The 2001 Rookie Class© Thomas M. Sampson
Dec 25, 2000
MERRY
CHRISTMAS
Merry Christmas! A look at the 2001 rookie class, and a tale of justice during the holiday season.
2001 Rookie Contenders...........
Ron Hornaday
Ron has a very good chance of scoring his first Winston Cup win next season with AJ Foyt Racing. He will be piloting the No. 14 CONSECO Pontiac that Rick Mast drove for more than half the season in 2000. I think Mast did a lot to help turn that team in the right direction, and that is a big plus for Hornaday. As I stated in a previous article, AJ has a winner with Ron Hornaday. Ron has won races in every NASCAR series he has competed in, and I seriously doubt that Cup racing will be the exception. But, in all fairness, it has turned out that way for a lot of aspiring drivers.
Ron came up through the ranks of the Winston West and Featherlite Southwest Series, winning two championships in the Featherlite Series, 1992-93. He was discovered racing in the televised Winter Heat Series at Tucson Raceway Park, by Dale Earnhardt Inc. He won 23 races and two championships in the Craftsman Truck Series for the Earnhardts before moving into the No. 3 Busch Series ride vacated by Dale Earnhardt Jr. In the 2000 season Ron scored two wins, six top-five, and 12 top-ten finishes. His average starting position out of 32 races was 17th, and his average finishing position was 15th.
A lot of fans think that Ron got the dirty end of the stick at DEI. None of us want to put ourselves into the position of trying to second-guess Dale Earnhardt. There may come a time in the not too distant future that will see Ron back with DEI. Considering AJ Foyt's disposition, and Michael Waltrip's penchant for undesirable luck, Ron could one day end up behind the wheel of a DEI Winston Cup Chevrolet.
Kurt Busch
Kurt Busch started his racing career a mere six years ago. But, like Hornaday, he is a proven winner in every series he has raced in. In his first year of racing, he won six races and Rookie of the Year honors in the Dwarf Car Series Nevada, and won the series championship in 1995. Kurt won Legends Car National Rookie of the Year in 1996, Featherlite Southwest Series Rookie of the Year in 1998, and the Featherlite Southwest Series Championship in 1999.
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