NASCAR: Mark Martin Takes the Winston 500

10 May 1997

TALLADEGA, AL - RIS - Several weeks back Mark Martin was fighting
off Dale Earnhardt for a win at Talladega, well sort of. At that time
it was Martin in his Winn-Dixie Busch Series car holding off
Earnhardt's rising star Steve Park.  Earnhardt kept barking at Park,
"Pass him!", but Martin was just too stout to be passed that
day. Today the scene was similar only this week it was the Winston Cup
cars and Earnhardt instead of Park. But the result was the same with
Martin bobbing and weaving and keeping Earnhardt behind him in the
second spot as Martin cruised to his second Winston Cup victory in as
many weeks.

Martin talking about Earnhardt from victory lane said, "He had a
really fast race car. I didn't think anybody could touch him. When he
first got into second place there, right at the end, he made a couple
of runs. I said to myself, 'Well he's got enough. He'll keep working
and planning and figuring and he'll get something going.' But after
two or three laps it kind of settled down. I thought, 'Maybe if I do
the right things here I can hold him off.'" Martin continued, "Going
into the last lap it was going to be hard to pry it out of my fingers
at that point. Last week (winning at Sears Point) wasn't any
fluke. It's been a long time since we've won. I was beginning to think
we might not ever win another one."

Martin then served notice to his fellow drivers by saying, "I feel
confidant going into Charlotte that we might just win there, too. We
love that race track.  The guys have been really motivated and working
extra-hard on the car. I'm looking forward to it."

Dale Earnhardt, talking about his season best, second place finish
said, " I was just sitting there in line. I couldn't pull him. Bobby
(Labonte) was trying to help me all he could. But we just couldn't
muster enough. But we've had a good day. It's about time we had some
good results."

The drivers rounding out the top five are Bobby Labonte, pole sitter
John Andretti, and Jeff Gordon.

The points battle fell into Terry Labonte's lap after Dale Jarrett
developed a rare engine problem in his Robert Yates-prepared
motor. Jarrett, finishing 35th, could only watch as Labonte drove to a
sixth place finish. Labonte said, "I was glad we had a top-10
finish. I wish we would have got a top-five or a win but this is one
of those deals where you're happy to get out of here with a top-10.
But we got the point lead so it was a real good day for us.

All 500 miles of the race were run under green and new records were
set in the process. The race took 2 hours 39 minutes 18 seconds to
complete shaving 50 seconds off the old record set by Bill Elliott
back in the days before restrictor plates. The average speed was also
a record at a blistering 188.354 miles per hour

The race showed 26 leader changes among 13 drivers and the margin of
victory was one foot.

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series' next event will be The Winston, a
non-points ALL-STAR event, run under the lights at Charlotte Motor
Speedway. The date for this event is May 17th.

Mike Snow -- The Auto Channel