DATE: Monday, August 18, 1997               TAG: 9708180177

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH.                   LENGTH:   86 lines

MARTIN ERASES 2-LAP DEFICIT TO WIN AT MICHIGAN

Mark Martin sent a message to Jeff Gordon on Sunday.

Martin underscored how serious he is about winning the 1997 Winston Cup championship by winning the DeVilbiss 400 at Michigan Speedway after charging back from two laps down.

The victory, Martin's third this year and the 21st of his career, came after teammate Jeff Burton gave him an important assist just after the halfway point by allowing Martin to make up one of his laps.

But when the checkered flag flew, there was Gordon, lurking in second, crossing the line 2.009 seconds behind Martin and losing only 10 points in what is beginning to develop into a two-man battle for the title.

Gordon now leads Martin by 99 points with 11 races to go. More than a third of the season remains, so anything can happen. But Dale Jarrett, who finished fifth, is now 280 points back, while Terry Labonte dropped to 310 behind after finishing 10th.

``This gives us a chance to say, `Hey, we are serious about this championship,' '' Martin said. ``We are pretty low-key guys and we keep pretty cool and we don't make a big deal out of very much. But still, I would like to be taken seriously by the media and the fans, because you don't get to where we are sitting by being goof-ups.''

It was no goof-up that put him two laps down Sunday, but simple bad luck.

Martin had led 37 laps when, on lap 50, he felt ``a little bit of a funny feeling'' in his Ford Thunderbird on the frontstretch as his left rear tire deflated. And as he entered turn 1, he could barely keep it under control.

``I got down under a hundred miles an hour, and I thought that you ought to be able to drive a car that slow even if a wheel fell off,'' Martin said. ``But I still almost lost it. Stuff flew in the race car. Pieces of tire were flying everywhere.''

When he got to the pits, it took 52 seconds - the time of 2 1/2 routine stops - to get the mangled tire and wheel replaced.

He lost 2 1/2 laps.

``We're in a deep hole,'' Martin told team manager Steve Hmiel on the radio.

``I know,'' Hmiel replied.

``I went into the points-racing mode at that point,'' Martin said afterwards. ``But as the good fortune started to come after that and the race proceeded on, winning became a realistic goal again.''

It was actually several strokes of good fortune.

First, the rain that had threatened all day and dribbled out of the sky for a good bit of the afternoon held off just long enough for the entire field to have to make green-flag pit stops just before the halfway point. When they did, Martin made up one of his lost laps.

The light rain finally became strong enough to prompt the race's first yellow flag, on lap 106. Burton was leading at the time, and he slowed drastically in turn 4 to allow his teammate to get past him and make up the second lap.

``That's part of being a team,'' Burton said. ``To see him cut a tire and take himself out of position, that's racing luck. But if we can change that racing luck, that's what we're going to do.''

Now Martin was back on the lead lap, but running in 17th. On lap 124, the second yellow flag flew, again for rain. By then, Martin had moved up to 11th. It was out for 34 laps - more than an hour. It was one of the longest caution periods in recent NASCAR history.

But in the pits, it was anything boring as crew chiefs tried to gauge how long the yellow would last and when to make their final pit stops of the race.

On Saturday, Martin lost the Grand National race because poor fuel mileage forced him to pit for gas with just a few laps left. On Sunday, Martin's gas mileage was far better.

Martin pitted for a fill-up on lap 143, which was sooner than most of the other lead-lap cars. When they pitted after him, he moved up in the field. And when the green flag flew again on lap 158, he was in fourth.

After the third and final caution (for Wally Dallenbach Jr.'s stalled car) ended on lap 167, there was a terrific battle for the lead among Martin, Gordon and Ted Musgrave.

Gordon grabbed the lead from Musgrave on lap 168. But the very next lap, as they continued their duel, Martin went under both of them in turn 4, swept into the lead and led the rest of the way.

With 10 laps to go, Martin became nervous. Having been squeezed by his own personal gas crisis just 24 hours earlier, he asked team manager Steve Hmiel on the radio: ``Is it OK to keep running hard? I'm thinking on gas.''

``Ten to go and you're OK on gas,'' Hmiel replied.

``I don't want anything to go wrong, so I'm going to run hard,'' Martin said.

You can bet he will use the same strategy for the rest of the season as well. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

Mark Martin...

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