ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 19, 1996 TAG: 9608200005
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
After dominating the GM Goodwrench 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Mark Martin uttered a single word when the race slipped into Dale Jarrett's hands only 14 miles from the finish.
``Damn.''
It came out of his mouth in an even, soft tone. There was no anger, no outward emotion. Only resignation.
Because after spending 135 laps at the front of the field, Martin's Ford Thunderbird finally succumbed to a stronger T-bird.
``My car was probably the best car out there, I just had to play catch-up,'' Jarrett said.
Said Martin: ``We dominated the race today, but we didn't have a dominant car.''
Jarrett beat Martin to the finish line by about two car lengths (officially third, followed by Ernie Irvan and Jeff Gordon. Bobby Labonte was sixth, followed by Johnny Benson, Ricky Rudd, pole-winner Jeff Burton and Jimmy Spencer.
Jarrett thus added victory number four to his list of 1996 accomplishments, and has begun licking his chops with the prospect of competing for the Winston Million bonus at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in two weeks.
``I just feel right now - not me taking the credit - that we have the best race team and car out here right now, and that's going to enable us to win,'' Jarrett said. ``We put ourselves in position enough that we can take advantage of it.''
Martin spent most of the race motoring around the 2-mile oval in such good shape that he didn't want anything to mess it up.
When spotters started talking about debris on lap 119, Martin told crew chief Steve Hmiel on the radio: ``It is nothing. No use in having a caution.''
The yellow did come out, and Martin retained the lead by taking only two tires instead of four.
But the two-tire strategy may have given the edge to Jarrett. In any event, at the end of the race, Martin was more than happy to have the caution flag fly.
``I was hoping there would keep being cautions, because I could hold him off for about three laps,'' Martin said. ``He was just strong. There were some other cars that were faster than us. With pit strategy and stuff, we kept it up front, but we just didn't quite have it at the end.''
``I knew Mark was a little better for two or three laps after a restart,'' Jarrett said. ``I had to be patient enough not to abuse the car but not to get too far behind. A guy like Mark, you let him stay out front, he gets harder and harder to pass.
``But I wanted to get a little cushion between myself and Ernie. I had to be patient for us to pull away a little bit so I could have two or three opportunities to make that move.''
The race-winning pass started on lap 192, when Jarrett went to the outside of Martin in turns three and four and managed to stay side-by-side with him. He finally polished Martin off coming out of turn two on lap 193.
``The way I was able to do it was to keep [Martin] pinched down where he couldn't use the whole track,'' Jarrett said. ``I think a key move for us was a green-flag stop [on lap 97] where we got four tires when a lot of people just got two. That put us in better shape handling-wise at the end.
``Obviously, to make a move like we did on the outside there, you've gotta have some good rubber.''
So Jarrett has now won two of the past three races, including the Brickyard 400, by passing for the lead with less than 10 laps to go. And those two victories have launched him into that rarefied realm of a multi-Winston Cup race winner.
``It's a tremendous feeling,'' he said, taking his time in the interview room to answer every question long after most of the reporters had left. ``Four races is what I'd won in my career up to this season.''
Ironically, Jarrett's first victory came at this same track five years ago Sunday, when he beat the late Davey Allison by inches in one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history.
``I didn't know what to do in victory lane out there five years ago,'' he said. ``But the excitement now is a different type of excitement. Everything is going just great. It's almost like now we can't mess up if we wanted.''
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Dale Jarrett stands tall after winning the GMby CNBGoodwrench 400 WInston Cup race on Saunday in Brooklyn, Mich.
color. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING