Jarrett clears another hurdle in championship chase

Bu Mike Harris

Sunday, Oct. 24, 1999 | 11:46 a.m.

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - Another day, another hurdle cleared for Dale Jarrett in his quest for a Winston Cup championship.

While Mark Martin and Jeremy Mayfield were taking the front row positions for Sunday's Pop Secret Popcorn 400 at North Carolina Speedway, Jarrett was third, close enough to bring a smile to his face.

That was just another in a series of steps for Jarrett, who is counting down to the title without taking anything for granted.

Referring to crew chief Todd Parrott, Jarrett said, "At the end of the race last Sunday (in Talladega, Ala.), Todd said, 'Just four more Fridays and four more Sundays.' After I crossed the finish line today, I was thinking, 'Another Friday down.'

"We wanted to get a good, solid starting position that will allow us to run the way we want to. That means not to have to do a tremendous amount of passing early in the race. It just allows you to settle in and give yourself plenty of room. If you're back in the pack, anything can happen in traffic."

Jarrett heads into the 400-mile race on the 1.017-mile oval with a 246-point lead over runnerup Bobby Labonte, while Martin is third, 319 behind.

With four races remaining on the 34-race schedule, both remain mathematically alive. But it would take a major collapse or a disaster of some kind to overtake Jarrett.

"It would be pretty dumb of me to sit here and say I'm going to win the championship," said Martin, a three-time series runnerup. "But it could happen. I still feel like I'm in a championship race, but maybe not for first place."

Martin, who won the pole for Saturday's Busch Series race earlier in the day, came back to grab his fifth Rockingham pole in the Winston Cup division, turning a fast lap of 157.383 mph.

That broke the race qualifying record of 157.194, set by Jarrett in 1996, but he was shy of his own track mark of 157.885, set in February 1997.

"I hadn't had a pole this year and this was probably our best shot at it," Martin said. "I couldn't beat that if I had another chance."

Mayfield, a disappointing 11th in the standings, came close to Martin with his lap of 157.083. The time difference between the top laps was just .290-seconds.

"The way we've been running, we're happy to see that," Mayfield said.

Three-time series champion Jeff Gordon was fourth at 156.810, followed by Labonte at 156.803, Jeff Burton at 156.475, Ricky Craven at 156.381 and top rookie Tony Stewart at 156.048.

The top 25 drivers on Friday locked up starting spots in the 43-car field, while the rest were given the opportunity today to either try again or stand on their first-day laps.

The one plus for the drivers at the back of the field on Sunday is the extended pit road, allowing everyone to pit on the frontstretch. In the past, second-day qualifiers had the disadvantage of pitting on the backstretch.