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It was an incredible sight, really,
promising a great finish. There was second-place Mark, who'd been
trying to catch Jeff Gordon for some 30 laps, finally making his
move, charging into the next-to-last lap, closing on his nemesis
as if Gordon were a taxi stuck in traffic.
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Mark locked up the wheels, bumped Gordon,
got even with him, but Gordon hung on and pulled away once again
heading to the start/finish line. It was an amazing move, really,
seeing a driver go so deep into a turn, pulling out all stops in
a bid for the win. Following the race, Mark shared his next-last-lap
strategy.
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"That next-to-last lap? That wasn't a move,
that was out of control." said Mark. "I was out of control and I
was just about to run over him. For a instant, I thought that
maybe both of us were going to go."
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With disaster narrowly averted, Mark
got right back on the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet's bumper and
searched high and low on the white flag lap to find a route to the
lead. And once again, he charged into turn 11 - not nearly as hard,
it must be noted - and closed the gap on Gordon.
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Gordon held off the charge and went
on to a 0.197 second victory. Mark's runnerup performance was yet
another feather in his road-course cap. One of the acknowledged
masters of raod racing the Rousch Racing driver has done especially
well at the 1.949-mile track in Sonoma. In the past five races
dating back to 1995, Mark has posted an average finish of 2.6,
including his win in 1997.
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One Ford in his fleet has played a
large part in that. The car Mark used this time around was the same
one he drove to victory in 1997, and it was also his ride in
his charge from a 26th starting spot to a sixth-place finish
last season.
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"This Valvoline Cummins Taurus
was pretty strong today, and these guys on the Valvoline Team
are the best on pit road right now," Mark said. "Today they
proved it." Mark led three times for 25 laps,
relinquishing the lead for the final time on lap 74 during the
final round of pit stops, under caution. Gordon assumed the
lead on lap 79, and Mark spent the rest of the afternoon searchimg
in vain for a way around. He was not helped by three caution
periods during the final 18 laps, including a 20 minute red-flag
on lap 108.
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"The cautions just fell wrong for us.
Otherwise, we would have had a better shot at it." Mark said.
"We needed a long run. Without that last caution we would have
had a better crack at it. Jeff was superior on fresh tires. But he
didn't have fresh tires there at the end. Our car was pretty darn
good, but he was in front of us and that is the worst thing. I
couldn't find a way by him. I tried, and couldn't get it done."
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During the final few laps, Mark admitted
he and Gordon were both driving on the ragged edge of disaster.
He laughed when he was asked if he was waiting for Gordon to wreck.
"I didn't expect Jeff Gordon to lose it, but I kept the pressure
on him." Mark said. "We were both about to wreck. The tires were
wore out and both of us were driving over the edge to try to win.
We made a race out of it, what more can you ask?"
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Mark gained one position in the point standings,
passing teammate Jeff Burton - who had transmission problems -
for third. Now he is 166 points behind leader Dale Jarrett and
only nine points behind runnerup Bobby LaBonte. But Mark gained
scant few points on Jarrett, who finished sixth.
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In the end, it was a frustrating
day. Mark, a hard-core competitor, doesn't celebrate second-place
finishes. "I'm just hot and tired and I'm ready to go home and I have a bad
headache." Mark said. "And I've got to be a co-pilot on the
airplane so I'm ready to go."
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