The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 28

Eaae 4D Sunday. June 4. 2000 Amtiehm Stnr Martin touts protege's 1st victory HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIBIUII. I UIU (7 By Mike Harris Associated Press Mark Martin can say, "I told you so." It was Martin, a Winston Cup star, who spotted the potential in Matt Kenseth several years ago and got him a shot at the big time. Martin brought Kenseth to the attention of team owner Jack Roush and recommended that Roush give the kid some help.

-Racing L.A. Lakers forward A.C. Green, right, takes It to the basket against Portland's Rasheed Wallace during the third quarter of Game 6 of their best-of-7 Western Conference final. Game 7 tips off at 6:30 p.m. today.

Associated Press good it gets? Associated Press Dale Earnhardt, right, talks to rookie driver Matt Kenseth, winner of Cup victory and a boon to Jack Roush Racing. "When Matt won his first Busch race at Rockingham in 1998 that was a tremendous thrill for Martin said. "It was also a big relief. I stepped out on a limb based on a hunch and convinced Jack that he could be a big part of Roush Racing's future." Last Sunday, Kenseth made Martin and Roush proud by winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowes Motor Speedway, the first time a rookie has won NASCAR's longest event. Kenseth joined Dale Earnhardt Jr.

considerably more heralded as rookie winners this year, although Earnhardt has already won twice. "1 am a little surprised that he and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have won so soon," Martin said. "I thought it would take longer for both of them to win. Matt is certainly going to be one to reckon with in.

NASCAR for a long time." Martin said Kenseth and crew chief Robbie Reiser, who owned his Busch Series car the last two seasons, proved themselves at the Concord, N.C., track. "There is no better way to get your first win than to do something nobody else has accomplished," West showdown results in long-expected Game 7. marked Kenseth's first Winston Martin said. "That was just the way I had hoped to see it go down. Matt ran a brilliant race, and he is going to be tough all year.

I'm just happy to have a small part in it." Martin and Kenseth will compete Saturday and today in the Busch Series and Winston Cup races in Dover. Del. If it came down to the two of them for the win in either race. Martin says he would not give Kenseth any slack. "It would be great if the race came down to the tw of us." Martin said.

"I do think the old man should win, youth should not prevail in this instance. Maybe later, but not any time soon. HEAT SEEKING: It supposed to be a very hot weekend in Dover, with temperatures possibly moving into the 90s as the Winston Cup teams practice and qualify for today's MBNA Gold 400 on the Monster Mile. "I worry more about the guys on the crew than I do myself," said Sterling Marlin, referring to dealing with the heat. "They are running back and forth all the time, no matter how hot it is.

Hopefully, they'll drink plenty of water and stay as cool as they can." Marlin said the heat really does- the Coca-Cola 600 a week ago. It n't bother him because the only time he considers it perfect racing weath er is "any time it's not raining and you're out front. STAT OF THE WEEK: There is definitely a premium put on qual ifying well in Dover. Of the 60 Winston Cup races run there, 50 have been won from the top 10. Of those, 10 have been won from the pole.

STAT OF THE WEEK II: Three drivers have won eight of the last 12 Cup races in Dover. Since 1994, Martin and Jeff Gordon have each won three and Wallace two. 1 1, Associated Press Keller emerges on top in crash-marred race Vv By Dick Brinster Busch By Bob Baum Associated Press LOS ANGELES To borrow a line from Jack Nicholson, this is as good as it gets. The two best teams in the NBA, at least as lar as records go; two teams that have won twice on the other's court in the playoffs; two teams that have fought each other to an intense standoff, 2-2 in the regular season and 3-3 in the playoffs. Portland vs.

Los Angeles today in uame ot the western Conference finals. "I think the NBA and NBC got exactly what they wanted," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. There are plenty of subplots. Can Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant -NBA finally become champions? Can Jackson, the NBA's Zen master, instill a championship mentality in the Lakers? Can Portland's Scottie Pippen lead a team to a title without Michael Jordan at his side? "It would be great for me," Pippen said. "This team brought me here to advance and get to the finals and go farther than what they did last season.

Just that alone means a lot, to be able to come here and be the piece to carry them that far." This is the first game of such magnitude at the new Staples Center, and Bryant can hardly wait, sore foot or no sore foot. "I love it," he LL said. "If you look Jim Associated Press DOVER, Del. Jason Keller avoided a rash of accidents as he moved through the Field, then held off Mark Martin over the last 43 laps to win the MBNA Platinum 200 on Saturday at Dover Downs International Speedway. The 30-year-old driver from Greenville, S.C., beat Winston Cup star Martin by three car-lengths for his first NASCAR Busch series victory of the year and fourth of his career.

Keller started 22nd in a crash-filled race that featured six cautions for 38 of 200 laps at The Monster Mile. He led only once, using lapped traffic to move his Chevrolet past the Ford of Martin, a moonlighting Winston Cup star hoping in his last season on the Busch circuit to add to his series-best 44 career victories. Keller, challenged hard by Martin over the final laps, wasn't certain he would win. "I thought he was saving his tires," Keller said. "And I thought we were too loose, but it orked out there at the end." But Martin, who starts fourth today in the MBNA Platinum 400, didn't have tires as fresh as those of Keller because he stayed out to pick up track position when the leaders pitted on lap 102.

Martin started ninth, but fell as far back as 25th because of an early-race problem with his carburetor. Like Keller, he was just another number in the field as polesitter Kevin Harvick dominated the first half of the race, leading twice for 97 laps. Harvick faded, and by lap 114 Martin was in front until Keller passed him on lap 158. Sprague wins Sears 200 At Monroe, Jack Sprague, helped by a caution period he had a role in, came from a lap behind to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Sears 200. A lap behind in 16th-place after pitting to replace a cut tire on the 128th of 200 scheduled laps, Sprague methodically worked his way back into contention as the race ran without caution.

Third place, however, appeared as far as the defending series champion would get until con- Jason Keller celebrates his first NASCAR Busch Grand National Series victory. tact with Brendan Gaughan's lapped truck sent Gaughan crashing into a concrete barrier to bring out the caution flag. The race's distance and Ruttman and at the past at all the great teams, We lUSt need to get right side tires. everybody's been tu- pushed to their icgai, limit before, that's all. Once thev everybody's been get thejr defense pushed to the sev- enth game.

As a legal, We'll be all kid watching fight. try to keep You let off the gas and it's like shh-hhhhhhhhhh you slide." One of the more interesting lap-pers was the Unimog driven by Lance Neumaster of Ocean Springs, Miss. The old Swiss army vehicle gets 10 miles per gallon and easily fords 31 inches of water. It looks something like a panel truck painted a deep green with huge tires, a canvas top and seating for 12. The Mercedes emblem that adorns the front grill looked strangely out of place.

Neumaster liked his trip and said he wanted to go faster. To Neumaster's surprise, driving a vehicle that doesn't have power steering can be a tricky endeavor on 33 degrees of banking. "You had to fight your way around," said Neumaster, who plans to drive his date to the senior prom in the truck. "You had to fight the wheel to keep it up on the banks." Most drivers hovered around the Associated Press Lakers coach Phil Jackson has accused Portland of using an illegal defense. basketball you're in watching, sitting Game 7 of any-' series is fun." The Lakers say the Blazers have defended O'Neal so well, especially" in Friday night's 103-93 Portland victory, because of illegal defense.

"They're illegal most of the time," O'Neal said. Said Bryant, "Hopefully, we can get a couple of illegal defenses. Watching the video this morning there were illegal defens es a hole bunch of times. They just weren't called. Some of them were all fault because we didn't point them out and we weren't patient enough." And Jackson: "We just need to get tt Phil Jackson, Lakers coach their defense legal that's all.

Once they get their defense legal, we'll be all right. We've been throwing it in so earnestly to him that we're allowing them to get ille-' gaily lined up and then their rotations are shorter and everything happens a little quicker around Shaq. "We need to be a little more patient, more aware as a basketball club." Portland coach Mike Dunleavy was unimpressed by the argument, saying that O'Neal plays as much illegal defense as anyone, and. spends far more than three seconds in the lane most of the time. But Dunleavy did admit that the same type of comments led to some early' illegal defense calls against' Sacramento in the deciding game of.

the Lakers' first-round series against, Sacramento. FIRSTlN BALLOT Parade lap: By Nathan Solheim Star Sports Writer TALLADEGA Tad Hurst had one mission at Saturday's Truxpo here. That mission was to race around Talladega Superspeedway as fast as he could get his customized Chevrolet Tahoe to go. The Talladega High School senior achieved a maximum speed of 60 mph in the tri-oval. "I didn't know if I was going to hold on and stay on the track," Hurst said.

Hurst and others from the XTC Custom Truck Club in Talladega displayed their vehicles as part of the Truxpo exhibition. More than 100 brightly colored, customized and dramatically altered trucks and SUVs dotted the backstretch of the speedway. Everyone from teenagers to retirees were there showing off their particular mechanized masterpiece. Truxpo: Runte From Page 1 had several hours to tune and tweak engines, transmissions and gear ratios to gain more speed. With fans roaming through their pits in the sweltering afternoon sun.

workers turned huge one-inch crescent wrenches on steering columns used to love them. "To be in this type of situation, even though we'd much rather be preparing tor Indiana, is kind ot cool." Cool, maybe. Scary, definitely. The Lakers, winners of 67 regu lar-season games, have lost two in a row to the Trail Blazers after taking a 3-1 lead in the series. Los Angeles hasn't lost three in a row all season.

"It's definitely a concern, absolutely," Bryant said, "because you never know what's going to happen in Game 7, especially against a team like Portland." Only six teams have been down 3-1 and come back to win a series, and it's never happened in the West finals. "This is what you dream of," said Portland guard Steve Smith, who is shooting 57 percent (12-for-21) from 3-point range in the series. "I think everybody, whatever aspect of fifth yellow extended the scheduled sent leaders Randy Tolsma, Joe Dennis Setzer to pit road for new it on track 33 mpn mark witn many going slower to pose for pictures. Some of the more aggressive drivers lagged behind and sped through the tri- oval, but most simply moved around the track, happy to be there. Ted Nemic brought his family to Talladega from St.

Augustine, Fla. He displayed his Chevrolet Suburban at the Truxpo event last month in Darlington, S.C., and said he likes coming to the events for a variety of reasons. He promotes his business, called Aggressive Off-Road, on these trips. Nemic quickly discovered that Talladega pavement is a long way from mud-bogging. "It's real unnerving if you got up high, Nemic said.

"Those NASCAR guys they're professionals." Nathan Solheim is a sports writer for the Star. He can be reached at 236-1558 ext. 335 or sports annistonstar. com "It's really neat to be here and take the win," Runte said. "I hope we get at least 10 or 12 of these (races) next year." Nathan Solheim is a sports writer for the Star.

He can be reached at 236-1558 ext. 335 or sportsannistonstar.com help him today He makes light of it, and even has taken a ribbing about it. One of those poking fun is NASCAR truck series ace Mike Wallace, Rusty's brother. "He asked me a race or two back what driving school I went to over the winter," Elliott said. "It's just been one of them deals.

We're going in the right direction." Folks just MPf prtTciptnu lustily anticipated the chance to take their trucks around the 2.66-mile track, an activity guaranteed to all who entered trucks for competition. Various trucks from a 2000 Ford F-150 to a 1968 Mercedes Unimog. a Swiss version of a Hummer, took their chances on the high banks. For most, it was slightly scary. Hurst's SUV slid down the track and caused his passengers to buckle up for safety.

More daring motorists attempted to climb the upper apron, only to be told to move back to the bottom of the track by event security-Justin Hill, a member of the Alabama Custom Truck Club in Anniston, said the ride was nothing like the road. "It's pretty wild." Hill said. "You almost sit on the side of vour door. drives Bigfoot to and tried to align mammoth front tires to gain some kind of advantage. "We found stuff out in qualifying, that helped us out a lot." Runte said.

"It's a tough field to get into because everyone is so close." Runte adds his name to an illustrious list of winners at Talladega. and that has made it somewhat easier on drivers already challenged by heat on a track surrounded by high grandstands that block any breezes. Four-time Dover winner Bill Elliott, who starts next to Wallace in the front row, is delighted with that. He says the racing is better without the additional laps causing fatigue and lack of concentration that leads to accidents. That was particularly true of the last 500- big victory at Talladega ELECT GERALD WILLIS Delegate To National Democratic Convention, Third Congressional District Wallace: Pole-sitter not counting on position to FIRST IN EXPERIENCE Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon have won at Talladega multiple time's, but Runte was happy to win once.

He has driven Bigfoot for ll years and went through the days of arena shows and state fairs to return to competitive racing. miler, won by Ricky Rudd after so many leaders wrecked or broke in the final 100. "The 100 miles less makes it psychologically easier on the driver," Elliott said. The former Winston Cup champion, who will drive one of Ray Evernham's new Dodges next season, has had a rebirth of sorts. Elliott hasn't won since 1994, but has run much closer to the front this season.

ON JUNE 6, VOTE FOR GilRALD WILLIS STATE RERESENTATIVE, DIST. 34 From Page 1D stops and smart driving. The long turns that account for about half the track present a physical challenge. "You always feel drained," said Burton, whose best career Dover finish of second came two Junes ago. "You're always glad to see a caution as long as you're not in it." The races were reduced from 500 to 400 laps in September of 1997, THE LAST NAME ON THE Pd.

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