MBNA 200 - 2000

Yes, Mark can be beaten, and not just by another Winston Cup driver.

Matt And Mark In Busch

NASCAR Grand National series driver Jason Keller ran down Mark on Lap 157 and then spent the remaining 43 laps holding off repeated charges by the series veteran to win Saturday's MBNA Platinum 200 at Dover Downs International Speedway.

Keller, who started 22nd, crossed the finish line .262 seconds ahead of Mark. Matt Kenseth was third, series points leader Jeff Green was fourth and Joe Nemechek rounded out the top five.

The win is the fourth of Keller's career and first on a superspeedway. His previous three wins came at Indianapolis Raceway Park (twice) and Bristol, both short tracks.

"Maybe I'm not just a short track guru after all," Keller said. "It's great for us. We were fast in practice, slipped in qualifying and then to come back and dominate in a fashion like that, it's something.

"I've always wanted to outrun Mark and a lot of people have asked me about him being (in the series). When you test yourself against the best there is, you know exactly where you stand."

Mark made a remarkable recovery to finish where he did considering how his day started. Shortly into the race, Mark's No. 60 Ford developed engine problems and he had to pit so his team could correct a problem with the engine's carburetor.

Using pit strategy, Mark was able to make his way back to the front and took the lead on Lap 114, which he held until Keller passed him 43 laps later.

"We had to play with the deck that we were dealt there and we did the best we could with it, but Jason just put it on us today," said Mark, the all-time series leader in wins (44). "He was faster than us and just whipped us there at the end."

Keller said even he was surprised when he was able to get around Mark for the lead.

"As I was running Mark down I was kind of like saying `He's saving his tires, he's saving his tires. I'll never get by him.' Then he slipped up in traffic," he said. "It was the best race I've ever drove in my life." Green's third place run was his sixth consecutive top-five finish, and combined with Todd Bodine's 13th place finish, allowed Green to increase his series points lead. After 14 of 32 races, Green leads Bodine by 134 points (2,123-1,989). Keller moved to fourth (1,717) with Saturday's win.

"We had a boo-boo yesterday in qualifying and had to take a provisional (to get in the race). We just missed the wrecks and the car was really, really good there in the middle of the race," said Green, Keller's teammate at ppc Racing. "Congratulations to J.K. He's awesome and put her in victory lane.

"He's the only (Grand National series) guy who beat us, so that's all right."

Kyle Petty had a strong run going Saturday driving the No. 45 Chevrolet, the car driven earlier this season by his son, Adam, who died May 12 in a practice session wreck at New Hampshire. Petty was running in the top five late in the race but had to pit under green to get fresh tires and finished 26th.


Congratulations, Jason Keller, for the win at the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series MBNA Platinum 200 in Dover, Delaware.