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NASCAR WCUP: Pontiac Chassis Notes, New Hampshire

16 September 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 New Hampshire International Speedway.]

10 Johnny Benson comes to New Hampshire after posting his fourth top 10 finish of the 2000 season last week at Richmond. Benson will be in the same chassis this week, which he also ran here in July. Over the past four weeks, Benson has earned one top five, two top 10s and three top 15 finishes, which equals his best four-week run of the year.

14 Rick Mast drove this version of the Conseco Pontiac to a 12th place finish here in July, which stands as his second-best finish of the year. He also ran this chassis last week at Richmond, where he qualified fourth, but finished 28th after losing a cylinder. Mast feels that engine miscue may have been good preparation for the type of feel he will experience this week with a restricted engine at NHIS.

18 Winston Cup points leader Bobby Labonte, who finished ninth here in July, will campaign a brand new chassis this week at New Hampshire as he looks to extend his 158-point lead over Dale Earnhardt. This chassis is the 50th chassis built at Joe Gibbs Racing since the team beginning building chassis midway through 1991.

20 Home Depot Pontiac driver Tony Stewart won July's rain-shortened event here at New Hampshire with this chassis, and then took it to Pocono two weeks later and won the pole. In the last 13 races, Stewart has totaled three wins, five top fives, 11 top 10s and has moved from ninth to fifth in the Winston Cup points.

22 After struggling through a portion of the summer, Ward Burton appears to be back on track in the Caterpillar Grand Prix, earning three top 10s and an 11th in the past four weeks. Burton finished eighth last week and 18th here in July with this same chassis.

27 Mike Bliss finished 32nd here in July and returns this week looking to rebound after not qualifying for last week's race at Richmond. The chassis under him was brand new when the Eel River Racing took it to Indy and collected a 31st place finish.

36 Ken Schrader has completed 2,811 of the last 2,817 laps run, dating back to Michigan Speedway in June. The M&M's Pontiac driver has ridden that reliability from 21st to 16th in the point standings during that stretch. He will look for his 14th straight finish of 25th or better this weekend with the chassis he ran last week at Richmond (16th) and here in July (23rd).

43 John Andretti is coming off an 11th place finish last week at Richmond, which stands as his best finish since June at Michigan (ninth). He will run the same chassis at New Hampshire that he ran last week. In July's race here, Andretti started on the outside of the front row, but lost an engine and had to settle for 40th.

44 Steve Grissom made his first appearance in the Hot Wheels Pontiac here in July and has since made two more starts the past two weeks as he finishes the season in place of Kyle Petty. This weekend, Grissom will run the chassis he tried to qualify with at Indianapolis in August.

93 Rookie Dave Blaney equaled his best finish of the season (18th) last week at Richmond with this chassis. Overall, he has posted two straight top 20 finishes and four for the year. He comes to New Hampshire looking to improve on the 34th place finish he posted here in July, also with this car.

Text Provided By Al Larsen

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