Fuller gets second bite of Rookie apple.

Auburn Massachusetts resident Jeff Fuller has been granted a Winston Cup lifeline by the newly created MacPherson Motorsports group and will compete in the entire 2001 Championship as a rookie, despite being dropped by his 2000 team, Eel River earlier this season.

Just six races into the 2000 season, Jeff Fuller was searching for a drive after splitting with the #27 Eel River Pontiac outfit and as the year progressed, his Winston Cup career looked to be in limbo. However a saving grace in the form of Chip MacPherson who was able to acquire the assets of the mothballed Cale Yarborough operation and begin preparing his own outfit.

A deal was done to run the #98 Ford Taurus, idle since 1999, and veteran crew-chief Vic Kangas was hired to add some experienced to the fledgling outfit. Sponsorship is not yet forthcoming for the single car team although an impressive showing at the recent Kentucky open tests will not harm the team's chances of securing funding for 2001.

Also impressive in the test was the performance of Jeff Fuller who hadn't raced competitively since the Food City 500 at Bristol back in March. After finishing a lowly 37th in just his fourth start in six attempts, Fuller was released by Eel River and left without a drive just six races into his Winston Cup career.

Both driver and team, new to the Winston Cup, had struggled in the early part of 2000 and Jeff had recorded finishes of 22nd, 36th twice, 37th and 42nd, which included three failures to finish. Feeling that Fuller was not ready for the big time yet, he was replaced by fellow rookie Mike Bliss who has only done marginally better.

MacPherson came to the young driver's aid in early August and with the guidance of Kangas, the combination looked like a competitive proposition in testing and will participate in the last two open tests of the season before attempting to make their first start in Atlanta at the season finale on November 19th.

Hopefully when the team take to the track in anger for the first time they will have a permanent backer which will allow them to prepare for the 2001 campaign with all the necessary resources allowing Fuller to make a more concerted effort on the Reybestos Rookie of the Year trophy.

NASCAR rules state that a driver is allowed a total of seven attempted starts in previous season's before he ceases to be classified as a rookie. With six attempted starts, Jeff has lucked in, is that a sign of things to come?