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NASCAR WCUP: Crew Chief Club at the Pennzoil 400

12 November 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Event: Pennzoil 400 When: Sun., Nov. 14 at 12:30 p.m. EST on NBC

Where: Homestead (Fla.) Motorsports Complex (1.5-mile oval)

Together, Jimmy Makar, Larry McReynolds, Todd Parrott and Robin Pemberton have led their drivers to 74 wins, 405 top-five finishes, 639 top-10 finishes and 76 poles prior to this Sunday's Pennzoil 400.

Going into this weekend's inaugural Winston Cup event at Homestead, Parrott and Dale Jarrett lead the season ending point standings by 231 points over Makar and Bobby Labonte. Pemberton and Rusty Wallace are currently in eighth position while McReynolds and Mike Skinner are in 10th position.

Parrott's driver, Jarrett won the inaugural Busch Series race at Homestead in 1995.

Makar's driver, Labonte, earned the pole in the 1996 Busch Series event at Homestead.

Crew Chief Club souvenirs are available on the Chevrolet and Ford merchandise trailers. Fans can also log-on to the Crew Chief Club at their official website, www.crewchiefclub.com to keep up with the latest news.

WHAT ARE YOU THOUGHTS GOING INTO THE INAUGURAL EVENT AT HOMESTEAD?

Jimmy Makar - Interstate Batteries Pontiac of Bobby Labonte - "Every time we go to a new venue there are a lot of unknowns. We don't know how fast we'll have to be to qualify, drivers don't know all the particulars of the track and they'll be searching for the best ways to get onto pit road. It's a new adventure, but it's exciting. It's always fun to go someplace new and different. We did test down there and felt good about what we learned, but you still don't know how things are going to be until you get there."

Larry McReynolds - Lowe's Home Improvement Chevrolet of Mike Skinner - "It's always exciting to go to a new venue. We don't know what to expect. It's obviously not a new venue but it's new to Winston Cup cars even though a lot of people have been down there testing. We actually did some testing down there a year ago with the 2000 Monte Carlo. A lot of drivers have run Truck Series races down there and some have run Busch Series races there too. You get a feeling that nobody has a real advantage. Sure we've picked the brains of Truck Series and Busch Series crew chiefs, but we're all starting at ground zero. Mike has raced at Homestead in the Truck Series and we have a full day of practice on Thursday. We opted not to test there because we only had one test date left for the season. We felt that the five hours of practice would give us a good starting point so we tested at Atlanta instead.

"Homestead's another race added to our schedule and we keep asking ourselves how many more races can we add to our schedule. But, I've been to Homestead and I've seen the facilities there and it's a venue we need to be racing. The place that Ralph Sanchez and his people have built down there is phenomenal. The thing that sets Homestead apart from other places we go to is that they have responded to the competitors input. There were some problems the first few races that were held there and they went in and made some changes before the Busch cars came back. It still wasn't the way it needed to be for good side-by-side racing so they went in and made additional changes. I think that makes a big statement about how serious these people are about their race track. The competitors made suggestions twice and both times they responded."

Todd Parrott and Robin Pemberton were unavailable for quotes due to time constraints

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.