| Drivers to Watch |
| Johnny Benson |
The 1995 Busch Series champion will compete in his eighth Winston Cup season this year; although he captured his first career Winston Cup win at the Pop Secret 400 last November, his season featured just two other top-five finishes and seven top 10s; missed six events with injuries sustained in crashes in the early part of the season; started the season with a 10th-place finish in the Daytona 500 after starting with a provisional in 38th.
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| Ward Burton |
The defending champion of the Daytona 500 had a roller-coaster 2002 season; had nine finishes of 30th or worse before winning again at New Hampshire; following that victory, he again finished 30th or worse seven times before a 25th-place finish in the standings, his worst since 24th in 1997; owns five career Winston Cup wins and has won at least one race in each of the past three seasons; earned over $17 million in his Winston Cup career; outside of racing, he is involved with wildlife and environmental conservation.
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| Kurt Busch |
The 24-year-old Las Vegas native is coming off a stellar year in which he recorded his first four career Winston Cup wins en route to a career-best third-place finish in the points standings; first win came at Bristol in the spring, followed by fall victories at Martinsville, Atlanta and Homestead; finished fourth in the Daytona 500 last year.
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| Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Earnhardt relishes being one of the favorites for the Daytona 500. "I think we should be favorites, based on performance the last few years," he said. Dale Jr. finished second in last year's Budweiser Shootout and the 125-mile qualifying race. In the 500, he was running second behind teammate Michael Waltrip when a blown tire sent the No. 8 car into the wall. Also recorded second-place finishes in the 2001 Daytona 500. Since the start of 2001, DEI has four wins in restrictor-plate races, a second place and six top-eight finishes, while teammate Michael Waltrip has two wins.
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| Bill Elliott |
The Winston Cup veteran proved he still has what it takes to win; recorded two wins last year and captured four pole positions; both wins came successively at the Pennsylvania 500 (from pole) and the Brickyard 400; had six finishes in the top five and seven more in the top 10; won the Daytona 500 in 1985 and 1987, the later he set the qualifying record mark of 210.364 miles per hour; finished 11th in the 500 last season after starting 29th.
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| Jeff Gordon |
The four-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion would like to put last year's somewhat inconsistent season behind and look for better runs in 2003; although he won three races and three poles, along with a total of 13 top fives and 20 top 10s, Gordon did have 10 races of finishing 20th or lower; that proved costly in the championship run in which he placed fourth in the final points standings; but he did finish the year with four straight finishes in the top six; won the Daytona 500 in 1997 and 1999 and also won the Pepsi 400 at the track twice; was ninth in the 500 last February.
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| Kevin Harvick |
The 2002 season did not bring him the same accolades as his 2001 Rookie of the Year winning effort; a win at Chicago was one of eight top-10 finishes, but six DNFs, including two in the season's first four races, pretty much took him out of contention and an eventual 21st finish in the standings; in November, he did win his first Craftsman Truck series race at Phoenix; in 2001 he placed ninth in the points after taking over the car owned by Richard Childress Racing following the death of Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500.
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| Dale Jarrett |
For the second straight season he was hurt by sub-par results, with seven of 30th or worse and two of 40th or worse; dropped to ninth in the standings from fifth the season before, his lowest finish since 1995; won two races in 2002, including a fine come-from-behind performance at Michigan in August where he overcame a spin off Turn 4 with just 11 laps remaining to record his 30th career checkered flag; won the Daytona 500 from the pole in 1999, the year of his championship; also made it to victory lane in 1993 and 1996; last season he finished 14th in the first race at Daytona and was 35th in the second stop at the track.
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| Jimmie Johnson |
His rookie season in car owned by Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon was one of the better ones in recent memory; winner of three races, including a sweep at Dover Downs; his 21 top-10 finishes tied him with 2002 champion Tony Stewart for second in the series and he led the standings following the race in Kansas in late September; two results outside the top 30 in the final six races of the season took him out of contention, but he did managed to finish fifth in the standings; also finished second to Ryan Newman in the Rookie of the Year balloting; became just the third rookie in Winston Cup history to win the Daytona 500 pole, joining Loy Allen and Mike Skinner; finished 15th.
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| Matt Kenseth |
After a somewhat disappointing 2001 season, he rebounded nicely last year leading the series with five victories to boost a stagnant Roush Racing; but 11 results of 30th and lower pushed him down to an eighth-place finish in the final standings, some 368 points behind champion Tony Stewart; made his presence felt on the Winston Cup circuit in 2000 when he captured the Rookie of the Year award, won the Coca-Cola 600 and recorded 11 top-10 finishes.
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| Bobby Labonte |
He won the 2000 championship based on excellence and consistency; but last year while he did win at Martinsville in April for his 19th career victory, 10 results of 30th and lower and just seven top-10 finishes in 36 starts relegated him to an unimpressive 16th place in the standings; also earned some $1 million less than the previous season.
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| Sterling Marlin |
Two-time winner of the Daytona 500 in 1994 and 1995, finished eighth last year; saves some of his best performances for superspeedways at Talladega and Daytona; scored victories at Las Vegas and Darlington Raceway in 2002 and held the Winston Cup points lead for 25 weeks; a late-season accident at Kansas Speedway ended those hopes of his first championship; was sidelined the final seven events of the season; otherwise, recorded 14 top-10 finishes and six top-10 qualifying starts, with poles at Pocono in June and Darlington in September.
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| Mark Martin |
Although a Daytona Beach resident, he has yet to win the Daytona 500; last season he finished an impressive sixth after starting 39th; his best result was third in 1995 and also a fifth in 2000; ended up second in the Winston Cup standings last year after a disappointing 2001 which knocked him out of the top 10 for the first time since 1989; won just one race and did not capture any poles, but was consistent throughout the year; posted 22 top-10 finishes, with three second-place efforts and just three DNFs in 36 starts; lost the title to Tony Stewart by just 38 points; it was the fourth time he ended up runner-up honors; owns 33 career Winston Cup wins and 41 poles; also owns Mark Martin Performance, a company that sells quarter-midget racing chassis like the one his son Matt races.
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| Ryan Newman |
Named the 2002 Rookie of the Year, edging fellow freshman Jimmie Johnson in a close race; his season was nothing short of excellent; finished sixth in the series points standings, winning six poles and 14 top-five finishes in 36 starts; also claimed his first series checkered flag at the New Hampshire 300; Penske Racing's switch to Dodge and promise of more engineering and technical support, there should be substantial better results this year; completed degree program in vehicle structure engineering at Purdue University.
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| Ricky Rudd |
In 21 years on the Winston Cup circuit, the veteran has started 763 races, 28 from the pole, recorded 23 victories, and earned over $28 million; but his 2000 season ended on a sour note with a fistfight with a Robert Yates Racing crew member; the one victory came at Sonoma, California in June and he finished 10th in points; in his previous two years with Yates, he finished in the top five; in 28 years in NASCAR, he drove for some prominent owners including Richard Childress, Bud Moore, Rick Hendrick and Yates; yet to win at Daytona in his career although he did finish fourth in 2001; outside of auto racing, he enjoys flying, boating and water sports.
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| Ken Schrader |
Another driver who tends to put out good efforts on superspeedways; at Daytona International Speedway, he posted 13 top-10 finishes in the last 18 races; accomplished just about everything at Daytona except a victory in the big race, was a pole-sitter three consecutive years between 1988 and 1990; finished second in 1989 and third in 1996 as best results.
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| Tony Stewart |
Not an easy 2002 season, but a rewarding one in the end by capturing the Winston Cup championship; that was a goal he set himself when moved from the IRL in 1999; also won the IRL title in 1997; season did not start well with a dead-last finish in the Daytona 500 after just two laps when his engine failed; three weeks later, he won at Atlanta for the first of three wins during the year; also won four poles and 16 top fives; performance off the track also drew much negative attention; in August, Stewart shoved a photographer at Indy for which he was fined $10,000 by NASCAR and $50,000 by main sponsor Home Depot; in September, a fan accused him of showing her after the Sharpie 500 at Bristol, an allegation that was unfounded; later in September, he was cited in a story published in the Concord Monitor under a headline "EMT says Stewart punched him" after an incident during the New England 300 on July 21; Stewart also collided with Getty Images photographer Rusty Jarrett on the final weekend of the season in Miami; following a meeting with Stewart and NASCAR, Jarrett accepted an apology; won 15 Winston Cup races.
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| Rusty Wallace |
This will be his 40th start at Daytona, but first in a Dodge after making the change from Ford; has six top fives and 16 top 10s at the 2 1/2 mile track; all six of his top fives have come in the last 11 starts with a career-best finish of third in the 2001 Daytona 500; finished second in last year's Pepsi 400 at Daytona; "I think I rather win the Daytona 500 rather than the championship even though the championship pays a lot more money," he said. "I'll probably change my mind on that decision, but I've already won a championship." His sponsor Miller Lite announced that if Wallace wins his first Daytona 500, all legal drinking age race fans in attendance will receive a coupon for a free six-pack of the beer. Wallace is considered the master of short tracks, although he has demonstrated skills on all type of tracks.
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| Michael Waltrip |
Drove a good stretch in midseason 2002 after struggling in the early part; win at the Pepsi 400 was his second career victory to follow his 2001 Daytona 500; finished 14th in the points standings, 10 positions higher than his finish in 2001; in 18 seasons, his best points finish was 12th twice; won two poles, the first at Dover in 1991.
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