SaveMart/Kragen 350

Sears Point Road Course

June 25, 2000


Congratulations, Jeff Gordon, for the win at the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup SaveMart/Kragen 350 in Sonoma California.

A third-place finish at Sears Point was Mark's second consecutive top-five finish, following five straight points races outside the top 10.

Mark started the race in seventh position but quickly moved toward the front of the field. A loose condition in the early laps was taken care of with an air pressure adjustment on lap 34, and Mark's Roush Racing Taurus handled perfectly the rest of the day.

Mark was in fourth place when the next caution flag flew on lap 60. He moved up to second when Scott Pruett and Tony Stewart spun, but lost some positions during a pit stop on lap 70 when several teams opted to take only two tires. As Jeff Gordon took the checkered flag, Mark challenged Sterling Marlin for second place, but came up just short.

His third-place finish moved him to seventh in the Winston Cup point standings. "We had a great car all day," Mark said. "We only had to make one small adjustment. We didn't have enough to challenge Gordon, but if I would have had a few more laps, I could have made another run at Sterling. It sure was a lot hotter than I expected in the car. I needed a little oxygen after the race, but I was fine after that. I'm really pleased that we moved up in the points. I just hope we can keep our top-five streak going next weekend at Daytona."