By Dick Mittman
indianapolismotorspeedway.com
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
The beginning of the end for Pontiac's participation in NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing began at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in mid-July 2002.
That's when Tony Stewart came to test for the Brickyard 400. He was more than halfway to winning the Winston Cup championship driving the No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac. But in the garage at Indy that day along with his Pontiac was an unpainted Chevrolet. He drove both during the two days of testing.
On July 14, 2002, at the NASCAR race at Chicagoland Speedway, owner Joe Gibbs announced his team - Stewart and 2000 Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte - was switching to Chevrolet Monte Carlos in 2003. He even hinted the change might be made during the second half of the season, but that didn't happen.
However, preparation of the team's Chevy was far enough along that it could be taken onto the famed Speedway's 2 ½-mile oval and tested at racing speeds.
Stewart went on to capture the Winston Cup title in a Pontiac, but the team already had decided to switch to Chevy. Pontiac's premier team and pair of drivers were moving to the more popular General Motors race car, the Monte Carlo.
That left Pontiac with a depleted lineup of teams for the 2003 season.
On Oct. 28, 2003, GM Racing announced it was throwing all of its eggs in the newly named 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series into the Monte Carlo basket. That left five teams - MBV Motorsports, PPI Motorsports, Haas CNC Racing, Morgan-McClure Motorsports and MB2 Motorsports - looking for another car marque for next year.
Pontiac has competed in the Brickyard 400 during all 10 years of its existence.
Bobby Labonte won the 2000 Brickyard 400 in his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac. He passed Rusty Wallace's Ford in a late-race duel and won by 4.229 seconds. The victory helped catapult him to the Winston Cup championship. Teammate Stewart brought his Pontiac home fifth in the Brickyard 400 that year.
Stewart won the pole for the 2002 Brickyard 400 in a Pontiac with a record speed of 182.960 mph. He also led the first lap of that race to become the first driver to lead the first lap of the both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.
Over the decade of the Brickyard 400, 23 drivers have competed in Pontiacs. Labonte's advancement to Victory Lane in 2000 was no surprise. He finished second in 1997, third in '98 and second in '99 in a Pontiac. In 1998, Ernie Irvan placed sixth and John Andretti seventh in Pontiacs. The next year, Ward Burton was sixth and Stewart seventh in Pontiacs. Stewart came home fifth in Labonte's winning race in 2000.
This year, only four Pontiacs qualified. Johnny Benson was the highest finisher at 13th, followed by Ricky Craven in 17th, Jason Leffler in 33rd and Mike Skinner in 35th. ***
2004 race tickets: Brickyard 400 fans are encouraged to send their ticket renewals, upgrades and orders for the 2004 race, scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 8, to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as soon as possible.
To purchase tickets, camping or parking, contact the IMS ticket office at (800) 822-INDY or log on to www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.
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