It's been almost 20 years since die-hard Chrysler fans truly had reason to watch circle track racing on Sunday afternoons. Certainly there were many of us who watched or attended NASCAR Winston Cup races to see the competition for its own sake, but it always lacked something without a single presence from the Pentastar camp. The 2001 Daytona 500 will change that.
The nation's 3,000-strong conglomeration of Dodge dealerships and Dodge Motorsports have partnered up to give us something we can cheer for. Moreover, this effort is not just a token appearance of a couple of second-string machines, but a flat-out assault by both technology and marketing to be a dominant force in Winston Cup. A lineup of drivers ranging from seasoned veterans to Rookie of the Year contenders, a group of teams that everyone in the sport has to respect, and a completely new car and engine developed from dream to reality in less than 500 days, will make this season one for the record books. All in all, it's been a long wait, but well worth it.
So, next time you're at the gas station, you can tell them ol' boys with those big No. 3, No. 24 and No. 88 stickers in their pick-up truck windows that we're coming back to win...again.