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Following the Dover race 5 years ago, won by Mark Martin:
Far and away the most dominant driver for the final half of the race, Kyle Petty was forced to stop for a gas-and-go pit stop just 21 laps from the end. Mark Martin didn't have to, and that's why Martin was able to take the checkered flag for his fourth win of the season and first at Dover.
Petty wound up third, but his demeanor immediately afterward was one of serene accomplishment.
Indeed, this was his best finish since 1995, when he finished first on this one-mile concrete oval dubbed the Monster Mile.
And for a long time yesterday, matters appeared as if Petty would do it again. Petty took his final lead with 100 laps left and didn't take long in opening a huge lead on Martin and his other pursuers.
"He had us beat bad," Martin said, "but Jack took care of him."
That was a reference to car owner Jack Roush, who'd promised Burton and crew chief Jimmy Fennig he'd win at least one race for them this season on gas mileage.
"Jack Roush won this race on fuel mileage," Martin said. "We've been working on it all year, [and] I used to grouse about it. We used to come up short all the time, but today we had big mileage. It was all Jack Roush."
Dale Earnhardt is getting back in form, finally, and yesterday came as close as he has all year to snapping that long losing streak, finishing second to Mark Martin in the MBNA 400 and -- crew chief Larry McReynolds hopes -- gaining some momentum for the last weeks of the season.
But car owner Richard Childress said that Martin's 10-second lead at the finish showed the edge that Fords still have over Chevrolets.
''We just needed a break at the end. The only way we were going to beat that Ford was for him to run out of gas,'' Childress said emotionally. ''We can gripe today, because we were the fastest Chevrolet, and we didn't have nothing for the Fords. The rules are totally unbalanced as far as I'm concerned. You can call it whining, I don't care. I just tell it like it is.''
Far and away the most dominant driver for the final half of the race, Kyle Petty was forced to stop for a gas-and-go pit stop just 21 laps from the end. Mark Martin didn't have to, and that's why Martin was able to take the checkered flag for his fourth win of the season and first at Dover.
Petty wound up third, but his demeanor immediately afterward was one of serene accomplishment.
Indeed, this was his best finish since 1995, when he finished first on this one-mile concrete oval dubbed the Monster Mile.
And for a long time yesterday, matters appeared as if Petty would do it again. Petty took his final lead with 100 laps left and didn't take long in opening a huge lead on Martin and his other pursuers.
"He had us beat bad," Martin said, "but Jack took care of him."
That was a reference to car owner Jack Roush, who'd promised Burton and crew chief Jimmy Fennig he'd win at least one race for them this season on gas mileage.
"Jack Roush won this race on fuel mileage," Martin said. "We've been working on it all year, [and] I used to grouse about it. We used to come up short all the time, but today we had big mileage. It was all Jack Roush."
Dale Earnhardt is getting back in form, finally, and yesterday came as close as he has all year to snapping that long losing streak, finishing second to Mark Martin in the MBNA 400 and -- crew chief Larry McReynolds hopes -- gaining some momentum for the last weeks of the season.
But car owner Richard Childress said that Martin's 10-second lead at the finish showed the edge that Fords still have over Chevrolets.
''We just needed a break at the end. The only way we were going to beat that Ford was for him to run out of gas,'' Childress said emotionally. ''We can gripe today, because we were the fastest Chevrolet, and we didn't have nothing for the Fords. The rules are totally unbalanced as far as I'm concerned. You can call it whining, I don't care. I just tell it like it is.''