http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Nextel-Cup-Champions_Summary.html en-us http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Nascar_26780.html Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:39:34 CST
Bobby Labonte is the younger brother of two times Winston Cup Champion Terry Labonte. Bobby began racing quarter-midgets in Texas in 1969. He graduated to go-karts in 1978. He ran Late Model Stocks where he won a championship at Caraway Speedway in 1987. He also ran Late Model Sportsman. His NASCAR Busch Grand National debut came in 1990. In 1991 he won the BGN Championship in the #44 car owned by his Father. He almost repeated in 1992 - but - lost to Joe Nemechek by only 3 points.

In 1993 Bobby made the move to Winston Cup. He joined Bill Davis Racing and the #22 Maxwell House team. In his first year, he qualified for all 30 races - finishing 19th in the final points standings. He won his 1st pole position in the September race at Richmond. His best finishes were 7th at Michigan in August and at Dover in September. The next season, Labonte did not improve on his points finish, but won the championship in the Busch Series as a car owner when David Green finished first in the standings.

At the end of the season, Labonte departed to drive the #18Interstate batteries Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing. Labonte picked up his first three career wins and finished tenth in points. He also won two poles at Michigan and Martinsville. In 1996, Labonte did not win until the season-ending NAPA 500 the same race where his brother Terry won the championship. After winning the NAPA 500 again the following season, Labonte won the pole at the Daytona 500as well as races at Talladega Superspeedway and Atlanta, finishing eighth in points.

In1999, Labonte won five Winston Cup races, the most he has ever won in a single season. He finished second in the points to Dale Jarret losing the championship by over 200 points. During the season, he suffered a broken shoulder in an accident while qualifying for a Busch Series race at Darlington Raceway, but raced in the Cup event two days later. The next year, he won four more times and clinched the championship over Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Burton.

The 2002 season, he only won once at Martinsville and finished sixteenth in points, the first time he'd finished outside the top-ten since 1996. He recovered briefly in 2003 winning two races and four poles en route to an eighth place points finish. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Nascar_26122.html Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:36:00 CST
Jeff Michael Gordon is an American race car driver born in 1971, in Vallejo, California. Gordon is a four- time NASCAR Winston Cup (NEXTEL Cup) Series champion and driver of the # 24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

He began racing at the age of five, before 18, Gordon had already won three short-track races and was awarded USAC Midget car Racing Rookie of the Year in 1989. The next year Gordon won the USAC Midget title and in 1991 he moved up to the USAC Silver Crown, title that he won at the age of 20 becoming the youngest driver to win it.

Gordon then went on to spend two successful years in the NASCAR Busch Series in 1991 and 1992, driving for Bill Davis Racing (with whom he set a NASCAR record by capturing 11 poles in one season). By 1993, Gordon raced his first full season in Winston cup for Hendrick Motorsports, in which he won a Twin 125 Daytona 500 qualifying race, the Rookie of the Year award and finished 14th in points.

Jeff Gordon collected his first career victory at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in the Coca Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest and most demanding race. Additionally, Gordon scored a popular hometown victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the inaugural Brickyard 400. Finally, in 1995, at the age of 24, Gordon won the first of four NASCAR Winston Cup Championships. He also became the first NASCAR driver with four Brickyard 400 victories at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and one of the only four drivers to have four victories at the historic track.

He is regarded as one of NASCAR's best drivers because he achieved so much at such a young age. At thirty five, midway through the 2006 Nextel Cup season, Gordon has accumulated 75 Nextel Cup victories and is currently seventh on the all-time list. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Nascar_25867.html Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:31:48 CST
Floyd Anthony Raines born April 14, 1964 and is an American NASCAR driver. Born in LaPorte, Indiana, he drives the #96 Texas Instruments Chevy for Hall of Fame Racing.In 1988, Raines competed in five ASA races, and then returned for his rookie year in 1989. In 1990, Raines moved to NASCAR's All Pro Series, where he won Rookie of the Year and finished fourth in the final standings. He returned to ASA in 1991 for a four-year stint as driver of a new team formed by Ernie Roselli. In 1995, he had moved to join crew chief Howie Lettow and Baker Motorsports. That in turn led to the 1996 championship and Tony's first major NASCAR Ride. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Nascar_25815.html Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:26:26 CST
Kurt Busch was born in August 4th, 1978 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This NASCAR driver pilots the # 2 Miller Lite Dodge in Nextel Cup Series and part time in Busch Series driving the # 39 Penske Truck Rental Dodge. In 2004, he won the NASCAR Nextel Cup series championship, his first NASCAR championship at any level.

Kurt was a competitor in the NASCAR Autozone Elite Division Southwest Tour and gained his first national exposure whilst competing against drivers like Ron Hornaday and Matt Crafton in the 1998 Winter Heat Series at Tucson Raceway Park. Busch began racing on the Winston Cup Circuit in 2000, at the age of 21 replacing Chris Tricke who was injured in a mysterious shooting.

In 2002 Busch registered four wins, 12 Top 5s, 20 Top 10s and one pole, his rank for that season was in the third position. Busch had an up and down year in 2003, earning four wins, nine top 5s and 14 top 10s while finishing a disappointing 11th in the standings, although he collected US$5 million dollars that year.

Halfway through the 2006 season, his first racing for Penske, he has taken one win at Bristol Motor Speedway, and has collected 7 top 10 finishes. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Nascar_25454.html Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:24:31 CST
Born in 1972, in Cambridge, Wisconsin, Matthew Roy Kenseth is a stock car racing driver for the Roush racing team in NASCAR’s Nextel Cup series. Matt began stock car racing in 1988 at the age of 16, and won the feature in his third night of racing.

Kenseth made a name for himself while driving at several Wisconsin tracks for Mike Butz in the # 8 late model, beating nationally known drivers such as Dick Trickle and Robbie Raiser. In 1994 and 1995 he won the track championships at Wisconsin International Raceway. Likewise, track championships at Madison International Speedway, including the 1994 late model track championship over Robbie Reiser.

In 1996, Kenseth made his Busch Series debut at Lowe’s motor Speedway with car owner Carl Wegner. The Following year he was called by Robbie Reiser, his former competitor and rival, to fill a free place. The combination proved successful, cumulating in a second and third place finishes in the Busch points. In his Winston Cup series debut in 1998, he finished sixth, the third best position of any driver.

By 2000 Matt joined the Rosh Racing organization, where he won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, and is still the only rookie to win the famed 600 mile event.  In 2003 he dominated in the points standings for almost the entire season and became the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup champion, the last driver to ever hold that title. In so doing, he also became only the second Wisconsinite to win the championship. Kenseth also had a series best 25 top 10 finishes.

Kenseth has driven his whole NASCAR Nextel/Winston Cup career in the # 17 Ford car, which has been sponsored by De Walt Power Tools and owned by teammate Mark Martin of Roush Racing. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Nascar_25380.html Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:12:43 CST
Dale Arnold Jarret was born in Newton, North Carolina, in 1956. He is an American driver who currently races in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series exclusively. He began racing in 1977 at Hickory Motor Speedway, a track his father, the two- time NASCAR Grand National champion Ned Jarret, owned and operated.

In 1984 Jarret made his first Cup debut, driving the # 02 Chevrolet for Emanuel Zervakis at the Martinsville Speedway, where he qualified 24th and finished 14th. He made two more Cup starts that season, at the Firecracker 400 for Jimmy Means, and the Warner W. Hodgdon American 500. Jarret won six poles in 1986, his first career with Busch race at Orange County Speedway in the Nationwise Auto Parts.

Jarrett began 1990 without a ride before taking over the #21 Citgo ford Thunderbird for Wood Brothers Racing at the Valleydale Meats 500 replacing the injured Neil Bonnet. He finished in the top-ten seven times during the season and finished 25th in the final standings despite missing the first five races of the season. The following season, Jarrett won his first career Winston Cup race at Michigan International Speedway and finished a then career-best 17th in the final standings. In that decade, Jarret also run for Joe Gibbs, and Robert Yates. With his # 28 Texaco Ford he won his first race for Yates at Pocono Raceway, the Daytona 500, the Coca Cola 600 and the Brickyard 400, and the Winston Cup title in 1999. Following this title, Dale won The Daytona 500 for the third time.

This year, Jarrett has registered three top-tens and is 24th in points. He and sponsor UPS have announced they will depart Yates Racing at the end of the season to drive a Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007. Indications show that Waltrip Racing is working on getting the #44 from Pretty Enterprises for the UPS Toyota Camry in 2007. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Nascar_25285.html Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:05:04 CST
Alan Kulwicki was an American NASCAR driver, born in Wisconsin, in 1954. Alan drove the # 7 Ford Thunderbird first sponsored by Zerex and later by Hooters. The success of “Special K” (Kilwicki’s nickname) is attributed to his knowledge in engineering likewise the experience and intuition.

Special K started his career in Wisconsin, where he won the 1973 Rookie of the Year award at the now defunct Hales Corners Speedway dirt track and the1979 and 1980 Late Model track championship. In 1985 Kulwicki moved to the southern United States, where he was a driver, owner and oftentimes his own crew chief. In the 1986, Kulwicki could not find a ride, so he fielded his first Winston Cup racing team as owner and driver. With just two cars, two engines and two full-time crew members, he won the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.

A year later, he won his first NASCAR race at Phoenix International Raceway. He turned around his car, and made his now famous “Polish Victory Lap” by driving the wrong way on the track (driver’s side toward the fans). The final race of 1992 season was one of the most eventful races in NASCAR history. He celebrated his second-ever Polish Victory Lap after claming the five bonus points for leading the most laps against Bill Elliot.

Tragically, Kulwicki was killed at the age 38 in a plane crash on April, 1993 near Blountville, Tennessee, while returning in a Hooters corporate jet from an appearance prior to spring race at Bristol Motor speedway. That season every winner of the season honored Kulwicki with a “Polish Victory Lap”. Tradition which continues in the NASCAR and non-NASCAR drivers. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Nascar_24827.html Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:47:20 CST
Russell William “Rusty” Wallace is a former NASCAR champion, NASCAR Bush Series car owner, and a television broadcaster with the Walt Disney Company. Wallace was born in 1956 in Fenton, Missouri, and had his first live broadcast of the Indy 500 on May 2006.

In the late 70s prior to joining the NASCAR circuit, Wallace made a name by himself racing around the Midwest winning a pair of local track championships. Rusty won more than 200 short track races. He also won United States Auto Club’s (USAC) Rookie of the Years honor in 1979 while competing against the likes of A.J Foyt and other racing legends. In 1983 he won the American Speed association (ASA) championship while competing against some of NASCAR’s future stars.

Wallace joined the Winston Cup circuit full-time in 1984, winning NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors and finishing 14th in the final points standings. In 1986 he switched teams to the # 27 Alugard Pontiac for Raymond Beadle. His first win came at Bristol Motor Speedway. In 1987, Rusty obtained a new sponsorship which made his career more remembered with his #27, Kodiak Pontiac.

By 1989, Wallace had won the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship, beating out to close friend and fierce rival Dale Earnhardt by twelve points. In the 1990s Wallace switched sponsors, and had his most successful season in 1993 when he won 10 of the 30 races, but finished second in the final points standings, 80 points behind Earnhardt. He ended the season strong, finishing in the Top- 3 in all but second of the final ten races of the season.

In 2004, Wallace won his 55th, and final, race on a short track: the 2004 spring Martinsville speedway race. On August 30, 2004 Wallace announced that his last season as a full-time driver would be the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Currently, Rusty registers 55 NASCAR wins, which is tied for 8th on NASCAR’s all time wins list. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Nascar_24728.html Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:46:20 CST
William Clyde “Bill” Elliot was born in October 8th, 1955 in Dawsonville, Georgia. He is a part-time driver in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup series who currently drives the # 00 Burger King Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Bill made his first Winston Cup start at Rockingham in 1976. In 1983, Elliot gained financial support from Harry Melling of Melling racing and earned his first Winston Cup win at Riverside the same year. The following year his career was supported by the sponsorship from Coors.

During 1985 Elliot earned the nicknames “Wild Bill”, “Million Dollar Bill” and “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville” because of the 11 wins and 11 poles likewise the first Winston Million in the Southern 500 at Darlington. This also led to him becoming the first NASCAR driver to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Despite his success during that time, Elliot did not win the Winston Cup Championship until 1988. When he left the Melling Racing team, in 1991, he began driving the # 11 Budweiser Ford Thunderbird for the legendary Junior Johnson. For that season, Elliot finished second in the points standings and lost the Winston Cup Championship to Alan Kulwicki by only 10 points.

After a not very successful period during 1995 and 2000, Elliot began driving the # 9 Dodge Dealers / UAW Dodge Intrepid. In his first qualifying effort while driving the # 9 Dodge, Elliot won the pole for the 2001 Daytona 500. Later in the season, he won the Pennzoil Freedom 400 at Homestead from the pole, which was the first win since the 1994 Mountain Dew Southern 500.

Throughout his career, Elliott has garnered 44 wins in the Cup series, including 2 victories in the Daytona 500, as well as one Busch Series win at Watkins Glen. Elliott is the current holder of the track qualifying record at Texas. Elliott also holds the track record at both Talladega and Daytona, neither of which is likely to be broken due to the current use of restrictor plates at both tracks. Also, he has won NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver Award a record 16 times, which he last won in 2002. He withdrew his name from the ballot after that and the award will be renamed after Elliott when he officially retires from the sport. http://www.bigsportsfanatics.com/articles/Nascar_24679.html Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:45:46 CST
Bobby Allison was a NASCAR championship driver and was named one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers. He was born in Miami, in 1937 and entered his first race as a senior while he was in high school.

During the course of his career, Bobby Allison accumulated 84 victories, which ties him for third all-time with Darrel Waltrip, including three victories at the Daytona 500 in1978, 1982 and 1988, where he finished one-two with his son, Davey Allison. He was also the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship in 1983. Additionally, Allison ran in the Indianapolis 500 twice, with a best finish of 25th in 1975.

Officially, according to NASCAR.com, Bobby Allison has won 84 races, placing him in third place on the all-time wins list. Unofficially, Bobby Allison has won 85 races, and should be possibly being credited with 86 wins. The controversy lies in two races: the 1971 Myers Brothers 250 held at Bowman Gray Stadium, and the 1973 National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

On June 19, 1988, Bobby Allison nearly died in a crash at Pocono Raceway, but was left with injuries that forced his retirement from NASCAR. He was elected to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993, tragically, the same year that his son Davey died in a helicopter accident at Talladega Super speedway.

Bobby Allison is one of eight drivers to have won a career Grand Slam, by winning the sport’s four majors. After his retirement Bobby was car owner for numerous from drivers from 1990 to 1996, most remarkably Hut Stricklin, Derrike Cope, Neil Bonnett, and Jimmy Spencer.