2002 in review

Writers reflect on memorable events of past season

David Poole

Poole covers NASCAR for The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer.

  • Best driver: Tony Stewart. For lack of a compelling reason to choose anyone else, you have to go with the Winston Cup champion.
  • Best race: The Daytona 500. It had a little bit of everything, including Sterling Marlin’s “spacewalk” outside his Dodge on the red flag. It was a nice moment for Ward Burton and Bill Davis Racing, too.
  • Best moment: When Larry Hicks found Jack Roush on his third dive into that lake in Alabama, brought him up and saved Roush’s life.
  • Biggest mistake: Naming Ryan Newman rookie of the year. He deserved the award, but so did Jimmie Johnson. There’s no reason they shouldn’t have shared it.
  • Something to look forward to: The spring race at Bristol in 2003 will be the 2000th race in the history of NASCAR’s top series.
  • Mark Martin is showered with dollar bills after earning the No Bull 5 million dollar bonus for winning the 2002 Coca-Cola 600, his first win in two years.

  • If I were NASCAR, I would: Spend some of the millions of dollars I’m raking in to solve the aero push problem. It’s not that the drivers don’t want to race, it’s that the engineers aren’t letting them.

Jim Utter

Utter covers NASCAR for www.thatsracin.com.

  • Best driver: Tony Stewart gets the nod for winning the Winston Cup championship. Give rookie Ryan Newman some blown engines back and who knows what might have happened.
  • Best race: Jeff Gordon bumping Rusty Wallace on the final lap to win the August night race at Bristol, ending his career-long 31-race winless streak.
  • Best moment: Jamie McMurray, in just his second Winston Cup start while substituting for the injured Sterling Marlin, winning the October race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in a down-to-the-wire battle with veteran Bobby Labonte.
  • Best track: Michigan International Speedway. The track easily produced the best races this season ” Matt Kenseth’s late-race duel with Dale Jarrett to win the June race and Jarrett’s return to Victory Lane in the August event.
  • Worst moment: Lap 1, Turn 1, Pocono Raceway, July 28. Steve Park and Dale Earnhardt Jr. wreck and ram the inside wall, with Park’s Chevrolet barrel rolling several times before coming to a rest on its side. Thankfully, no one was injured.
  • Most underrated driver: Sterling Marlin. Even when he led the Winston Cup series points for 20-odd weeks, he never seemed to attract the respect he deserved. For the two years since he joined Chip Ganassi and Dodge, he’s been among the best drivers in the series.

Jim McLaurin

McLaurin covers NASCAR for The State in Columbia, S.C.

  • Best driver: Tony Stewart, driver. Not company spokesperson, not TV personality, not media darling, not fan favorite. Driver.
  • Best race: For the total package, the Coca-Cola 600. Mark Martin’s win after a two-year drought was special. It gets extra points for Martin’s slide through the grass afterward.
  • Best moment: Car owner Ray Evernham getting choked up on TV after Bill Elliott’s victory in the Brickyard 400.
  • Biggest mistake: Sterling Marlin’s decision to get out of his car to check for damage on a red flag stop during the Daytona 500. Sterling, stay in the car!
  • Strangest occurrence: Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin playing bumper tag on the parade lap at Talladega. Weird factor of 10.
  • If I were NASCAR, I would: Give Bruton Smith a Texas race date and tell him to call off the dogs.

Mike Brudenell

Brudenell covers NASCAR for the Detroit Free Press.

  • Best driver: Kurt Busch, who finished the season hotter than a chili pepper. He’ll take a ton of beating next year, when his voice breaks and he finally starts shaving.
  • Best race: The Brickyard 400, where Bill Elliott outdueled the young guns to win an emotional race. Elliott and team owner Ray Evernham showed later it’s OK for grown men to cry.
  • Best moment: Johnny Benson’s victory ” his first in the Winston Cup series ” at Rockingham. Never has there been a fairer racer than Benson, who’d rather finish second than wreck a fellow driver.
  • Dopey moves: Those drivers who threw gloves, helmets and other race equipment at rivals on the track. They get an IQ rating of 50, which ranks them as morons.
  • Worst moment: Watching the louts hurl rubbish at cars at Daytona during the Pepsi 400 in July. Caged monkeys are better behaved.
  • Best recovery: Jack Roush, who crashed his plane in Alabama in April and lived to talk about it. Roush, who was up and around in a couple of weeks, is flying his World War II P-51 fighter again.

Bill Fleischman

Fleischman covers NASCAR for the Philadelphia Daily News.

  • Best driver: Tony Stewart. He opened the season by finishing last in the Daytona 500, had six other DNFs, but still won his first title. Remarkable.
  • Best race: Food City 500 at Bristol, when Kurt Busch edged Jimmy Spencer.
  • Best moment: Ray Evernham’s emotional reaction to Bill Elliott winning the Brickyard 400.
  • Biggest mistake: Sterling Marlin climbing out of his leading car under a red-flag condition in the Daytona 500 to check on damage. NASCAR penalized him for a rules infraction, costing him the race.
  • Most needed change: Race winners should receive more points.
  • Worst timing: Mark Martin’s 25-point penalty after the October race at Rockingham made it almost impossible for him to overtake points leader Tony Stewart.
  • Most missed TV personality: Buddy Baker. Fox or NBC/Turner should find a place for his humor and story telling.