It must be magic. Somehow, some way, Mark
always seems to find a way to win in the Busch Series. After Mark
qualified second Sept 3 for the Dura-Lube 200, he sounded all but
despondent about his chances for the next day's race. The car just wasn't
good, he'd said. It was loose, and he and his team had made a mistake
in bringing it to Darlington. He was going to be embarrassed, Mark was
certain, come time for the green flag to fall. Uh-huh, sure, Mark. Mark
took a car with what he called "ugly" characteristics and won his fifth
Busch series race in 10 starts this season. It was his 39th career win.
No other driver in the 18-year history of the Busch Series has won more.
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"I just never dreamed that we could win the
race," Mark said. "I've gotta give the credit to the team and
(crew chief) Tony Lambert. They never gave up. They still thought
they could win. After 'Happy Hour' yesterday, I told 'em we were
gonna get embarrassed today.
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"Tony came up with some ideas to try
here today. The car just worked great. I couldn't ask for better, I guess,
sometimes, being mixed up and kinda playin' pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey
doesn't hurt, because that's kinda what we did with the setup.
But it seemed to work out today."
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It surely would be accurate to say things
worked out for Mark, who led 103 of the event's 147 lapes. He took the lead
from pole-sitter Ward Burton on the third lap, and held it until the 27th circuit
when he slowed on the frontstretch to let protege Matt Kenseth
cruise out front shortly after the first of only two caution flags.
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"My car wasn't the best on restarts,"
Mark said. "It was the best, sort of, on long runs. Matt made a
huge charge for five (bonus) points coming from third to run right
up there. I didn't want to race him for it. "Then, a little later
on, after I got back by him, I realized we were looking at a one-stop
race. So I went into a different mode, as far as driving to try to
make sure that I wouldn't get the tires completely down in the
cords on a run"
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After having been so concerned about
his car before the race, once it started, Mark found it to be exactly
what he needed. Shortly before coming in for his green-flag stop
on lap 75, Mark radioed Lambert and told him to make no adjustments.
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None whatsoever. Just slap on some tires,
fill'er up with gas and go. That was a long way removed from the
Mark Martin who'd been so completely downcast the day before.
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"It was probably better in 'Happy Hour'
than I thought," Mark said. "I didn't feel like it was any good at all, because
it required a completely different setup than anything I've ever driven.
It went all the boundaries, all of'em, to tighten the car up. I
just didn't think it would ever work for any period of time. When
the tires wore out, I though it would go all to pieces. There's a certain
range of right front spring, of sway bar, of front-to-rear weight
distribution, of right rear springs and all the shocks that we work
within. We were outside of that on everything to keep our car tight.
It stayed right there. I told Tony after about 18 laps, 'I think
it's going to stay with us, I don't think it is going to go away."
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It took Mark 1 hour, 31 minutes and 6 seconds
to complete the race at an average speed of 132.251 mph. There were 13
lead changes among six drivers, and two caution flags for a total of 13 laps.
Five wins in 10 starts. That's not a bad average, certainly not in this sport.
Mark gives all the credit to his crew, a humble refrain that's repeated
after every victory. "I've just been driving great cars this year,."
Mark said at Darlinton. "This race team is sorta new. We moved
the Busch team from Liberty, (N.C.) down to the Mooresville area,
and staffed it with all new people. I've just driven really great
cars, thanks to Jeff Burton, Tommy Morgan (Burton's Busch Series crew chief),
Tony Lambert and the people who pulled all the resources togther."
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