| | Results
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Mark Martin knows how to play the
NASCAR waiting game.
In similar fashion to his victory three weeks ago in Atlanta,
Martin waited out a long rain delay Saturday and finished four car
lengths ahead of Roush racing teammate Matt Kenseth to win the
Albertson's 300 Busch Grand National race at Texas Motor Speedway.
|  | | A long day of waiting and racing ended with Mark Martin in Victory Lane once again. |
It was Martin's fourth victory in five Busch starts this season
and the 44th of his career. Jack Roush's team has won six of seven
Busch races, with Roush's Kenseth and Jeff Burton also winning
races this season. Sterling Marlin is the only non-Roush winner
this season.
"It was a tough race to win. We had to be smart, had a good
setup on the car and got better as we went on," said Martin, a
full-time Winston Cup driver and part-time Busch Series competitor.
Martin, who says this is his last season in the Busch series,
has won the last two races at Texas and three of the four in the
junior series on the 1½-mile oval. Saturday's race started on time
at noon CT but didn't finish until after dark, thanks to a 4½-hour
rain delay following the first 19 laps.
Coming out of a caution on lap 160 of the 200-lap event, Kenseth
had the lead on Martin. But he held it less than five more times
around the track. On lap 165, Kenseth drifted high on the track
going into the backstretch, and Martin went underneath and took the
lead for good.
"Whenever I see him in the rear view mirror, he's usually going
to pass me. I sure would like to win one of these," said Kenseth,
who did win the season-opening race in Daytona. Martin skipped that
event.
"That car was as perfect as I could get one to drive and I
still couldn't beat him," Kenseth added.
Martin averaged 108.130 mph, leading twice for 38 laps. Kenseth
led twice for 41.
David Green, who started last in a backup car after a crash in
practice on Friday, wound up third, followed by Todd Bodine and
Jeff Green, younger brother of David Green.
In Atlanta on March 11, Martin won the Aaron's 312 after a
six-hour rain delay.
Kenseth, who is Martin's protege, had his fifth top-five finish
of the season. Martin is listed as owner of Kenseth's Winston Cup
car.
"Matt was strong, I was surprised to pass him," Martin said.
"We were OK at the start of the race, and after the rain delay we
didn't run well. With that last set of tires and some adjustments
we made, that made the difference."
Kevin Harvick led a race-high 67 laps, but ran out of gas on lap
88. He didn't get back on the lead lap until lap 144 and eventually
finished ninth.
Rookie Jason Leffler, who started on the pole, dropped to 18th.
Adam Petty, who on Sunday will become Winston Cup's first
fourth-generation racer when he starts the DirecTV 500, was one of
four drivers knocked out of the race during a wreck that involved
eight cars.
Mike Dillon's car slammed into the outside wall on turn 2, then
slid across the track into the inside retaining wall and burst into
flames.
"There had to be something between turns 1 and 2, Mike and I
wrecked at the same place and the same time," Petty said.
Dillon banged his head and hurt his knee, but said he was fine
after being checked by medical personnel at the track.
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