The formation of the 2001 Winston Cup rookie class has been a work in progress.
Before the season, four rookies had signed up for the program, which awards a $1,000 weekly prize to the highest finishing rookie in each race as well as maintains the statistics to help decide the rookie of the year.
Atwood
Those four Casey Atwood, Ron Hornaday, Andy Houston and Kurt Busch were in place in January.
Jason Leffler was added to the class when he left Joe Gibbs Racing's Grand National series ride a year early to join Chip Ganassi Racing in the Winston Cup series.
That group, growing in stature almost weekly, picked up a sixth member last month when Grand National series driver Kevin Harvick was tapped to take over for the late Dale Earnhardt. The seven-time Winston Cup champion was killed in a last-lap wreck at the Daytona 500 Feb. 18.
Here's a look at the six contenders for rookie of the year.
Kevin Harvick
Harvick, who was already planning to join Earnhardt and Mike Skinner at Richard Childress Racing in 2002, is off to an earlier-than-expected start, much like Leffler.
The changes have altered the face of the rookie class, as Harvick has assumed the role as favorite to capture rookie of the year honors, both because of his talent and his strong team.
In fact, in his first two outings in the series Feb. 26 at Rockingham and March 4 at Las Vegas Harvick has captured rookie-of-the-race honors.
Busch
Missing the season opener at Daytona shouldn't hurt Harvick's quest for the rookie title, because each of the drivers gets their worst 15 finishes dropped at the end of the season.
"I want that rookie title. It feels a lot like last season running for it against Ron Hornaday," said Harvick, who won Grand National series rookie honors over Hornaday last year. "It's going to be tough to take again, but we want a set of matching titles. It's something you get to have and look back on and get to say, 'Hey, I might have been the best new guy. They gave me the title, I guess I was.'"
Last season in the Grand National series, Harvick won three races, scored eight top-five and 16 top-10 finishes and placed third in series points. Harvick also won two poles, set the record for most laps led by a rookie with 665 and set the record for most points with 4,113.
Kurt Busch
Busch is also a former rookie of the year winner in a NASCAR series, earning the honor last season in the Truck series. He was tapped by owner Jack Roush to take over the No. 97 Fords and has performed admirably. In three races, he's finished 41st, 37th and 11th.
"I think this rookie class will be as good as the past few rookie classes. A lot of the guys have different driving backgrounds, but they're all solid competitors," Busch said. "Now we can add Jason Leffler and Kevin Harvick to the mix, and I think that will make us stronger. I think that two or three rookies will win races this year, and if that is how people measure success, then, yes, we will be as good as previous rookie classes."
Casey Atwood
Atwood finds himself in the eye of the media this season as one of Ray Evernham's two drivers in the Winston Cup series, along with veteran Bill Elliott. Evernham has led the development of the new Dodge Intrepid and serves as a car owner for the first time.
Harvick
Atwood has proved himself a quick learner. He became the Grand National series' youngest pole winner, when he won the pole for the Nashville race in 1998 at the age of 17. In 1999, he became the series' youngest race winner, winning at Milwaukee at the age of 18 years, 10 months and nine days.
"It seems like yesterday I was running go-carts or late models at home. I got the opportunity to get into a (Grand National) car when I was 17 and from there it has just took off," Atwood said. "I've only been racing those cars for two years and I'm getting the opportunity to go Winston Cup and I've been real lucky all along the way.
"This was the right opportunity for me. Nobody in their right mind would pass it up to work with Ray Evernham and what he's done with Jeff Gordon with the 47 wins and three Winston Cup championships."
Andy Houston
Houston was tapped by PPI owner Cal Wells last season for his Winston Cup operation, joining Ricky Craven.
Houston also came from the Truck series, where he finished last season with two wins, 13 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes in 24 starts. He also made five Winston Cup starts last season, with his best finish 26th at Charlotte.
"This is like anything you do. It's just like going to a new job," Houston said. "It takes a while to get figure out the whole procedure. I think by the time I get back to Daytona around the Fourth of July, I hope I'll have it all figured out."
Hornaday
Jason Leffler
Leffler was expected to contend for the Grand National series title this season driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. But after Leffler made known his intentions to leave Gibbs at the end of the 2001 season to join Chip Ganassi Racing in the Winston Cup series, Gibbs released him from the team.
The move allowed Leffler to join the Winston Cup ranks a year earlier than expected. It may take him time to adjust, but the added experience should prove valuable.
"I'd just like to get as much experience as possible this year, and not make too many mistakes," Leffler said. "It's definitely going to be a learning year. If I do make mistakes, I'd like to learn from them so they won't happen again."
Ron Hornaday
The oldest of the rookies at 42, Hornaday has a vast array of racing experience. Hornaday is a two-time champion of the NASCAR Truck series and gave Harvick a spirited battle for rookie-of-the-year honors in the Grand National series last season.
Hornaday lost his Grand National ride when Dale Earnhardt Inc. decided to field three Winston Cup teams in 2001, adding Michael Waltrip to the mix. Hornaday wasn't without a ride long, however, getting tapped to take over A.J. Foyt's No. 14 Pontiacs this season.
In three races so far this season, Hornaday has finished 17th, 25th and a career-best ninth last weekend at Las Vegas.
Houston
Leffler
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