Check out a short list of favorites for Sunday's Subway 400 at Rockingham, N.C.

	Benson

Johnny Benson
The 1995 Busch champion started the new season with a respectable 10th-place finish at the Daytona 500; this is his seventh season on the Winston Cup circuit, and although he has been notable at times, he is yet to visit Victory Lane; came close several times last year with third-place results in Texas, at the Brickyard 400 and at this track last November; in the spring event last year at Rockingham he finished sixth -- a speedway he seems to drive well on.

Jeff Burton
Not a bad performance at Daytona last Sunday where he finished 12th after starting quite back in 33rd; last year he started slow before winning the longest race on the schedule, Coca-Cola 600, and driving to better results thereafter to end up 10th in the final standings; expectations were higher considering in 2000 he finished a career-best third in the points, after successive finishes of fourth, fifth and fifth the previous years; closed last campaign with six top-10s in the last nine races including another checkered flag in October in Phoenix.

Ward Burton
His victory last week at the Daytona 500 was the fourth of his career and first for Dodge at Daytona since Richard Petty in 1974; when Sterling Marlin climbed out of his car to pull a fender away from his tire while the race was red flagged, he was sent to the back of the field and Burton was left in the lead with two laps to run on the restart; he won $1,383,017 for the victory; the maximum 180 points earned makes him the early leader in the standings; last year he finished 16th in the first race at Rockingham.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
One of the favorites to win the Daytona 500, he ran second early on before two blown tires and a multi-car accident caused him to slip back in the field to an eventual 29th-place finish; that is the lowest points position for Dale Jr. since joining the series full time in 2000; leads the Busch standings after winning that race Saturday, the 14th of his career in that series; in the race at North Carolina Speedway, Dale Jr. had a similar crash that killed his father in Daytona on the opening lap last year but was unhurt; in four races at the track, his best start was seventh and top finish 15th last fall.

Bill Elliott
The veteran driver started his career at North Carolina Speedway in the 1976 Carolina 500 (started 34th -- finished 33rd); started his 27th season with an 11th-place result at the Daytona 500 last Sunday; victory at Homestead, Fla., last year was his first in seven years and demonstrated he still has some spark left in him to be competitive; had nine finishes in the top 10 including five among the top five; winner at Rockingham in 1992.

Jeff Gordon
The 2001 Winston Cup champion has enjoyed a measure of success at Rockingham qualifying in the top-10 in 15 of 18 races, with two poles; recorded six top-five finishes, including four victories; won the February event in 1998, 1997 and 1995; had the checkered flag whithin reach at Daytona before a late accident and turn of events pushed him to an ninth-place showing; dominated the series last year after the KMart 400 at Michigan on June 10, leading the points to the end of the campaign; joined the elite company of Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt as the only drivers to win more than three titles -- Petty and Earnhardt have won seven apiece; Gordon won six races and six poles and had 18 top-fives, 24 top-10s and earned over $6.5 million.

Kevin Harvick
Last year's Rookie of the Year was a victim of the multi-car crash at Daytona and despite starting second, he ended up back in 36th; won the Busch championship in 2001 after performing double-duty all year long; Harvick replaced the late Dale Earnhardt in the GM Goodwrench Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing at this race where he finished 14th; a race later he won in Atlanta, the first of two wins last season (Chicago); compiled impressive Winston Cup numbers (16 top-10 finishes, six top-fives, including two runners-up, and only two finishes lower than 25th); placed ninth in the standings; also won the 1998 Winston West championship and seven go-kart national championships between the ages of nine and 14.

Dale Jarrett
North Carolina Speedway has been the track where Jarrett has enjoyed perhaps the most success; finished 10th or better, including one victory in the fall of 2000, in 13 of the last 14 races; 11 of the 13 finishes were top fives, with a string of six second-place results; last February he placed 10th; last year was a good campaign with four victories and four poles, but he will look to improve on the fifth-place finish in the standings; a season second-half run of some seven races with finishes lower than 25th was the cause of slip down the table.

	Labonte

Bobby Labonte
The 2000 Winston Cup champion won this race the year of his championship and came home second to Steve Park last year; overcame a slow start last year to reach Victory Lane in Atlanta and Pocono, Pa.; in all, he had 20 top-10 finishes, nine of which where among the best five; ended the year sixth in the standings after the win in Atlanta and a third in the finale at New Hampshire; earned over $4 million.

Sterling Marlin
A mistake probably cost him the victory at the Daytona 500 when he stepped out of his car to pull sheet metal off his right fender under the red flag; that pushed him to the back of the running field and an eventual eighth-place finish; earned bonus points for leading the most laps, which puts him sixth in the standings; 2001 was one of his best seasons with wins at Michigan and Lowe's Motor Speedway, 20 top-10 finishes including 12 in the top-five; finished third in the standings, just 22 points behind second-place Tony Stewart; finished eighth in the first race at Rockingham last year.

Mark Martin
The Daytona Beach, Fla., resident started the season well with a sixth-place finish after starting with a provisional in 39th; winner of this race in 1999; has 17 top-10s in 31 career starts at Rockingham, including a pair of wins; had a disappointing 2001 season by his standards; for the first time in 12 years, despite concentrating solely on the circuit, he finished outside the top-10 in the standings in 12th place; went all of 2001 without a victory after averaging three wins per year between 1990-2000; he won two pole positions; finished in the top-five in just three races, with fourths as top results at Talladega, Ala., and Coca-Cola 600; has 32 career victories; excels on all three course configurations; one of the most popular drivers among fans and competitors.

Kyle Petty
Has posted three of his eight career victories at Rockingham; finished in the top-10 in 12 of 40 starts at the track; Petty is tied with Martin, David Pearson and Cale Yarborough with the most pole positions at Rockingham with five.

Ricky Rudd
A runner-up at Rockingham three times before breaking through with a win in the fall race of 1996; has 13 top-fives and 19 top-10s in 48 starts at Rockingham; the 45-year-old had a solid 2001 season before faltering down the stretch and finishing the points standings in fourth instead of second; victories at Pocono and Richmond, Va., were his first in more than two years; 22 top-10s overall and earned nearly $4 million; was plagued by back pain at times last year and underwent arthroscopic surgery last December to correct the problem; fit to compete at full strength this season.

Tony Stewart
The engine on his Pontiac failed after just two laps at the Daytona 500 and thus ended his day way prematurely; will look to rebound at this track where he finished fourth and seventh in last year's stops here; hopes to avoid a slow start which may have affected his championship run last year, when in the end finished second in the standings; had a great end of season run with 11 top-nine finishes in the last 13 races, including one of his three victories; had 16 top-five results, 23 top-10s and earned nearly $3.5 million.

	Wallace

Rusty Wallace
Leads all active drivers with five victories at Rockingham, including back-to-back wins in the fall 1998 and spring of 1989; he and Richard Petty are the only two drivers to win three consecutive races at Rockingham; Wallace did it by winning this event in 1993 and 1994 as well as the fall race in 1993; has 19 top-10s in 36 career starts at Rockingham; one win last year came in April at Fontana, Calif., to extended his streak of winning at least one race to 16 straight seasons; a season that could have been better, but eight top-five finishes and 14 top-10s put him in seventh in the points; placed between 11th and 15th in 11 other races; considered the master of short tracks, although he has proved skills on all type of tracks.