Martin rolls to win at 'Rock'

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- North Carolina Speedway is not normally Mark Martin's kind of race track. He can't step on the gas and get away with it, and that just doesn't suit the 40-year-old from Arkansas.

But with 36 laps remaining and his Ford leading the pack on a fresh set of tires, it was the perfect track for Martin on Sunday. He just kept stepping on the gas, all the way to a victory in the Dura-Lube/Big Kmart 400.

Martin, who will defend his Las Vegas 400 championship when the series resumes March 7 in Las Vegas, stayed in front through three caution-period restarts over the final 31 laps, pulling away easily each time, and cruised to a 1.397-second victory over Dale Jarrett's Ford. Bobby Labonte's Pontiac was third, followed by Martin's teammate Jeff Burton in a Ford and Jeremy Mayfield in a Ford.

"I know how to go fast and give it gas. And when you can't, I can't stand it, and I give it gas anyway and peel the rear tires off," Martin said. "But we adjusted the car all day, and we got it better and better and better.

"They put me in front on a pit stop on lap 357 with four new tires, and a fast setup, and heck, that's what we needed. So I just kind of let it rip there at the end."

And that was too much for the other contenders, a group that did not include Jeff Gordon. His run of success ended with a blown engine on lap 311. Gordon had won the past two races at Rockingham and had won three consecutive races on the circuit, the last two of the 1998 season and last week's Daytona 500.

But on this day, he was only a spectator at the end.

"My car was a little loose early on," Gordon said, "but there was no sign whatsoever of engine problems until I got to the start-finish line to complete lap 310."

Gordon finished 39th in the 43-car field. The two-time defending Winston Cup champion dropped to 11th in the points standings after two races of the season.

Mike Skinner, who finished sixth Sunday and was fourth at Daytona, is the current points leader with 315. Rusty Wallace, 10th on Sunday, is second on the points list with 286, and Ken Schrader, 11th on Sunday, is third at 280.

Martin earned $104,635 for the victory on a cool, mostly sunny day before a crowd estimated at 45,000.

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