ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9604020014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BRISTOL, TENN.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
MARK MARTIN won his third Busch Grand National race this season with a victory in the Goody's 250 at Bristol on Saturday.
Mark Martin continued his relentless shredding of the Busch Grand National series Saturday, leading 145 of 250 laps in the Goody's 250 at Bristol International Raceway to win his third race of 1996.
It was Martin's 23rd career Busch victory.
``He's tough,'' said Jeff Green, who finished second, about four-tenths of a second behind Martin. ``I don't know what we're going to have to do to beat him.''
The only answer at this point appears to be keeping him out of the races altogether. Martin has won half of them this year.
He won at Darlington last week, and led 151 of 197 laps to win the Rockingham race from the pole. He also dominated at Atlanta, leading 119 of 197 laps before finishing seventh. And he finished third at the season-opening race at Daytona.
``We've got some awful steamy engines in these cars,'' Martin said. ``We've got a lot of power and these guys have put me in good race cars. We were off a little bit today, but we had enough to pull it off.
``My car was okay on the long runs, but wasn't real swift after the cautions and we got a couple of those right there at the end and had to really work at it.''
Green remained close to Martin's bumper for a couple of circuits after the final restart with seven laps to go. But Martin soon edged away.
``My car was good for three or four laps, but then I'd start pushing,'' said Green, who had his first top-10 finish of the year after a miserable start.
``Our season starts today,'' he said.
The race featured the usual assortment of crashes and spins and the yellow flag flew six times. Among the victims was Jimmy Spencer, who summed it up best: ``It's Bristol, man. This place owes me a lot, but evidently it isn't paying off.''
Kenny Wallace finished third, followed by Phil Parsons and Steve Grissom. David Green, who was seventh, remains the leader in Grand National points with a 140-point lead over Martin, who skipped the race at Nashville.
Martin is not expecting the same cruise in today's Food City 500 Winston Cup race. ``It'll be tougher tomorrow than it was today,'' he said. ``We've got some more work to do.''
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Mark Martin could see the checkered flag and Victoryby CNBLane very clearly Saturday after winning the Goody's 250 in Bristol.
He led 145 of 250 laps en route to his 23rd career Busch win. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING