Busch veterans set for transition to Winston Cup

Thursday, March 2, 2000 | 9:13 a.m.

The NASCAR Busch Series has become a vital feeder system for NASCAR's premier circuit, the Winston Cup Series. Drivers take the lessons learned on the Busch Series tour in hopes of them excelling in Winston Cup.

That will be extremely evident this season as four top Busch Series regulars move up to the ranks of the Winston Cup Series and campaign for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors.

Leading the list is Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will wheel the No. 8 Chevrolet out of his father's Winston Cup Series shop, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. He will be followed to NASCAR's elite tour by Matt Kenseth, Dave Blaney and Jeff Fuller.

The 25-year-old Earnhardt, Jr. will enter the 2000 season as the two-time Busch Series champion with the hopes of becoming the second Earnhardt to hold the Rookie of the Year trophy. Dale Earnhardt won the coveted honor in 1979 and then became the only driver in NASCAR history to back it up with a Winston Cup championship the following year.

Earnhardt, Jr. had five Winston Cup starts in 1999 as a precursor to his 2000 run and feels, thanks to his Busch Series experience, he can compete at the highest level of stock car racing.

"I have a pretty decent idea of where our team stands as a new team and how far we have to go to run up front every weekend," the younger Earnhardt said.

"I enjoyed the (Winston Cup) races we ran. We were decent at Charlotte and pretty good at Richmond. There were 'flash-in-the-pan' times during each weekend where the car was competitive, and we hit on a few things that made the car run good. I did see that we had a long way to go in our knowledge of the Winston Cup car versus what we would do to the Busch Series car."

But Earnhardt, Jr. wouldn't trade his Busch Series experience for any other form of motor sports as a learning tool for the Winston Cup Series.

Tony Stewart, the 1999 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year, showed just what Busch Series schooling can do for a driver. Stewart got a little more than 30 starts in the series then took off like a rocket in Winston Cup, winning three times.

"What Tony did gives us a chance to seriously believe we can possibly win some races," Earnhardt Jr. said. "Prior to Tony's season, I probably wouldn't have thought that. If we do or don't, it doesn't really matter. What matters is the kind of experience I feel I gained and if I improve and the team improves.

"I don't think we'll be able to match Tony's accomplishments. Tony had a super year, rookie or not. I was pretty happy to see Tony have the year he did."

Kenseth enjoyed two outstanding years in the Busch Series and now has a full-time ride with Jack Roush Racing, which will field five cars in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 2000. The young Wisconsin driver has a racing mentor in veteran Mark Martin, Roush's flagship driver.

When asked if Kenseth can make it in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, Martin just laughed.

"It's an extremely tough step," Martin said. "That's why most of them can't make that step because it's so big and hard. But Matt will make it and so will Earnhardt Jr."

Kenseth already boasts two top-10 finishes in the Winston Cup Series. In 1998, he piloted Bill Elliott's No. 94 Ford to an eighth-place finish and last year, as a relief driver for an injured Bobby Labonte, he finished 10th at Darlington Raceway. Additionally, he raced in Roush equipment five times last season.

"The NASCAR Busch Series is a real good training ground for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series because we go to all the same race tracks with the exception of a few, and we run the same tire everywhere," Kenseth said.

"That helps a lot. And, we race against a lot of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series guys, that's has to help, too.'

Blaney will be attacking NASCAR's premier series in Pontiacs. Blaney will run for Bill Davis Racing, which has campaigned Ward Burton for several years as a single-car team.

"The NASCAR Busch Series is the best training ground," Blaney said. "Just look at Tony Stewart: He ran the series for a few years but that helped him get used to stock cars, and Jeff Gordon ran a few years ... then there's Mark Martin and Dale Jarrett. Pretty much all the guys who have success now run the NASCAR Busch Series at least a little bit before going into the NASCAR Winston Cup Series."

Blaney, who came up through the open-wheel ranks, said he likes the feel and extra power offered in the Winston Cup cars. He spent the last two years racing for Davis in the Busch Series.

"I do like the way the NASCAR Winston Cup Series cars feel and drive," the 37-year-old driver said. "That part excites me and gives me a little more confidence.

"We've got a good partner with the No. 22 team (Burton). They're getting better and better all the time. They are pretty much honed in on what to do with these race cars. We're all in the same shop right now. All that stuff has been sitting side-by-side. It's the same group of guys working on the same cars. I feel real good because Ward finished in the top 10 last year."

Former Busch Series veteran Jeff Fuller also is competing for Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 2000. Fuller is driving the No. 27 Viagra-sponsored Pontiac for Eel River Racing.

"This is an unbelievable opportunity," Fuller said. "I'll be competing with the best of the best, and that's every drivers dream. The competition for Rookie of the Year will be rough, and I hope to be among the front runners."

Fuller has competed in the Busch Series since 1992. In 1995, he was awarded the Rookie of the Year honor and grabbed his first victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 1996.