Diehard 500 winner could be anyone

Terry Blount

Sunday, April 16, 2000 | 2:52 a.m.

TALLADEGA, Ala - For the first time in the 52-year history of NASCAR, a season has started with eight different winners in the first eight races. In the NFL, they call that parity. In NASCAR, they call it prosperity.

Dale Earnhardt will try to become the first driver in 24 years to win three consecutive races at the Talladega Superspeedway when he starts the Diehard 500 today from the second row.

But the trend for the 2000 season would appear to be against Earnhardt - the restrictor-plate racing master - since no driver has won twice so far this year.

It has revitalized a series dominated by a select group the past few years.

"I've got to believe this is good for the sport," said Ken Schrader, a driver who hasn't won since 1991. "It's definitely better than seeing the same person win every week."

In the previous three seasons, four drivers - Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin and Jeff Burton - accounted for 64 percent of the victories. In 1998, Gordon and Martin combined to win 20 of the 33 races.

If you picked one of those drivers, you had a better than 50-50 chance of being right, but not this year. The series already has 18 drivers in 2000 who have posted at least one top-five finish.

The parity also is showing up in qualifying. On Friday at Talladega, Jeremy Mayfield became the seventh different driver to win the pole this season. But Mayfield is not one of the eight drivers who have won this year.

"There's a lot of drivers out there capable of winning that haven't won yet," Schrader said. "It shows how competitive things are now. Most teams out here are capable of winning on a good day."

Among the non-winners this season are Gordon, Tony Stewart and Terry Labonte, three drivers who accounted for 11 wins last season. Other drivers capable of winning this year include Mike Skinner, Mayfield and rookie Matt Kenseth.

Hendrick Motorsports, with Gordon, Labonte and new team member Jerry Nadeau, has won four of the last five Winston Cup championships and taken the checkered flag in 55 races. But the prestigious team has yet to win this season.

That could mean the 2000 season is well on its way to setting a NASCAR record for most winners in one season. Winston Cup had 14 different winners in three seasons of the modern era - 1988, '90 and '91. The series had six winners after eight races in 1988 and seven winners after eight races in 1990 and '91.

The circuit would need seven new winners in the last 26 races this season to set a record. Kevin Triplett, NASCAR's director of operations, not only thinks that's possible, he believes it's likely to happen.

"We still have some dominant teams, but there's more competition now," Triplett said. "We have 25 to 30 cars that are capable of winning on any given day. I don't see how that's a bad thing."

Triplett was referring to how some NFL fans consider parity a dirty word. Last season was a prime example when St. Louis and Tennessee made it to the Super Bowl instead of the traditional powers.

But most NASCAR fans want to watch a race where as many drivers as possible have a legitimate shot at winning.

"When one guy wins a lot of races, people start talking about that guy winning too much," Triplett said. "When you have eight winners in eight races, people say there's no dominant team and they wonder who is going to take charge. That situation generates a lot of interest."

One thing that has helped even the field this season is a decision NASCAR officials made after the Ford Taurus drivers dominated the Daytona 500. NASCAR allowed the teams with the new 2000 model Chevrolet Monte Carlo to add two inches to the front air dam.

Things have balanced out since then with two victories for Chevrolet, two for Pontiac and four for Ford.

But the Fords still may have an advantage in a restrictor-plate race. They took the top three qualifying spots and four of the top five for today's event. Only Earnhardt, the man they say can see air, breaks up the Ford show up front.

A victory by "The Intimidator" would equal Buddy Baker's three consecutive Talladega victories in 1975 and '76.

"Our team really has come together," Earnhardt said. "I think we're finally starting to understand the aerodynamics of this Monte Carlo. The Fords still are better and no one has won twice yet (this year), but they better not write me off here."