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NASCAR WCUP: Chassis Notes, Pop Secret 400, Rockingham

21 October 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

[The following are facts and figures regarding the cars Pontiac teams will be running this weekend during the NASCAR Winston Cup event at North Carolina Speedway.]

10

Aaron's Pontiac driver Johnny Benson owns a best career finish of second, which he has posted twice this season with this chassis (Bristol-March, Dover-Sept.). In the past six weeks, Benson has scored three top 10s and an average finish of 13.33..

14

Rick Mast's last two starts in this chassis resulted in a 17th place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway and a 12th in the Southern 500 at Darlington. Mast moved up another spot last week in the point standings to 33rd, giving him a gain of eight positions since the midpoint of the season.

18

Winston Cup points leader Bobby Labonte carries a 210-point lead into this weekend's event at "The Rock" and will look to improve on that with the chassis he last ran at Martinsville. It finished 10th there after posting a runner-up finish in its debut at New Hampshire two weeks earlier.

20

Home Depot Grand Prix driver Tony Stewart need only improve three spots on his spring performance at Rockingham to get his sixth win of the season this weekend. Despite finishing fourth during February's race here, the team has opted to bring a brand new car into this event.

22

Ward Burton expects a great run here this weekend after finishing third and leading 100 laps during the February race. He is driving the chassis that crashed at Dover last month, but overall it owns nine top 10s in 12 career starts. So far in 2000, Burton has scored one win, two top five and five top 10s with this piece in seven attempts.

27

Mike Bliss comes to Rockingham after recording a career-best ninth place finish last week at Talladega. The chassis he is driving this week has two starts on it. Those races resulted in a 28th place finish in the Southern 500 and a two-lap, 43rd place DNF at Dover four weeks ago.

36

M&M's Pontiac driver Ken Schrader is a former pole winner here at Rockingham and has recorded six top five and 10 top finishes here during his career. Schrader is looking to rebound from last week's DNF at Talladega and move back into the top 15 in points, which is just 52 points away.

43

Cheerios/STP Grand Prix driver John Andretti notched his best finish of the season (7th) five week ago at New Hampshire with this chassis. The Petty Enterprises driver is hoping to better the 12th place finish he posted here at Rockingham in February.

44

Steve Grissom posted his best finish of 2000 in the Hot Wheels Grand Prix last week at Talladega in the form of a 16th place effort. Grissom will look to back that up in the chassis he drove from 43rd to 27th at Dover in September.

93

Dave Blaney is looking to make his first Rockingham start of 2000 this weekend after missing the cut during February's outing here. The Bill Davis Racing rookie is wheeling the chassis he last drove to a 20th place finish in the Southern 500 at Darlington.

Text Provided By Al Larsen

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