Pontiac looking for teams: Officials with Pontiac are attempting to gauge interest among Winston Cup teams to see if any are interested in switching manufacturers when the 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix debuts next season [see pictures on my NASCAR Past News page]. The PPI Motorsports team owned by Cal Wells, which fields the #32 Fords for driver Ricky Craven, is apparently at the top of the list, with Pontiac officials already having conversations with Wells about a potential move, sources confirmed Saturday. Craven is in his second season with PPI and is currently 15th in series points with two top-five finishes in nine starts. He earned his first Winston Cup win last season at Martinsville. Currently, five Winston Cup teams run the Pontiac, those of #20-Tony Stewart, #18-Bobby Labonte, #10-Johnny Benson, #36-Ken Schrader and #14-Stacy Compton. The manufacturer had 10 teams as recently as the 2000 season, then dipped to six in 2001 when it lost several teams to the Dodge camp. Pontiac officials elected not to push expansion of their presence in the series until the new model was on schedule to be completed. NASCAR is expected to give final approval to the 2003 Pontiac by early October.(ThatsRacin.com)(4-28-2002)
