Pontiac, the manufacturer that won two of the past three Winston Cup championships, announced Tuesday it won’t return in 2004 – leaving Chevrolet as the only General Motors brand on the NASCAR circuit.

Five full-time teams currently use Pontiacs, with Maine driver Ricky Craven providing the only victory in 2003. In the manufacturer standings, Pontiac is a distant fourth, trailing leader Chevrolet by 127 points. Ford and Dodge also race in Winston Cup.

“We heard some rumors at the beginning of the season about Pontiac not continuing,” said Johnny Benson, who got his first career victory last season in a Pontiac. “But I don’t think anyone would have guessed that it would come this soon.

“I suspected they would eventually throw all their support behind the Monte Carlo, but I figured it would be in a few years.”

Cal Wells, who owns Craven’s team, expects to switch to Chevrolet, which will be his third manufacturer in four seasons. In 2000, his inaugural season, he used Fords.

“We’re continuing our preparations for 2004 and beyond, and we’re looking forward to the opportunities available to us with Chevrolet,” Wells said.

Tony Stewart won the championship last year in a Pontiac, and teammate Bobby Labonte did so in 2000. But both of those Joe Gibbs Racing drivers switched to Chevrolet for 2003, and Stewart’s run to the title was marred by his repeated complaints that Pontiac was aerodynamically inferior to the other three makes.

“The Pontiac was a good make,” Benson said. “I think they were always just a touch behind, not a lot behind the Monte Carlo and others. But it was a good car and it was a pleasure to drive for them.”

Craven, Benson, Joe Nemechek, Kevin Lepage and Ward Burton drove Pontiacs in this weekend’s Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Nemechek and Burton were making their first starts for the teams they will compete with in 2004.

This year, Ford driver Matt Kenseth leads the standings by 258 points over Chevy driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. The first Pontiac driver is Craven, who’s 24th.

“We’ll be back,” said Bob Kraut, marketing director for Pontiac-GMC. “Our decision has nothing to do with any kind of issues with the platform of NASCAR. It’s the king of motorsports.

“It’s really a decision about focus. These things are hard. Once you do them, and you get focused and redirected, hopefully things’ll get sorted out and things’ll work out for us.”

GM plans to honor any deals still in place with Pontiac teams, but not all of them will have the option of moving to Chevrolet.

“We do have some contractual commitments, which we will uphold,” said Doug Duchardt, director of GM Racing. “We’re going to evaluate the rest of those teams on how they can help us win manufacturer and driver’s championships.

“Then we’ll decide how to support them from there.”