| | Associated Press
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Mark Martin finally could smile.
Martin, one of the best drivers never to win the NASCAR Winston Cup championship, finished second to Steve Park in Sunday's Global Crossing at Watkins Glen International. Considering what Martin has been through lately, that was a triumph.
"We've had a very tough summer," said Martin, who has finished second three times and third four times in the Winston Cup standings. "We got off to the best start we've ever gotten off to with the Valvoline team this year."
But after taking the points lead with a sixth-place finish in the Diehard 500 at Talladega in mid-April, Martin fall off the pace.
Last week, he crashed on the 15th lap in the Brickyard 400 and finished last for the second straight race. Engine failure on the sixth lap of the Pennsylvania 500 three weeks ago relegated him to 43rd.
"It's just been one of those years where the things we couldn't
control were really bad," said Martin.
He's now ninth in points, 469 behind leader Bobby Labonte and
only 20 ahead of Jeff Gordon.
Martin challenged Park over the final two laps on the 11-turn
Watkins Glen course, at one point pulling right up to Park's rear
bumper. But Martin never got the opportunity to pass for the lead.
"I was going to try to pass him anywhere I could," said Martin, who won three straight races at Watkins Glen (1993-95).
"We were putting pressure on him pretty hard there at the end. When we really turned it up and put the pressure on him, he withstood the pressure and never made a slip, and I never got alongside of him."
Fellows fast, but car proves unreliable
Canadian road-race star Ron Fellows, who finished a close second to Jeff Gordon last year at Watkins Glen, was making a serious run up the field on Sunday and figured to be a factor again. But he lost two cylinders on lap 20 and dropped out.
"It's just a shame," said Fellows, whose 16-year-old daughter, Lindsay, sang the Canadian and American national anthems before the race. "It kind of makes last year look a lot more difficult than we thought."
Maybe not. Starting from the 40th position on Sunday, Fellows drove the Bully Hills Vineyards Chevrolet steadily through the field. With Gordon's car heavily damaged from an early race tangle with Tony Stewart, Fellows was slowly establishing himself as a contender. By lap 17, he was all the way up to 13th.
"We were in good shape," Fellows said. "Under caution, I saw the 24 (Gordon) and 20 (Stewart) sitting in the pits. I said, 'Well, those are the two toughest guys I thought we were going to be up against.' It's an opportunity lost."
Earnhardt's costly error
The Global Crossing turned into a star-crossed day for Dale Earnhardt, even though he owns the car driven by race-winner Steve Park.
Starting third, Earnhardt quickly passed Dale Jarrett for second, but lost control of the Goodwrench No. 3 Chevrolet on Lap 2 and slammed into the sytrofoam lining the outer loop of the 11-turn Watkins Glen course. Earnhardt wound up 25th after transmission problems forced him to pit several times late in the race.
"It just got out from under me," Earnhardt said. "I think the car was going to be pretty good today, but we'll just have to forget about it now."
Earnhardt, seeking his eighth Winston Cup championship, has finished 25th twice in the last three races. After trailing points leader Bobby Labonte by just 52 points in early July, with 17 top-10 finishes in 23 races, Earnhardt has been passed in the
standings by defending Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett and now
trails Labonte by 217 points.
Kudos for Kenseth
Matt Kenseth had a good day in the race for rookie of the year.
Kenseth, driving the No. 17 Dewalt Tools Ford, finished a solid
10th on Sunday in the Global Crossing and upped his lead over Dale
Earnhardt Jr. to 23 points (245-222).
Earnhardt crashed his No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet early in the
race, had trouble with third gear later on, and finished 40th.
"That's how a rookie year goes," said Kenseth, who won the
Coca-Cola 600 in May. "No matter how good you are, you're gonna
have things happen, especially a rookie year when you're learning
along with your team." | |
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