Like most of the other contenders in the MBNA
Platinum 400, Mark ran a little short of fuel down the stretch.
But Mark played it smart and pitted for fuel when the Roush Racing
team's calculations showed the No 6 Taurus couldn't stretch it.
The strategy paid off with a third-place finish.
Mark maintained fourth-place in the series
standings after 13 of 34 events, and he trails leader Dale Jarrett
by 130 points heading into the June 13 event at Michigan Speedway.
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Mark led 89 of the first 92 laps
at Dover, but the 40-year-old Batesville Ark. native paced the
field only 11 more laps during the 400 lap event.
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"We just couldn't outrun those guys there
at the end." Mark said. "It was pretty close, though. We ran strong.
It's a strong race track for us, and these guys are building good stuff".
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Bobby Labonte won the race by topping
his tank on lap 294 under the final caution flag. Labonte covered
the distance while Mark and the other front-runners were forced
to stop for a splash of gas. "I watched the fuel pressure fluctuate."
Mark said. "I think I came one lap earlier than they intended.
We weren't going to gain anything by running out of gas out there,
We were going to have to stop and it made no sense to run out of
gas hoping for a yellow." A yellow that never came and consequently
put Mark one lap down at the finish.
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"If you can't run that many laps, then
you can't run that many laps whether it's 108 or whatever it was."
Mark said. "If you can only run 100 and there's 108 to go, then there's
no gambling to it. Man, you're eight miles short. That's the way it is.
You can go for it if you're within a lap of making it. That's one
thing to roll the dice. But if you're not even close, there's no need
need to roll the dice. If your figures come up within one lap, then
it's gamble time. But if you are five laps off, you can't gamble
on something like that. You're just going to lose."
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Mark won earlier this season at
Rockingham, but he's riding an 11-race winless streak. For some
teams, that's nothing serious. For Mark & Co., it's highly unusual,
given their success in recent seasons.
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"What we've got to do is pick up the
pace just a little bit," Mark said. "We've been running second and
third every week. I'm real proud of this race team. That's what you
have to do to win races. You run like that. When it's our day,
we'll get them."
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