THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602250219
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKINGHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
There was no catching Mark Martin Saturday in the Goodwrench 200 at North Carolina Motor Speedway, but he didn't exactly feel like a rabbit.
``This would have been a good day to get us,'' Martin said after leading 151 of the 197 laps. He won the Grand National race by 1.35 seconds over Mike McLaughlin.
``If those guys would have been on the money a little bit better, they would have beat me today,'' Martin said. ``We were loose and could only run at certain speeds. I couldn't go real, real fast and thank goodness these other guys went off their tires when they did. After a while I could just cruise.
Martin was passed twice on the race track, and Ricky Craven, who led 20 laps, did it both times. Martin said he let Craven pass him once early in the race to see what Craven had, and once more at around the halfway point while he (Martin) was conserving his tires.
It was another dominating Busch series victory for Martin, who has won six Grand National races at Rockingham, four since 1992.
While Martin was running away, life was more hectic further back in the field. There were eight spins or crashes, including a six-car crash on lap 41, a four-car crash on lap 81 and a three-car crash on lap 138. No one was hurt.
Martin said the crashes occurred ``because this track will not forgive you if you get out of the groove, especially when you slip into that outside lane. The Busch guys are not as good at keeping their stuff dead on the bottom and they tangle more often.''
Jeff Purvis finished third, followed by Craven and Bobby Labonte. Seventeen cars finished on the lead lap.
The race was seen by a record Saturday crowd at Rockingham, estimated at 57,000, taking advantage of sunny skies and balmy February temperatures in the low 70s.
A DNQ FOR SAWYER: Only one Winston Cup regular - Chesapeake's Elton Sawyer - failed to qualify for today's Goodwrench 400 race.
A 41-car field will start at 12:30 p.m., but Sawyer did not make it because he was not eligible for the 42nd and final spot, a provisional starting spot.
The team Sawyer drives for was purchased during the offseason by Arkansas attorney David Blair, who has not yet run enough races to qualify for provisionals.
Sawyer was 40th-fastest among the 44 cars attempting to make the field. The others who went home were Randy MacDonald and Gary Bradberry.
BODINE REPORT: Geoff Bodine, who found out Friday that he broke two left-side ribs in his crash at Daytona last weekend, is still uncertain about his status for the Goodwrench 400.
``As far as tomorrow goes, I really don't know,'' he told a track reporter Saturday. ``I guess I'll try to start it if I'm not hurting too much. And if I do, let Todd (Bodine) get in it as quick as possible.''
Younger brother Todd, who doesn't have a Winston Cup ride, qualified Geoff's car 33rd. He ran 10th in the Busch race Saturday.
AN AVID LISTENER: Jeff Gordon, who crashed out of the Daytona 500 last weekend, told Chevy's Ray Cooper that he listened to the last 10 laps on the radio while beating the traffic out of the speedway.
``When I'm not in the race, I'm still a race fan,'' Gordon said. ``I was pulling for (teammate Ken) Schrader.''
Gordon said he's talked to Earnhardt about the fact that Earnhardt got no help from Schrader and Mark Martin behind him to try to draft pass 500 winner Dale Jarrett.
``I told Dale, `I feel sorry for you. Nobody wants to help you out.' He said, `Yeah, but they haven't won yet, either.' '' by CNB