Rockingham
Dateline: 2/22/99The spring race in Rockingham is the first race of the "serious" NASCAR Winston Cup season as the teams get over the hype of Daytona and settle down to the weekly business of racing.
Championship Shuffle
The 1999 Winston Cup title chase has already proven to be a struggle for many of the pre-season favorites. With Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin both getting caught up in an incident last week and Jeff Gordon sidelined with engine troubles this week the obvious favorites are all scrambling to stake their claim on the big prize.
The result is that no-prayer-of-staying-there Mike Skinner has assumed the points lead. This little statistical anomaly will be quickly rectified as the legitimate title contenders will shuffle Skinner back out of the top ten in points by the time the racers pull in to Bristol in April.
"Rock" Solid
Was Jeff Gordon's engine failure on Sunday a "Loy Allen" quality fluke? Or could it be the beginning of some long overdue bad luck for Jeff Gordon? Statistics reaching back as far as Daytona 1995 are only able to uncover two other races where Jeff Gordon blew the engine, one in 1996 and another one in 1997. Might there actually be a chink in the armor? Or will we have to wait until 2001 to see oil streaming from another Hendrick motor?
Do you think that this is the beginning of the end for Jeff Gordon? Think Mike Skinner will win the Cup in 1999? Stop by the bulletin boards and let me know what you think. Or you can swing by the chat room Wednesday night from 8-9pm EST to talk about this and anything else NASCAR.
