The 500 Field Skinny

Here they come, marching down the street, getting funny looks from everyone
they meet. But these aren’t Monkee mobiles – though the one starting 36th may be
playing songs from Reba McEntire’s Girls Night Out tours.

With the Twins out of the way, the field for the 500 is set. The skinny on
the 43 entrants in Daytona’s 44th International Sweepstakes 500-miler:

#48 JIMMIE JOHNSON, Hendrick Motorsports Chevy – A less than expected start
for the new star of GM’s top team. Johnson never led his 125, got black flagged,
and it was downhill from there. Being a rookie, such snafus are inevitable, but
Johnson needs to go harder in traffic.

#29 KEVIN HARVICK, RCR/RAD Chevrolet – Curiously, in his tenure with RCR in
GN and Cup Harvick has shown signs of struggle to master the plate tracks. On
Thursday he took a good step toward such mastery.

#24 JEFF GORDON, Hendrick Motorsports Chevy – The obvious favorite – You
expect anything else from GM’s designated champion?

#15 MICHAEL WALTRIP, Teresa Earnhardt/RAD Chevy – "When did this guy
learn how to drive?" may be asked. The Twins are, of course, heat races,
but Mikey’s performance may have saved his job.

#8 DALE EARNHARDT JR., Teresa Earnhardt/RAD Chevy – The sentimental favorite
for the 500. Junior finished second in the Shootout and second in his Twin –
obviously his chances are excellent in the 500, but if he doesn’t improve by one
spot on Sunday, the Senior jinx at the 500 may have segued down a generation.

#20 TONY STEWART, Joe Gibbs Pontiac – By JGR’s 1999-2000 standards 2001 was a
sub-par year with an obsolete body style. Louis Duncan’s presence with JGR
showed in the tandem’s stout efforts in the Shootout and their Twin.

#36 KEN SCHRADER, Morton-Bowers-Valvoline Pontiac – Unquestionably the most
improved car of Speedweeks 2002, Schrader brought back the fire that saw him
post stout point finishes in the early 1990s and strong efforts 1997-8 with Andy
Petree.

#25 JERRY NADEAU, Hendrick Motorsports Chevy – The only Hendrick car in the
second Twin, Nadeau may have still been POed over his penalty during Wednesday
practice. He remarked about John Darby cooking brownies (did Nadeau steal this
from Bill Parcells” infamous groceries comment?); they obviously were good
enough for Jerry to run like heck in the 125.

#28 RICKY RUDD, Robert Yates Ford – One of only two Fords in the top twenty,
Rudd has not shown all the winning form expected of Yates Racing. The Fords’
struggles in Speedweeks 2002 are personified here – a team good enough to win
and this was the best they could do in this particular circumstance. No doubt
the Ford fans are livid over the competitive imbalance and will appreciate the
extra quarter-inch spoiler shave granted by NASCAR after the Twins.

#18 BOBBY LABONTE, Joe Gibbs Pontiac – The "why didn’t you go with your
teammate?" idiocies will inevitably be raised; Labonte should ignore them;
he raced his own race and it paid off in a stout finish on Thursday.

#5 TERRY LABONTE, Hendrick Motorsports Chevy – For now the changes for the #5
are working well – if they persist after Speedweeks then we’ll know Hendrick is
serious about genuine depth in his fleet.

#31 ROBBY GORDON, RCR/RAD Chevrolet – Just a year ago who would have thought
that Robby Gordon would ever amount to anything at this level? Yet he has
amounted to something legitimate, and that wave is riding still.

#40 STERLING MARLIN, Ganassi/SABCO Dodge – The highest of the Dodges, Marlin
lost the post-race wind tunnel and dyno wars; the result was a rules concession
of a quarter-inch to the Dodge spoiler. Not having a teammate in the field may
come back and haunt him on Sunday; for now though the momentum of 2001’s resurgence
of his career continues at Daytona.

#71 DAVE MARCIS, Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet – Basically an RCR car, Marcis’
last moment of glory was supposedly the 2000 Winston 500; the 2002 Daytona 500
may see even more as his career as a driver comes to an end.

#97 KURT BUSCH, Roush Racing Ford – After a sub par Shootout, Busch and
company went to work. It showed in a vastly improved effort in the Twins. Being
a Ford under the present circumstances may be an anchor on victory hopes even
with the spoiler changes already made.

#43 JOHN ANDRETTI, Petty Enterprises Dodge – The massive changes within the
PE organization showed in a strong run in the Twin. Of the Dodges, Andretti
showed to be among the best in traffic and the spoiler concession may make him
even faster.

#33 MIKE WALLACE, APR/RAD Chevrolet – The loss of Richard Buck can be seen in
the APR team’s surprising slump this year. Mike Wallace drove a good race but clearly
something is missing right now from the team’s performance.

#1 KENNY WALLACE, Teresa Earnhardt/RAD Chevrolet – The nice guy of the DEI
squadron, Kenny is not the kind to mix it up really hard; but he brings it home,
and with DEI he’s brining it home up front.

#22 WARD BURTON, BDR Dodge – The lone Bill Davis entry, Ward Burton has had a
decidedly up and down Speedweeks.

#4 MIKE SKINNER, Morgan-McClure Chevy – Basically seen as DOA early in the
week, Skinner and MMM rose from the grave on Thursday despite stopping in front
of Buckshot Jones and Rusty Wallace in the Twin and getting damage in the
ensuing crash. Can Skinner join Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin, debut Winston
Cup winners with the McClures?

#88 DALE JARRETT, Robert Yates Ford – I’m amazed this team hasn’t shown more
than they have this Speedweeks; at times you’d think it was the truck Jarrett
was driving. But Yates being Yates, they’ll keep plugging and figure something
out – though Robert Yates’ chest pains after the Twins will likely weigh heavily
on the team from here on out.

#66 TODD BODINE, Travis Carter Ford – From DOA to the Daytona 500, Todd’s
moves in traffic have been impressive all week.

#12 RYAN NEWMAN, Penske South Ford – Unspectacular but commendable, Newman’s
first 125 suggests he’s more intent on doing it slowly rather than try for it
all like the last four big rookies managed to do.

#14 STACY COMPTON, A.J. Foyt Pontiac – Boy, did I underestimate this tandem’s
strength. Compton and Foyt clicked in Speedweeks and showed better form than I
thought Compton was really capable of.

#26 JOE NEMECHEK, Travis Carter Ford – Quieter than Todd Bodine, Front Row
Joe still duplicated Todd’s feat of racing more than good enough to qualify.

#7 CASEY ATWOOD, Evernham/Ultra Dodge – Wreck damage made the rear of the car
a parachute, but Atwood fought his way in and now looks more comfortable at the
Cup level.

#11 BRETT BODINE, BDR Ford – Hopelessly outgunned by the big teams, Brett
still beat enough of them to get into the 500, a nice display of the tenacity
he’s shown in his years as an owner-driver.

#19 JEREMY MAYFIELD, Evernham Motorsports Dodge – The strongest Dodge,
Mayfield looked like he’d win his Twin but got slammed onto the first turn apron
by Tony Stewart. Nonetheless there is a serious fire in this driver after years
of mistreatment by Roger Penske; the spoiler concession will certainly help even
more.

#9 BILL ELLIOTT, Evernham Motorsports Dodge – Never really a dogfighter in
traffic, Elliott finished fifteenth in his Twin.

#30 JEFF GREEN, RCR/RAD Chevrolet – What initially looked like a sub-par
effort managed to race into the 500, but Jeff Green needs to pick it up a notch,
something the former GN champion can certainly do.

#92 ROBERT PRESSLEY, Melling Racing Dodge – A strong qualifying effort ended
in a blown engine. Pressley showed some form before the DNF.

#55 BOBBY HAMILTON, APR/RAD Chevrolet – The backup car proved to be less than
the primary car wiped out on Tuesday. Again the loss of Richard Buck can be seen
in the performance.

#99 JEFF BURTON, Roush Racing Ford – Almost from the beginning of Speedweeks
the Roush Fords have struggled for speed. Burton drafted impeccably in his Twin
but cut a tire and lost a lap; he’ll need to keep drafting impeccably, as the
Fords clearly have little shot of winning.

#45 KYLE PETTY, Petty Enterprises Dodge – Starting shotgun in his Twin, Kyle
rocketed forward quite rapidly but faded as the handling deteriorated. But the
reunion with Robin Pemberton can be seen in substantial improvement for the
team.

#09 GEOFF BODINE, James Finch Ford – Screwed by NASCAR’s yellow line rule,
Bodine still got in and has drafted well all week.

#49 SHAWNA ROBINSON, BAM Racing Dodge – How did she skate into this race? The
only one in the field who can confidently be asserted as having no business in
it, Robinson faltered in her Twin, crashed, and somehow is in the 500. That she
is the first woman in the 500 since Janet Guthrie in 1980 will be cited, but
that fact and her career are irrelevant.

#2 RUSTY WALLACE, Penske South Ford – Caught in the Skinner crash, Rusty ran
strong despite battle damage, but again the Fords are in trouble this
Speedweeks.

#10 JOHNNY BENSON – Morton-Bowers-Valvoline Pontiac – Curiously, Benson
hasn’t really shown great muscle so far this Daytona.

#6 MARK MARTIN, Roush Racing Ford – It looked like he just flat gave up and
quit his Twin.

#17 MATT KENSETH, Roush Racing Ford – Also victimized by the cloud hanging
over Ford this year.

#21 ELLIOTT SADLER, Wood Brothers Ford – No speed shown this week.

#77 DAVE BLANEY, Doug Bawel Ford – Showed some muscle but was knocked out in
the Skinner wreck.

#32 RICKY CRAVEN, Cal Wells Ford – Almost didn’t make it.

So we now enter the big three days of Speedweeks – the Trucks and IROC, Grand
National, and the 500. Keep your fingers crossed.