NASCAR WCUP: Chassis notes for Talladega 500

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

April 21, 2001

[The following are facts and figures regarding the cars Pontiac teams will be running this week during the NASCAR Winston Cup event at Talladega Superspeedway.]

No. 10

Valvoline Grand Prix driver Johnny Benson comes to Talladega tied for third in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings. One of Benson's two finishes outside the top 25 this season was at Daytona in February with this chassis (28th) - the same chassis that led laps at Daytona in both races last season.

No. 14

Conseco Pontiac driver Ron Hornaday was very "racey" in this chassis during the Daytona 500 in February. He finished one lap down in the 17th position, but lost his lap to a pit road penalty. Hornaday is currently third in the Raybestos rookie points, 16 behind leader Kevin Harvick.

No. 18

Defending Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte came close to destroying this chassis in 'the big wreck' at Daytona in February, but the team salvaged the basics and rebuilt it for this weekend's race. Another top 10 finish this week would give Labonte two in a row this season and his first on a restrictor plate track since the 2000 Daytona 500.

No. 20

Tony Stewart comes to Talladega with the chassis that he ran at all four restrictor plate races in 2000 after destroying his car in this year's Daytona 500. This chassis provided Stewart with three top 10 starts and one top 10 finish in four races last season.

No. 27

Kenny Wallace equaled his best career finish when he pushed Dale Earnhardt to victory and finished second here last October. In 14 career Talladega starts, Wallace has two top five and five top 10 finishes. He'll look for his first top 10 of the 2001 season this weekend with a new chassis.

No. 36

Ken Schrader, currently ranked 14th in the Winston Cup points, has elected to run the chassis he ran in the 2001 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona in February. Schrader, a former winner here at Talladega, has earned two top 10 and four top 15 finishes in eight starts this year, including a 13th place finish in the 2001 Daytona 500.

Text provided by Al Larsen

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