet that this year's Cup champ will come from one of 10 teams -- Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Penske South, Yates Racing, Evernham Motorsports, Bill Davis Racing, Roush Racing, Hendrick Motorsports or Petty Enterprises.
So, with apologies to Las Vegas, here are my odds for each team.
Bill Davis Racing -- 15-1
Davis switched to Dodge this season with easy talking Ward Burton and Sprint Car veteran Dave Blaney. Davis' team will win this season, but inconsistency will keep it from being a true title contender.
Petty Enterprises -- 15-1
Like Bill Davis Racing, Petty Enterprises is a long shot. John Andretti is a nice guy, and he will win occasionally. But neither he nor Kyle Petty have the week in and week out performance power necessary to contend. It will be nice to see Petty Enterprises back with Dodge ? Now if Richard Petty could find a time machine to turn his body clock back ...
Penske South -- 12-1
As much as people focus on Rusty Wallace, it is his teammate, Jeremy Mayfield, who most likely has a better shot at getting in the Cup hunt. Realistically though, neither will be a real factor by the time NASCAR hits its stretch drive in October.
Evernham Motorsports -- 10-1
The leader of Dodge's return to NASCAR will win NASCAR's Rookie of the Year title with Casey Atwood and Bill Elliott returning to Victory Lane after a long drought, but all that "Awesome Bill" will win at New York's NASCAR bash is another Most Popular Driver Award.
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. -- 8-1
Both Steve Park and "Little E", Dale Earnhardt Jr. snared checkered flags last season. Earnhardt Jr. admits that he became distracted after tearing off a couple of early season triumphs. Michael Waltrip's addition will spread DEI's resources thin and have an effect on any title drive.
Roush Racing -- 5-1
Jack Roush has purchased a pair of 737 jets to carry his crews from track to track, but this team will need more than that. Mark Martin should easily win more than the lone victory he scored last season and Jeff Burton won't need rain at Darlington to pad his victory totals. In the end, however, Roush's multi-car operation (is he running 4, 5 or 6 cars? -- who knows for sure) will be its downfall as far as the Winston Cup is concerned.
Hendrick Motorsports -- 4-1
Jerry Nadeau may have won the last race of '00, but he will be no factor in the championship. But, like Gibbs, Rick Hendrick has a pair of guys in Terry Labonte and Jeff Gordon that can motivate each other to excel. Terry had a terrible season last year and should turn things around. Gordon has not been as dominating as he was since he lost his mentor and pit leader, Ray Evernham.
Richard Childress Racing -- 3-1
The Intimidator is still tied with Richard Petty with seven Winston Cup titles after Dale Earnhardt finished second to Labonte last season. Earnhardt must get his short track program back on track. When he won those Cup titles, it was places like Bristol and Martinsville that put him on stage at the Waldorf. His teammate, Mike Skinner, is nothing more than a field filler and not a threat.
Yates Racing -- 3-1
The folks at Ford are not happy about losing the Winston Cup to Pontiac and Joe Gibbs last season. While Ford has many deals with Roush, it is Yates that is its best hope. Ricky Rudd is along for the ride, while Dale Jarrett needs to do well at Daytona to get some early season momentum. If he does, look out.
But if you are looking for a "sure thing" we have it here for you. I wouldn't bet the farm on it, but I sure would consider placing some "disposable income" on my prediction ...
Joe Gibbs Racing -- 2-1
The ex-Redskins coach will once again sit at the head table when they hand out the Winston Cup. Not with Bobby Labonte, though. Tony Stewart will be seated next to him. Stewart led NASCAR with six wins last season and there is no reason to think that he won't do the same this year. All that he needs to do is increase his Top 5 finishes from 12 to around 20 and he will win it all. The nice part about Coach Gibbs' operation is that should Tony falter, Bobby will be right there to pick up the slack.
Jack Arute mans the pits for ABC Sports' auto racing coverage. He writes a column every Monday for ABC Sports Online.
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