Coca-Cola 600

Mark was not the first driver to cross the finish line at Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600, but he sure felt like a winner.

Mark is Matts mentor

It was Mark who risked his reputation several years ago by advising Jack Roush to sign Matt Kenseth, an unknown from Wisconson. Roush prides himself on being a talent scout, and only gave in after relentless lobbying by Mark.

It was Kenseth - only a rookie in the Winston Cup series - who finished first in Sunday's 600, which is considered to be one of NASCAR's three "majors", along with the Brickyard 400 and the Daytona 500. Roush and Mark, co-owners of the 17 Ford team, watched the celebration gleefuly.

"Honestly and truely, I think Mark was as happy for me winning as I am", Kenseth said. "When I won my first Busch race, he was pretty excited and happy. He has told me he stuck his neck out for me a little bit. He signed me up with Jack and everything, and I really hadn't shown anybody anything before that."

Ironically, the real reason Mark was scouting young talent several years ago was to groom a possible replacement for himself in the No. 6 Ford. MArk has suffered from back pain for years and it will probably be the cause of his retirement eventually. For now, back surgery last December appears to have improved his health.

"Mark said,'You know, I may need some help in the '6' car and Matt would be a good guy to step in behind me,'" recalled Roush with a grin.

May was a satisfying month for rookies on stock-car racing's top circuit. Kenseth'c pal Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Pontiac Excitement 400 on May 6 and the Winston all-star exhibition on May 21. Earnhardt Jr. was a threat to win again Sunday night before his car became "too tight" over the last 35 laps.

Kenseth has the same driving style as his mentor, Mark. He hung around Matts #17

the pack of leaders for the entire race, patiently waiting for his opportunity. He saw it on the inside groove of lap 274, passing Winston Cup points leader Bobby Labonte. The rookie successfully blocked Labonte's maneuvering tactics to win.

Even Kenseth admits it's not surprising to see a rookie rising to the sport's top division.

"I think it's easier for rookies to do well these days," he said. "I read something Ricky Rudd said the other day that rookies coming into the sport used to have to get into junk and work their way into good rides. To drive for Jack with teammates like Mark and Jeff Burton, we have everything at our disposal.

"There's nothing that we're lacking. If you ask Jack what it costs to go Winston Cup racing, I am pretty sure he would tell you it doesn't matter. We have everything we need to run well. It's just up to usto figure out how to use all the tools that we're given."

Dale Earnhardt finished third and was followed in the top five by Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Jarrett. Jeremy Mayfield was sixth, followed by Mike Skinner, Rusty Wallace, Steve Park and Jeff Gordon.

For Mark It was a different story.

The Valvoline/Cummins team worked hard in the few short days they had since The Winston to prepare a different car for Sunday's 600-mile event at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The team brought JR-55, which had won at Martinsville last month. Mark qualified 19th on Wednesday evening with a speed of 182.989 mph. The team knew this car was not quite as good as the new car which was totaled in The Winston, but they made the best of it.

The car changed dramatically throughout the race, and even throughout a long green flag run. Mark said the car was loose at the start of the race, so the crew made an air pressure adjustment during the first pit stop on lap 63. After that, the car developed a push off of the corners, so they decided to reverse the original changes and add to it with track bar adjustments. Their best stop of the night came on lap 112 with a 15.08-second pit stop, which sent Mark out in fifth place. The car was still too tight, so Jimmy Fennig continued to make changes to help the handling. Just when the team thought they knew how to fix the handling it would change again, and a change in the weather made a difference as well. The caution came out for rain on lap 248, and eventually NASCAR threw the red flag for a 45-minute rain delay.

When the cars restarted, Mark pitted for right-side tires and the team pulled a right-front spring rubber and added wedge to correct the loose condition. He was 11th when the race resumed, but now the car was terribly tight. Mark used a caution on lap 310 to pit for fresh tires and to add a right-rear spring rubber. The lengthy stop to correct the handling did not cost Mark anything since he was already the last car on the lead lap.

After that stop, the handling was perfect, but Mark radioed to the pits that he thought he had ignition problems. With 44 laps to go, the car became tight again, and only a few laps later Mark told the team that the car had dropped a cylinder. He held on to finish in 12th place, and was lapped just in time to see his Roush teammate Matt Kenseth take his first career Winston Cup victory.

"We had a long night," Mark said. "The car just couldn't decide what it wanted to do. It was loose, and then tight. The handling was all over the place. Once we got that manageable, then we lost a cylinder. It just wasn't our night, but I sure am happy to see Matt win. I knew it wouldn't be long before he made it to Victory Lane. The best part about getting lapped at the very end was that I had one of the best seats in the house to see him get his first win." Mark is still third in the Winston Cup point standings heading to Dover Downs International Speedway this weekend.


Congratulations, Matt Kenseth, for the win at the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.