2000 GoRacing.com 500

Mark made huge gains this weekend at Bristol compared to his trip there in the spring. Martin qualified seventh with a speed of 124.865 mph which gave him a coveted pit stall on the front stretch. Rusty on the pole at the start of the GoRacing.com 500

Rusty on the pole at the start of the GoRacing.com 500

Once the race began, Mark quickly moved his Valvoline/Cummins Taurus up to fifth place. The car was a little tight, so the crew made air pressure and wedge adjustments on lap 52. He returned to the track in eighth place since three cars did not pit. The car was still a bit tight, but tended to free up on longer runs. Mark got his long run after a yellow flag on lap 100. The next 133 laps were run under green, and Mark took the lead and earned five bonus points on lap 219 just before he pitted for more adjustments to free up the car on lap 220. He took the lead again on lap 277 as he passed Tony Stewart. He led the next 45 laps until a caution came out on lap 321. The leaders pitted during this caution and the team used the opportunity to remove more wedge from the car.

Mark, led twice for a total of 46 laps but saw his team loose valuable ground when they pitted for tires and fuel. They lost positions by coming off of pit road behind teams that made faster pit stops. Martin simply could not make up the lost ground. He eventually finished third in the final order.

Rusty wins at Bristol

"We weren't showing up on pit road," Martin said. "We had a good enough car to contend but we didn't do it. We didn't get the job done on the racetrack or in the pits. We could run with them. We still have a lot of work to do on our deal to win races. The car was fast enough to win today if it had been leading on that last set of tires, so that's a start. We've gotta get some more on it.

"We're going to have to turn up the intensity on the pit stops if we want to win races."

When asked if Wallace was the man to beat at Bristol, Martin replied, "You know, he runs good here at Bristol but I think he could be beat. We beat him here a few times but he's one of the guys you've got to beat.

"There are a lot of drivers you've got to beat who run good here every time. Some of them didn't run as good as usual. There's more than one that you've got to beat."

Finishing fourth was Dale Earnhardt, in the Goodwrench Chevrolet, followed by Steve Park, in the Pennzoil Chevrolet, Jeff Burton, in the Exide Ford, Elliott Sadler, in the Citgo Ford, Sterling Marlin, in the Coors Chevrolet, Dale Jarrett, in the Ford Credit Ford and Ricky Rudd, in the Havoline Ford.

Wallace, who led the final 37 circuits, summed his evening by saying, "We've got great cars and we're doing good. All the team members have done such a great job, our engines have been fabulous and it's just been a neat deal".

The third place finish moved Mark up to eighth in the Winston Cup point standings. He trails seventh place Ricky Rudd by only 21 points. Next weekend the teams return to Darlington Raceway where Mark will also be competing in his Winn-Dixie Taurus in Saturday's Busch Series race.


Congratulations, Rusty Wallace, for the win at the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup GoRacing.com 500 in Bristol, Tennessee.