CHARLOTTE -- It used to be that when you heard names like Andretti, Foyt, Mears and Fittipaldi, you immediately thought of open-wheel racing legends.

Sure, Mario Andretti won the 1967 Daytona 500 and A.J. Foyt was a dominating driver from time to time in NASCAR, but for the most part that duo, along with Rick Mears and Emerson Fittipaldi, will always be identified with their accomplishments in USAC, CART and Formula One.

	John Andretti, who helped open the door for open-wheel stars to move to NASCAR, hopes to run the Indy 500 this year.

But it may not be much longer before those same famous surnames have folks thinking of NASCAR.

The reason is simple: the 2003 season will again see those famed surnames compete in stock cars. We'll have a Mears (Casey, Rick's nephew), Fittipaldi (Christian, Emerson's nephew) and Foyt (Larry, A.J.'s grandson) making their rookie leaps into Winston Cup. And, of course, a veteran Andretti (John, Mario's nephew) is entering his 10th full season in Winston Cup.

"It sure does sound different," said Bobby Labonte, when asked what it means to the series to have relatives of open-wheel legends racing with him. "Those guys have racing in their blood and they come from great racing backgrounds. They will be great race car drivers in the Winston Cup Series, I'm sure.

"It is different, but I know when they put their helmet on they are like me. It's a different series but they still do the same thing on race day, drive that race car and try to win and do the best they can to have the best day and the best strategy and best results for their team. It is a little different name-wise, but it will bring a lot more to the sport than if they were not here."

When asked if he finds it ironic that drivers who come from open-wheel lineage would abandon their roots and climb into stock cars, John Andretti, who up to this season pretty much had an exclusive hold on being the most experienced open-wheel turned stock-car racer, was his usual deadpanned self.

"Yeah, what in the hell are they all doing in Winston Cup?" he joked.

Indeed, what are they doing in Winston Cup in 2003?

Andretti, who cut his teeth in go-karts, midgets and open-wheel racing -- and even did some drag racing for a while -- is considered by many as the guy who opened the door, leaving CART and joining the Winston Cup tour in 1994. He was followed by Tony Stewart in 1999, who last year became the first modern era former open-wheel driver to win a Winston Cup title.

"It just goes to show you the direction of where (NASCAR) is headed," Andretti said. "Somebody asked me when do you think Winston Cup started getting so successful? I think around the end of '93, '94. Ironically, that's when I came. So you do the math.

"Why do racers end up down here? Because you bring your helmet and that's all you bring. If you can carry the weight of the helmet and make the car go fast and do things, then you get the job. So it's an earning situation, that's why I said these new guys in Winston Cup, they've won championships, they've won races, they've done things elsewhere. You've got to perform, because they send you home if you don't perform. Sponsors don't like that.

"I think (NASCAR is) a great place to be and they realize it -- Ken Schrader started it years ago and gets very little credit for it. But he started it years ago. He was the first open-wheel guy (sprints and midgets) that came down here and then of course, by the time (Jeff) Gordon comes along then it was a big deal. Tim Richmond was an open-wheel guy, too. Heck, my uncle won the Daytona 500 before he won Indy (the 1969 Indianapolis 500)."

For the record, Foyt and Mears will both be true Winston Cup rookies in 2003. Fittipaldi will be serving his stock car apprenticeship primarily in the Busch Series, although he's penciled in to do between five and seven Cup races to get some additional seasoning, with the intent of going full-time in Winston Cup in 2004.

"All three of those guys are capable of doing a good job in our series and they have earned their way there," Stewart said. "It will be fun to watch their progress this year."

While Winston Cup racing pays their bills and puts food on their tables, the lure of open-wheel racing remains with several drivers. It was announced earlier this week that come May, Andretti will again attempt the Memorial Day double, racing in the Indianapolis 500 and then hopping a plane to Charlotte, N.C., for the grueling Coca-Cola 600 that evening.

He's not the only one. Stewart may try it, too. Stewart also likes to dabble in sprint and midget racing when he has the time. Robby Gordon also competes in open wheel and off-road racing. Even though he'll be learning a lot in Busch and Winston Cup this season, Fittipaldi may also run a few open-wheel events in either CART or the IRL if his schedule allows it.

That Andretti received the go-ahead to race at Indy is ironic. Team owner Kyle Petty nixed the idea last season, and even Andretti himself seemed resigned to again miss the event when he spoke to reporters as recently as three weeks ago.

But shortly after that, Petty and the team's sponsors relented -- even though there's the risk Andretti could get hurt at Indy -- and gave them their blessings, particularly with the Indy 500 set to be cousin Michael Andretti's last race before he retires. The lure of Andretti vs. Andretti, cousin vs. cousin, was too much for Petty and the sponsors to ignore.

"It's not unusual going (to both races in the same day), it's just that now you don't get the opportunity to go, 'Mom, I am going to do Indy car race, stock car race,'" Andretti said. "You can't do that because there is too much of a commitment and people have paid for you. They do commercials of race car drivers and how they are. There is an investment from those companies. It not just tire manufacturers and car manufacturers. You see the products. They're everywhere. So they've got an investment in you. They don't want you running off and doing something else, getting hurt somewhere else and then losing their investment."

But when it comes to investments, team owners and sponsors are astute businessmen. They know that talent will take a driver only so far in NASCAR. They also have to look at other aspects of the picture. And when an opportunity comes along to hire or sponsor someone with a last name like Foyt, Fittipaldi, Mears or Andretti, you jump at it.

One other positive for having drivers with such pedigrees is not only the history their families compiled, but the opportunity for them to write their own history -- and renew some of the legendary battles of the past that pitted a Mears against a Fittipaldi, or a Foyt against an Andretti.

"(It) probably goes through your mind a little bit when you see them out there," Larry Foyt said. "Casey (Mears) is a great guy. We've become friends and he really has a good head on his shoulders. He comes from a great racing family. I'm just starting to get to Christian now.

"I think we all kind of have a bond there that some of other drivers don't have. It's a pretty neat thing. We all feel for each other coming over from an open-wheel background because there is a lot of things that you have to learn about stock-car racing and the way you race is quite different from an open-wheel car."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.