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EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
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Change is inevitable New for 2001: Anything but your father's Winston Cup
By B. Duane Cross, CNNSI.com So what's new for 2001? No Bill France Jr. No Rainbow Warriors, but the return of Ray Evernham and Dodge. One-day qualifying; no second chances. No Darrell Waltrip on the track, but plenty of D.W. in the booth. The NASCAR Winston Cup season beckons with "change is good" as the catchphrase.
Helton, 47, entered the sport in 1980 as public relations director at Atlanta International Raceway. He also has served as director of promotions at Daytona International Speedway and general manager and president at Talladega Superspeedway before moving to NASCAR's administrative offices in '94. In 2000, 17 of the top 20 best-attended sporting events in the United States were NASCAR races, and sponsors annually pay as much as $15 million to racing teams to have their logos emblazoned on their cars. "I think this sport is on a good track, and I just don't want to screw up anything," Helton said. One change to be implemented under Helton's watch is one-day qualifying. Starting this season, drivers will only get one chance to qualify for race spots. Helton said there was little meaningful activity by drivers hoping to make the field in second-day qualifying. Most cars qualify on speed or provisional spots based on car-owner points. "Wow, I guess this means you only have one lap to get it right now in qualifying," driver Johnny Benson said. "That's going to be kind of exciting."
"I still pick up the phone and call Rick and ask for his advice on some things," Evernham said. "I certainly learned a lot by watching him work with the business side. A lot of people don't think about that until you're faced with it. "The things that get you are what you don't know that you don't know." Hendrick, who was ready to make Evernham his team's general manager before he decided to go his own way, is certain his former employee will continue to be a rousing success. "Nobody works harder than Ray or is more determined to succeed," Hendrick said. "Most important, he truly understands stock-car racing. He'll learn the business part. When he does, he's going to be tough to beat."
"I'm very excited to take Pepsi back to the Winston Cup series and to continue our partnership for the next five years," Gordon said. "We had two great years in the Busch series with the No. 24 Pepsi car and look forward to the two paint-out races this season." Pepsi has been involved with Winston Cup since the sport's 1948 inception. Pepsi serves its products at 18 of the 23 Winston Cup series tracks and is the title sponsor of Winston Cup series races in Daytona (Pepsi 400), Brooklyn, Mich. (Pepsi 400) and Darlington, S.C. (Pepsi Southern 500).
Racing great Cale Yarborough nicknamed Waltrip "Jaws" after listening to D.W. yak about everything that was wrong with NASCAR's rules and attitudes -- and after trading paint with the brash youngster many times. "The man could flat talk," Yarborough said. "I guess what really made a lot of people mad was that he talked and talked and he backed it up on the racetrack. He sure wasn't shy about anything." "When I got to NASCAR, I was only saying what was on my mind," Waltrip said. "I guess there were a lot of people, including Big Bill France, who didn't like that very much." Waltrip remains tied for third on the career winner's list with 84 victories, but the last of those came in September 1992 in the Southern 500. The last of his three Winston Cup championships -- all while driving for Junior Johnson -- came in '85. Waltrip's folksy wit should help NASCAR build an audience for its new $2.4 billion TV deal with FOX, NBC and Turner. "I've never felt that I couldn't get in the car and win, and I still don't," Waltrip said prior to the 2000 season-ending NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motorspeedway. "I believe, with the right equipment and the right circumstances, I could still be competitive. But everything has an ending, and it's time for me to step out of the car and do something else. "I won't miss those boos I used to hear, but I sure will miss the cheers." Newspaper reports and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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