Martin dominant at Rockingham; Kenseth gains ground in points

Mike Harris

Sunday, Oct. 24, 1999 | 11:57 a.m.

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - Mark Martin continued his dominance of the Busch Series races at North Carolina Speedway, holding off Jeff Green in the final laps of Saturday's KMart 200 for his 10th win at Rockingham.

Although Martin led four times for 142 of the 197 laps - including the final 66 - on the 1.017-mile oval, Green made it close at the end.

Martin, who started from the pole, extended his victory record in the Busch Series to 40 with his sixth win in 13 starts this season. He was sailing along with a big lead before a three-car crash on lap 164 brought out the last of four yellow flags.

After the restart on lap 173, Martin, a Winston Cup star who races only part-time in Busch, had to battle to the end.

"The car was a little bit weak on short runs,"' Martin explained. "Early in the runs, somebody would pass us and go on for just a little bit and then my car would come it. It hadn't come in yet at the end of that little 20-lap run at the end and Jeff was all over me.

"I had to run almost harder than I could. If I would have made a mistake anywhere, he would have been there to take advantage."

Green, who finished just 0.317 seconds - about two car-lengths - behind, said, "If I could ever had got in front of him, I'd have been OK. But running behind him made me real tight.

"I could have turned him sideways, but I knew he wouldn't race me that way."

Dale Earnhardt Jr., the defending series champion and points leader, saw runner-up Matt Kenseth slice his margin to 81 points with three races remaining because of a bad break.

Earnhardt was in third place on lap 150 when he drove onto pit road for a scheduled green-flag pit stop. Moments after he committed to pit lane, Bobby Hamilton Jr. hit the wall, bringing out a caution flag.

Earnhardt drove back onto the track without stopping in his pit, but fell to 13th, a lap behind. That's right where he finished, losing 36 points to Kenseth, who wound up fourth.

Dave Blaney finished third, followed by Kenseth and Todd Bodine.

Martin will start from the pole Sunday in the Pop Secret Microwave Portcorn 400 Winston Cup race. He averaged 113.835 mph Saturday in the race slowed by 27 laps of caution.