The Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Young guns or old hands, it doesn't matter; the 2003 Winston Cup season is going to be a shootout.

With Daytona 500 qualifying set for today, it seems just about every driver in the series considers himself a contender to take the season title from Tony Stewart.

"I guess everybody is saying the same thing right now: 'We can win a race and finish in the top 10,'" four-time champion Jeff Gordon said. "Heck, I'm sure they believe it. With the way this thing is shaping up, the competition is going to be even closer than it was last year."

In 36 races last year, 18 drivers won at least once, including five for the first time. No positions in the top 10 in the points standings were decided until the final race.

Strong finishes for upstarts

Stewart is hoping 2003 will be a "very uneventful, unemotional year."

"I just want to defend my championship, win more than the three races we won last year, and have some fun," Stewart said.

Despite all that drama, perhaps the biggest story of 2002 was the continuing saga of the "young guns."

Stewart started the trend in 1999 at age 28, winning an unprecedented three races and finishing fourth in the points. Twentysomethings Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth became winners and immediate stars in 2000, as did Kevin Harvick in 2001. Last season, it was Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson who raised the bar as rookies. Newman, 24, won once, finished in the top 10 in 22 of 36 races, was fourth in points and won rookie-of-the-year honors.

Johnson, 27, won three times, had 21 top-10 finishes and became the first rookie in modern times to lead the points before winding up sixth.

"Some of it is coming in with really good equipment and really good teams," said Sterling Marlin, a 45-year-old who led the points for 25 weeks last year and was still in the title battle when he crashed late in the season and broke a vertebra in his neck.

Marlin was replaced by 26-year-old Jamie McMurray, who won in his second Winston Cup start. McMurray and Casey Mears, 24, will join Marlin as full-time teammates this season.

Watch out for Roush

Roush Racing became a juggernaut in 2002 and could be even better this season.

Mark Martin had a great year, earning his fourth second-place finish, and young teammates Kenseth and Kurt Busch established themselves as likely title contenders this year.

Busch, 24, won three of the last five races and vaulted from 12th to third in the standings in the last eight weeks.

"The biggest key is we had everything rolling in our direction," Busch said. "There's no reason, though, that we can't start the season just like we ended last year. All the pieces are still there."

Kenseth, 30, led everyone with five wins in 2002 and finished a career-best eighth in the points.

Veteran success

Some of the veterans, of course, can't be counted out.

Gordon, 31, a four-time series champion, faded at the end of the season after working his way into contention. Martin and former champions Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett, along with Ricky Rudd - all over 40 - finished in the top 10 last season.

"I don't know about those other guys, but I'm not giving those guys anything," said the 46-year-old Wallace. "I know how good my teammate (Newman) is and some of those other guys, too, but some of us old guys still have some life in us."

Wallace, whose Penske Racing team is switching from Ford to Dodge, has added motivation after failing to win a race last year. He won at least once in each of the preceding 16 seasons.

The biggest driver change this year is Rudd switching rides with Elliott Sadler. Rudd joins the Wood Brothers; Sadler goes to Robert Yates Racing.

"It's a great opportunity for me," Sadler said. "This team is a proven winner with great cars and engines, and I can't wait to get started."

More equipment equality

There is no clear favorite heading into Daytona, thanks to major equipment changes.

There will be new versions of Chevrolet's Monte Carlo and Pontiac's Grand Prix, and Stewart and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Bobby Labonte have switched from Pontiac to Chevy.

Dodge, which had no drivers finish in the top 10 last season, added Newman and Wallace into its lineup.

NASCAR has been criticized in recent years for its frequent aerodynamic rules changes to try to create parity, but its latest effort may actually get the job done. All of entries now must fit 18 of 32 templates, meaning the general shape of most of the cars will be the same.

But Doug Duchardt, general manager for GM Racing, said the fabricators still can find an edge working on the areas of the cars not dictated by the so-called "common templates." Those areas include the front and rear fascias, the hood, the wheel openings, the sides of the car, excluding the doors, and the window trim lines, excluding the windshield.

"The brand characteristics will still be there. The fans will still be able to tell a Dodge from a Chevrolet or a Ford," said John Fernandez, new head of Dodge Motorsports.

Virtually all the drivers agree, though, that the new aerodynamic rules will help even the competition further.

"Just look at the numbers," said Kyle Petty, driver and CEO of the Petty Enterprises team. "In testing at Daytona, there was about three-tenths of a second between fifth and 30th."

A closer look at this year's Winston Cup racing teams

No Driver	Make	Sponsor	Team
0 Jack Sprague-r	Pontiac	Net Zero	Haas
01 Jerry Nadeau	Pontiac	U.S. Army	MB2
1 Steve Park	Chevy	Pennzoil	Dale Earnhardt Inc.
2 Rusty Wallace	Dodge	Miller Lite	Penske
4 Mike Skinner	Pontiac	Kodak	Morgan-McClure
5 Terry Labonte	Chevy	Kellogg's	Hendrick Motorsports
6 Mark Martin	Ford	Viagra	Roush Racing
7 Jimmy Spencer	Dodge	Sirius	Ultra Motorsports
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevy	Budweiser	DEI
9 Bill Elliott	Dodge	Dodge Dealers	Ray Evernham
10 Johnny Benson	Pontiac	Valvoline	MV Motorsports
11 Brett Bodine	Ford	Hooters	Brett Bodine
12 Ryan Newman	Dodge	Alltel	Penske
14 Larry Foyt-r	Dodge	Harrah's	A.J. Foyt
15 Michael Waltrip	Chevy	NAPA	DEI
16 Greg Biffle-r	Ford	Grainger	Jack Roush
17 Matt Kenseth	Ford	DeWalt Tools	Roush
18 Bobby Labonte	Chevy	Interstate Batteries	Joe Gibbs
19 Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	Dodge Dealers	Ray Evernham
20 Tony Stewart	Chevy	Home Depot	Joe Gibbs
21 Ricky Rudd	Ford	Motocraft	Wood Brothers
22 Ward Burton	Dodge	Caterpillar	Bill Davis Racing
23 Kenny Wallace	Dodge	Stacker 2	Bill Davis
24 Jeff Gordon	Chevy	DuPont	Hendrick
25 Joe Nemechek	Chevy	UAW/Delphi	Hendrick
29 Kevin Harvick	Chevy	GM Goodwrench	Richard Childress
30 Jeff Green	Chevy	AOL	Richard Childress
31 Robby Gordon	Chevy	Cingular	Richard Childress
32 Ricky Craven	Pontiac	Tide	PPI Motorsports
37 Derrike Cope	Dodge	Friendly's	Quest Motor
38 Elliott Sadler	Ford	M&M's	Robert Yates Racing
40 Sterling Marlin	Dodge	Coors Light	Chip Ganassi Racing
41 Casey Mears-r	Dodge	Target	Chip Ganassi Racing
42 Jamie McMurray-r	Dodge	Havoline	Chip Ganassi Racing
43 John Andretti	Dodge	Cheerios	Petty Enterprises
45 Kyle Petty	Dodge	Ga. Pacific	Petty Enterprises
48 Jimmie Johnson	Chevy	Lowe's	Hendrick
49 Ken Schrader	Dodge	1-800-Call-ATT	BA Racing
54 Todd Bodine	Ford	Army Nat. Guard	BelCar Motorsports
74 Tony Raines-r	Chevy	TBA	BAC Motorsports
77 Dave Blaney	Ford	Jasper Engines	Jasper Motorsports
88 Dale Jarrett	Ford	UPS	Robert Yates
97 Kurt Busch	Ford	Rubbrmaid/Sharpie	Roush
99 Jeff Burton	Ford	Citgo	Roush

r-rookie

Note: Drivers running partial schedules, with car number in parentheses: (No. 02) Hermie Sadler; (No. 07) Ted Musgrave; (No. 09) Mike Wallace; (No. 27) Scott Wimmer; (No. 44) Christian Fittipaldi; (No. 59) Carl Long.

2003 Cup rookie class

A glance at the six Winston Cup drivers competing for Rookie of the Year this season:

Greg Biffle, 33, Roush Racing; 2002 Busch Series champion.

Larry Foyt, 25, A.J. Foyt Racing; struggled in Busch Series past two seasons.

Jamie McMurray, 26, Chip Ganassi Racing; set record in 2002 by winning in second start.

Casey Mears, 24, Chip Ganassi Racing; open-wheel native who raced in Busch Series last season.

Tony Raines, 38, BACE Motorsports; former Busch Series Rookie of the Year.

Jack Sprague, 38, Haas CNC Racing; three-time NASCAR Trucks Series champ.