rpm.espn.com: Drivers to Watch

ESPN Network: ESPN.com \| RPM \| NFL.com \| NBA.com \| NHL.com \| ESPNdeportes \| ABCSports \| EXPN \| FANTASY

Start your engines!
Play RPM.ESPN Stock Car Challenge!

Win a Honda S2000!
Play The CART Challenge powered by Honda!

Wednesday, April 25
Drivers to Watch
ESPN.com news services

Check out a short list of drivers to keep an eye on this weekend at Fontana.

Johnny Benson
Excellent season after nine races; sits third in the standings, only five points behind Jeff Gordon; finished six races in the top 10, with third in Texas a season best; comes off a seventh-place result at Talladega; in search for his fist career Winston Cup win.

Jeff Burton
Rebounded nicely in the last two races, after finishes of 18th or lower in the season's first seven races; was third in the Virginia 500 and 10th at the Talladega 500 this past Sunday; looks to continue the positive run out west where he finished second in 1999 and fifth last year.

Kurt Busch
Good team work in the pits and smart driving led the rookie driver to his first career third-place finish in Winston Cup racing; also led for the first time in a Winston Cup race between laps 78-80; trails Kevin Harvick by two points (97-95) in the Rookie of the Year standings.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ran among the top 10 for much of the race last year at Fontana until the power steering failed on his red Monte Carlo; was able to hang on for a 12th-place finish; speaking of 12th, Earnhardt moved into 12th place in Winston Cup points, his second-highest point position ever; the Budweiser team was second after the season-opening Daytona 500.

Jeff Gordon Only driver to have three top-five finishes in the four races held at California Speedway; winner in the inaugural 1997 race and again in 1999 (was fourth in 1998); last year, just missed the top 10, by finishing 11th; has five top-five finishes in nine races this year, with one victory at Las Vegas; is 145 points behind Dale Jarrett in the standings.

Bobby Hamilton
Passed Tony Stewart with one lap left to win the caution-free Talladega 500 last Sunday; it was his fourth career Winston Cup victory and the first for Andy Petree as car owner; Hamilton got a push from teammate Joe Nemechek while running sixth in the late stages; up to fourth in the standings, less than 200 points behind leader Dale Jarrett.

Dale Jarrett
Maintained the top position in the Winston Cup standings despite an 18th-place finish at Talladega; leads the series with three wins in the last five races; holds a 145 points advantage over Jeff Gordon; finished ninth in last year's NAPA Auto Parts 500 and was fifth in 1999, when the race was known as the California 500.

Bobby Labonte
Pushed Jeremy Mayfield hard in the late stages of the race last year in California, but could not overtake and settled for a second place finish; after disappointing results in six of the first seven races this year, has put together two consecutive top-10 finishes, including fifth in Sunday's Talladega 500; ranks 14th in the standings with 966 points.

Terry Labonte
Seems to perform well in the state of California, where he won races at Riverside in 1984 and 1985; in four events held at California Speedway at Fontana, he was second in the inaugural 1997 race, third in 1998 and ninth the next season; Winston Cup champion in 1996.

Mark Martin
Posted his first top-five finish of the year with a fourth-place showing at Talladega last weekend; comes to one of his favorite tracks since California Speedway was added to the Winston Cup schedule in 1997; nearly won that year but fell short of fuel mileage and finished 10th; made up for that a year later when he drove to victory lane after starting third; was 14th last year.

Jeremy Mayfield
Held off several late challenges by Bobby Labonte to take the checkered flag at the NAPA Auto Parts 500 last year for his second career victory; went on to add another to his record later in the year at Pocono; finished third in two races this season, but also 22nd or lower in six of nine competed; also runner-up at the track in 1998 and seventh the following year.

Tony Stewart
With California Speedway being similar to Michigan International Speedway (both built by Roger Penske), Stewart heads west with optimism; hopes to turn the NAPA Auto Parts 500 into career win No. 10; notched his sixth career Winston Cup win last year at the carbon copy track in Michigan; was 10th in this race last year and fourth in 1999; up to ninth in the points standings.

Rusty Wallace
Finished 13th or better in eight of the nine races this season; top result was third in the opening Daytona 500; by way of those efforts, he is sixth in the points standings; eighth at California Speedway last year; tied with Jeff Gordon for eighth on the all-time wins list (53); won at least one race in 15 consecutive seasons.

Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

	Viewer's Guide: April 27-30