DATE: Monday, August 25, 1997               TAG: 9708250157

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: BRISTOL, TENN.                    LENGTH:   69 lines

AFTER ESCAPING ``CRASHFEST'' AT BRISTOL, MARTIN ATOP HEAP FOR FIRST TIME IN 7 YEARS, HE'S GOT THE WINSTON CUP POINTS LEAD - 13 AHEAD OF JEFF GORDON.

In the end, with Jeff Gordon reduced to junk, and Dale Jarrett baring the fangs of a driver who still has a big deficit in Winston Cup points, Mark Martin moved to protect what he had.

The driver who lives, eats and breathes to win races, decided at the finish of the Goody's 500 Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway that this time, he wouldn't try to win. And after finishing second, he sat, for the first time in almost seven years, atop the heap in points, 13 ahead of Gordon.

``We needed to finish this race to close the gap on Jeff Gordon and put a little more heat on those guys,'' Martin said.

Jarrett won by about a car length. It was his fourth victory this season, and it gave him a one-race edge over Martin in the contest to see who can finish second to Gordon in 1997 race victories.

The final 150 laps featured a compelling battle between Martin and Jarrett, each seizing on the inevitable misfortunes of Bristol to snatch the lead from the other.

Jarrett had taken the lead on lap 245 when Gordon crashed and had held it until lap 396, when he tangled with Bobby Hamilton on the backstretch.

``Bobby gave me the whole inside of the race track to go by him, but I got loose coming off turn two and got into the side of him,'' Jarrett said. Jarrett slammed on the brakes hard to avoid the spinning Hamilton, while Martin and Jeff Burton roared past.

Burton made a stab at Martin, too, but Martin emerged with the lead. And there he stayed, not too aggressively challenged by Jarrett, until lap 470.

``I guess somebody was putting oil down,'' Jarrett said. ``I wasn't sure if I had a tire going down or what. I saw Mark start to back out of it. And he did go high and got out of it. When I got to him, I had to go to the inside where the oil was, and I kinda put a slide job on him. And the caution came out right then as I was able to get by Mark.''

The oil may actually have come from Gordon, who was just making laps after he re-emerged from the infield following almost an hour of repair work.

Gordon's demise occurred after he tangled with a give-no-quarter Geoff Bodine, who became a real pest to the leaders until he finally clawed his way back onto the lead lap. Bodine took Gordon hard into turn one on a restart on lap 245, and Gordon nearly lost it.

When Gordon got going again, Jeremy Mayfield was coming on, and the two cars collided coming out of the second turn like two outfielders colliding in center field.

``How bad is it?`` crew chief Ray Evernham asked after the crash.

``It's torn all to hell. Right side. Right side,'' Gordon replied.

Meanwhile, as Bodine was being one tough customer on the race track, there was turmoil in his pits. When team manager Tim Brewer barked at team members on the radio to stop the chatter and let him talk, crew chief Pat Tryson took his radio off and walked away.

``Pat just quit in the middle of the race,'' Brewer told Ford's Jeff Owens.

Bristol has a way of unhinging people.

``I'm just real thankful we didn't get wrecked tonight,'' Martin said. ``This was a crashfest. There wasn't anything that (Gordon) could do. But if he's in the garage, that's how we make up points. We had a great week last week (winning at Michigan) and gained 10 points. That's not going to do it. But if you spend some Sundays in the garage, that will do it.

``We spent a bunch of time in the garage already this year, and we're probably going to spend some more. And he may, too. It's a long race yet.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dale Jarrett gets a hug from his wife, Kelly, as he leaves his car

in victory lane after winning the Goody's 500 in Bristol, Tenn., on

Saturday.

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