The Checker Auto Parts/DuraLube 500k 2000

For Mark: So near, yet so far. Phoenix raceway

Mark was never in the top 10 Sunday until he made a decision to forego fresh tires and leave Mark on the track when the other drivers on the lead lap made their final pit stops under caution.

Mark, who had been running 15th before the yellow flag, found himself leading the race for the final restart with 11 of the 312 laps remaining.

But the two fresh tires each of the leaders took on that last stop made a big difference, with Mark being passed by eventual winner Jeff Burton with five laps to go and falling to sixth at the end.

"The track really needed to be cleaned up a little bit more and if I could have gotten (NASCAR) to clean it a little big more, it would have been darn close," Mark said.

He said the decision to stay on the track was his.

"I felt like where we were sitting that we had more to gain than to lose, and with five to go we were still leading. We weren't running good and I wanted to win real bad. I drove as hard as I could."

HOMESTEAD PREVIEW:
Mark hopes to improve on his fourth-place finish Mark runs a little behind

in the inaugural Homestead Winston Cup last year. To that end, Mark will drive JR-52 this weekend in the Pennzoil 400 -- the same car he drove at Homestead last season. "That car has been good for us over the years," Mark said. "We built it in 1998 and it is still one of our better cars. We don't have a lot to choose from this late in the season after we lost cars in accidents at Rockingham and Indianapolis. I think this car can certainly get the job done in Homestead. It is a great track. I was able to pass everybody I caught and I'm anxious to run there again this weekend."

FOUR HUNDRED AND COUNTING:
Mark will make his 400th consecutive Phoenix raceway

Winston Cup start this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Mark has started every Winston Cup points race since Feb. 14, 1988. During that time, he has accumulated 32 wins, 180 top fives, 264 top 10s, and 37 poles. Mark has been at the wheel of a Roush Ford for each of his last 400 starts. "It is hard to believe that Jack and I have been together for 400 races," Mark said. "It seems like just yesterday that we opened the shop in Liberty, N.C., and started the Stroh's Light team. We've come a long way since those days. We have had a lot of success and a few disappointments along the way, but I couldn't ask for a better owner and team throughout the years."

TWO HUNDRETH BGN START:
Homestead will also be Mark's 200th Busch Grand National start. Although the starts have not been consecutive, Mark has posted an impressive record in the series. In 199 starts, he has won 45 races (23 percent), and earned 91 top fives (46 percent), 125 top-10 finishes (63 percent) and 27 poles (14 percent). This will be Mark's final race in the Busch series before retiring to make more time for his Winston Cup commitments. "I never spend much time looking back on what I've done," Mark said. "That is just not the kind of person I am. I spend all of my time looking forward to see what I need to do next, rather than focus on what I've already done. Someday when I retire from racing, I'm sure I'll look back and see how much I have accomplished. For now, there is still too much to be done."


Congratulations, Jeff Burton, for the win at the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Checker Auto Parts/DuraLube 500k in Phoenix, Az.