THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 19, 1996 TAG: 9608190158
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BROOKLYN, MICH. LENGTH: 81 lines
After dominating the GM 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Mark Martin uttered a single word when the race slipped into Dale Jarrett's hands only 15 miles from the finish.
``Damn.''
It came out of his mouth in an even, soft tone. There was no anger, only resignation.
After spending 135 laps at the front of the field, Martin's Ford finally succumbed to a stronger Thunderbird.
``My car was probably the best car out there; I just had to play catch-up,'' Jarrett said.
Said Martin: ``We dominated the race today, but we didn't have a dominant car.''
Jarrett beat Martin to the finish line by about two car lengths (0.168 seconds) after leading only the final seven laps of the race. Terry Labonte was third, followed by Ernie Irvan, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Johnny Benson Jr., Ricky Rudd, pole-winner Jeff Burton and Jimmy Spencer.
Jarrett thus added victory No. 4 to his list of 1996 accomplishments and has begun licking his chops at the prospect of competing for the Winston Million bonus at Darlington in two weeks.
``I just feel right now - not me taking the credit - that we have the best race team and car out here right now, and that's going to enable us to win,'' Jarrett said. ``We put ourselves in position enough that we can take advantage of it.''
Martin spent most of the race motoring around this 2-mile oval in such good shape that he didn't want anything to mess it up.
When spotters started talking about debris on lap 119, Martin told crew chief Steve Hmiel on the radio: ``It is nothing. No use in having a caution.''
The yellow did come out, and Martin retained the lead, taking on only two tires instead of four.
But the two-tire strategy may have given the edge to Jarrett. In any event, at the end of the race, Martin was more than happy to have the caution flag fly.
``I was hoping there would keep being cautions because I could hold him off for about three laps (on the restarts),'' Martin said. ``He was just strong. There were some other cars that were faster than us. With pit strategy and stuff, we kept it up front, but we just didn't quite have it at the end.''
Said Jarrett: ``I knew Mark was a little better for two or three laps after a restart. I had to be patient enough not to abuse the car but not to get too far behind.
``A guy like Mark, you let him stay out front, he gets harder and harder to pass. But I wanted to get a little cushion between myself and Ernie (Irvan). I had to be patient for us to pull away a little bit so I could have two or three opportunities to make that move.''
The race-winning pass started on lap 192, when Jarrett went to the outside of Martin in turns 3 and 4 and managed to stay side-by-side with him. He finally polished Martin off coming out of turn 2 on lap 193.
``The way I was able to do it was to keep (Martin) pinched down where he couldn't use the whole track,'' Jarrett said. ``I think a key move for us . . people just got two. That put us in better shape, handling-wise, at the end. Obviously, to make a move like we did on the outside there, you've gotta have some good rubber.''
So Jarrett has won two of the last three races, including the Brickyard 400, by passing for the lead with less than 10 laps to go. And those two victories have launched him into that rarefied realm of a multi-multi Winston Cup race winner.
``It's a tremendous feeling,'' he said, taking his time in the interview room to answer every question long after most reporters had left. ``Four races is what I'd won in my career up to this season.''
Ironically, Jarrett's first victory came at this same track five years ago, when he beat the late Davey Allison by inches in one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history.
``I didn't know what to do in Victory Lane out there five years ago,'' he said. ``But the excitement now is a different type of excitement. Everything is going just great. It's almost like now we can't mess up if we wanted.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS color photo
Dale Jarrett
ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Dale Jarrett, left, moves past Mark Martin at the start-finish line
with seven laps left to grab his fourth win of 1996. by CNB