Top 10 Myths of 2001

December 30, 2001
12:48 PM EST (1748 GMT)

Myth No. 1: Tony Stewart is a self-centered driver who throws temper tantrums when he does not get his way.

Stewart

Fact: Stewart performs a lot of charity work. He's friendly to fans and takes the time to personalize autographs. Once spent own money to fly to California for a USAC race that he desperately wanted to win.

Myth No. 2: Bobby Labonte had a terrible season.

Fact: While its true that Bobby Labonte started slowly, he was arguably the most consistent driver in the second half. He closed the season with four straight top-10 finishes to finish with 20 for the season.

He won twice, and executed one of the most daring passes of the season when he blew around Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Tunnel Turn to win at Pocono.

Myth No. 3: Winston Cup racing is a young man's sport.

Spencer

Fact: Kevin Harvick aside, older, more experienced drivers are the ones who are holding down the top Winston Cup rides.

The average age of the top seven drivers in the Winston Cup Series was 39.4 years.

Jimmy Spencer, 44, was named as the driver of the No. 41 Dodge in 2002, replacing Jason Leffler, 26. Mike Skinner, 44, was hired as driver of the No. 4 Chevy for 2002.

Myth No. 4: Owner-drivers can't exist in the Winston Cup Series.

Fact: Brett Bodine, Winston Cup's only owner-driver, had his best season in several years. He was able to afford Robert Yates engines for his No. 11 Ford, which greatly improved his qualifying efforts - he qualified for every Winston Cup race in 2001.

Myth No. 5: Bill Elliott is washed up.

Fact: Elliott was saddled with some poor finishes in the second half of the year, but for the most part, he was consistent in 2001. He finished 30th or worse just twice in the first half, and a win at Homestead - his first in seven years - was the highlight of the second half.

Elliott finished 15th in the standings - his best showing since 1997.

Myth No. 6: The Pontiac Grand Prix won five races and enjoyed a successful year.

Fact: It was a down year for the Grand Prix. Only one team (Joe Gibbs Racing) managed to win races with it. The No. 14 Pontiac owned by A.J. Foyt struggled all year, and Foyt broke from the Pontiac camp and ran a Chevy at Talladega in the fall. The other Pontiac single-car team, Eel River, folded after missing multiple races.

Myth No. 7: Dale Jarrett faded in the second half.

Dale Jarrett

Fact: What damaged Jarrett's title hopes was a stretch of four races in August in September, where he finished 30th or worse three times. That effectively killed his hopes for a second title, but Jarrett rebounded and finished the year with 7 top-10 finishes in the final 11 races.

Myth No. 8: Dodge enjoyed a triumphant return to Winston Cup racing.

Fact: The year was up and down for Dodge, who didn't make it to victory lane until August. Along the way, the team endured struggles from several inexperienced drivers (Jason Leffler, Buckshot Jones, Stacy Compton, Casey Atwood). Petty Enterprises failed to qualify for 19 races, and Leffler and Atwood were removed from their respective rides at Ganassi and Evernham at the end of the season.

Myth No. 9: Single-car teams can't win in the Winston Cup Series any more

Elliott Sadler broke though with a surprising win for the Wood Brothers at Bristol, and Ricky Craven won at Martinsville for Cal Wells after the team's other car folded.

Dale Jr.

Myth No. 10: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s win at Pepsi 400 was probably rigged.

Fact: Earnhardt Jr. had been threatening to win a restrictor-plate race for some time - he had finished second in the Daytona 500 and was in position to win at Talladega in 2000.

DEI, Earnhardt Jr.'s car owner, has an alliance with Richard Childress Racing and Andy Petree Racing set up to concentrate on building restrictor plate cars. Not surprisingly, DEI and Andy Petree Racing were the only two teams to win restrictor plate races in 2001.