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NASCAR WCUP: Chassis notes, Winston Cup, Pocono Raceway

17 June 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

[The following are facts and figures regarding the chassis Pontiac teams will be running this weekend during the NASCAR Winston Cup event at Pocono Raceway.]

10

Johnny Benson ran this brand new chassis for the first time as he tried to qualify for The Winston back in May at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Since that appearance it has been completely re-skinned for this weekend's event at Pocono.

14

The last time Rick Mast ran this chassis was at Dover, when it logged just four miles before crashing. It was called into service Tuesday of this week and has had the attention of the team almost non-stop, around the clock, since then. It also appeared in The Winston qualifying events and the Coca-Cola 600.

18

The last time Bobby Labonte drove this version of the Interstate Batteries Pontiac he drove it to victory lane here in July 1999. It ran five races last year and earned a stout average finishing position of 7.2, including one win, three top threes and four top 10s.

20

Tony Stewart won back-to-back races last week for the second time in his young Winston Cup career. This week he'll look for a "three-peat" at Pocono with the chassis that he posted a second in earlier this year at Las Vegas and won with last year at Homestead.

22

Ward Burton drove to a sixth place finish last week at Michigan and an eighth the week before at Dover with this chassis. He also grabbed his second career win with this piece in impressive fashion back in March at Darlington Raceway. This chassis has a total of eight career starts, and has never finished outside the top 10.

27

The best finish this year for the Viagra Pontiac is a 22nd, and it came with this chassis at Atlanta. The team took it to Texas also, but missed the show. Mike Bliss tested here at Pocono recently and will look to top his best performance of the year, which was a 24th at Talladega back in April.

36

Ken Schrader ran this chassis last week at Michigan, giving it its third start of the season. The run resulted in a respectable 16th place finish, which was Schrader's seventh top 20 in 14 starts this year.

43

This chassis has done the lion's share of the work for John Andretti this year, totaling four starts so far in 2000. Last time out at Dover, it carried Andretti and relief driver Kyle Petty to an impressive 13th place finish.

44

Kyle Petty will look to make his third start of 2000 with this chassis, and will be looking for it to return to its 1999 form. Last season he grabbed a pair of top 10s with this piece, both coming at Martinsville.

93

Dave Blaney ran this chassis for the first time in the Coca-Cola 600, where he settled for a 40th place finish after an engine failure. The rookie driver is coming off back-to-back 25th place finishes at Dover and Michigan, and is looking to better a season-best 20th posted at Atlanta.

Text provided by Al Larsen

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