| | The Winston Cup season runs from mid-February to the end of November, a 10-month schedule to determine the series champion. Each race is rated equally, each paying 175 points to the winner, plus five "bonus" points for leading a lap. Of course, since you can't win the race without leading a lap, the winner takes home at least 180 points from every event. Oh, and don't forget there are five additional bonus points for leading the most laps.
|  | | Dale Jarrett has set himself up for another strong summer run at the Winston Cup championship. |
Now, if you try to determine how the championship was won by looking at the entire schedule, it becomes a blur of races, stats and facts. But take the schedule, cut it into sections and you'll discover not only when the champion made his move, but where.
My NASCAR 2Day colleague Benny Parsons labeled the last five races, beginning with Dover and ending with Daytona, as "Moving Days." A period of time when the best move into position for the long, hot summer ahead. It's over these five races where a driver positions himself for a possible run at the title.
The last five races paint an interesting portrait of probable contenders for the Winston Cup. From Dover to Daytona, Dale Jarrett did not win a race, but he out-pointed the entire field. As a result, DJ moved the Ford Quality Care Ford from sixth place in points, 146 out of the lead, to third place, just 76 behind Bobby Labonte.
Tony Stewart used the month of June to showcase that impressive form from his freshman season. Stewart went 12 races without winning, then won two in a row and from Dover to Daytona posted five straight top-10s for the only time this season. The result? Stewart was second in points over these five races and the Home Depot Pontiac climbed from 10th to eighth in the standings.
Then there was seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt. He was third in points over the five races, moving up from fourth to a mirror-filling second. In five races, Earnhardt's worst finish came at his best track, Daytona, where the Goodwrench Chevrolet was eighth in the Pepsi 400 last Saturday night.
The only thing Ricky Rudd has won this season is more fans, and a lot of praise for the way he has been driving the Texaco-Havoline Ford. His best finish of the season came during a "Moving Day" third at Pocono. He had four top-fives in the five-race stretch, carrying him from ninth in points to sixth. He remains the only driver in the top 10 without a victory this season.
Bobby Labonte held the point lead heading into Dover, and he still has the point lead. But in the five races he finished fifth in total points.
He had three top-five finishes in the Interstate Batteries Pontiac, was 13th at Pocono and 12th at Daytona. After the five races, his point lead is two points smaller than it was at the beginning of the five races. But, now it's Earnhardt on his bumper instead of Ward Burton.
Rusty Wallace won the pole in three of the five races, but never reached Victory Lane. His third-place run at Daytona was his only top-five finish, and his 26th at Sears Point could certainly haunt him down the stretch -- so too could other races where he started from the pole. Wallace was sixth in total points during these five stops and the Miller Lite driver slipped from a contender in seventh to desperate ninth.
Over the past three races, Jeff Gordon has three top-10 finishes. But in the two races prior to that, he was 14th at Michigan and 32nd at Dover. The DuPont Chevy was seventh in points in our five race relay, and thus fell from seventh to 10th at the midway point of the season.
Jeff Burton's win at Daytona was his only top-five finish in the five races. In fact, he had just two top-10 finishes in the last five races. Starting with Dover, Burton and the Exide Batteries Ford finished 34th, 11th, seventh, 16th and in Victory Lane. The win helped keep him fifth in points, but he finished eighth in total points over the five races and went from 104 points out of first, to 213 point back.
Mike Skinner, despite the fact his best finish in these five races was ninth (three times), moved up a spot from 12th to 11th place in points. Ward Burton was 10th in points during "Moving Days" with no top-five finishes for the Caterpillar Pontiac and two finishes outside the top-20 (27th at Pocono and 21st at Sears Point). As a result, Ward dropped from second in points, 54 behind Labonte, to fourth -- 180 points back.
Two more drivers moving the wrong way over the past five weeks were Mark Martin, 11th in points during the month, and Jeremy Mayfield. Martin tumbled from third to seventh in points, despite three straight top-five finishes. Dover's 36th doomed the Valvoline Ford. A 40th at Michigan also hurt.
Mayfield won the Pocono 500, but that is his only finish better than 37th in the last five races. He was 43rd after crashing in the Pepsi 400. Over these last five races, Mayfield scored just 385 points, just over half of what Labonte scored (751). He's disappeared from 14th in points to 19th.
Looking at the top 11 drivers in points and not figuring in the performance of any other drivers, if this trend repeated itself over the next five races (which may or may not happen), this is how the point race would look five races from now:
Bobby Labonte, 3,278 pts
Dale Jarrett, 3,272
Dale Earnhardt, 3,257
Tony Stewart, 3,084
Ricky Rudd, 3,047
Jeff Burton, 2,956
Ward Burton, 2,939
Rusty Wallace, 2,935
Mark Martin, 2,871
Jeff Gordon, 2,847
Mike Skinner, 2,674
It will interesting to see what happens over the next five events. Obviously, some strong teams have started to show their muscle. Now we'll have to watch to see who can hang onto the top spots, and who can claw their way up the ladder.
After three races in 13 days, the Winston Cup series now races just twice in 34 days. The question for some of these teams, which is going to be tougher, the racing, or the waiting? | |
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