Star-Gazette from Elmira, New York • 11

i Sports Editor Randy Benson, 6077345158, Ext. 290 Star-GazetteMonday, August 9,1993 v7 -'x. 1 k- SIMON WHEELERStor-Gozttt GOING FOR A SPIN: The cars of, from left, Phil Parsons, Morgan Shepherd, Derrike Cope (backwards) and Harry Gant try to negotiate the Inner Loop during the opening lap at Watkins Glen International Sunday. nr Mm 0M1 0 I UJ New champ beats bad luck to hang on for '93 Glen title By GEORGE HAWKE Star-Gazette Finally first Mark Martin has been close at Watkins Glen before Sunday. Bud at the Glen finishes for Martin: 1993: First 1992: Fourth 1991: Third 1990: Fifth 1989: Second 1988: 28th Th Associated Pru BEGINNING OF END: Kyle Petty's Pontiac, left, spins in the Esses after losing control Sunday at Watkins Glen International.

Dale Earnhardt's Chevrolet, right, collided with Petty when Earnhardt was unable to get around Petty's car. Petty and Earnhardt were running 1 -2 at the time. WATKINS GLEN Mark Martin has finished second, fifth, third and fourth in his last four tries at the Bud at the Glen. He was missing a first, until Sunday when his early-race bad luck was overshadowed by so-mone else's to give Martin his first victory on a road course. Wally Dallenbach, was second.

Martin's win, his first of the season, also broke a string of misfortune the Batesville, native, had experienced all year. "Today was the day we got back for all the ugly stuff this season)," said Martin, who moved from fifth to fourth in the Winston Cup points standings. "We haven't been the luckiest team this year, but we got a little bit of a break with the 42 and 3 cars." The break was a spin by leader and defending champion Kyle Petty in the No. 42 Mello Yello Pontiac on lap 85 of the 90-lap race. Petty had himself overcome some early ignition troubles.

But his spinout put him smack in front of a speeding Dale Earnhardt who could not avoid Petty. The wreck put Petty out of the race and dropped Earnhardt to an 18th place finish. "I just lost it," said Petty, who finished 26th after starting seventh. "It was one of those deals where it was all my fault." Martin, the pole-sitter, had the fastest car in the race but had problems of his own. "We got a soft batch of lug nuts and they were rounding off," said Steve Hmiel, Martin's crew chief.

"The first time it happened, we were probably in the pits 30 seconds (Martin's third pit stop, but the next stop, we knew what we were doing a little better." The first pit stop with the lug-nut problems, lap 52, dropped Martin from first to 25th. It seemed to be another one of those days for the driver. At Michigan, in the Miller Genuine Draft 400 on June 20, Martin ran out of gas on the last lap and finished sixth after leading 141 laps. At Atlanta, in the Mo-torcraft 500 on March 20, he blew a motor after leading 140 Todd's blown engine may have put Martin in position to get win Key moments in the race TURN TURN 5 8 TURN 1p TURN By RON LEVANDUSKI Star-Gazette laps. And at Charlotte, in the Coca-Cola 600 on May 30, he had a lug nut go through the radiator after leading four times in the race.

Martin led the most laps Sunday with 47, followed by Earnhardt with 26, Petty with nine and Chemung native Geoff Bodine with eight. Dallenbach, whose best career finish before Sunday was a fifth here last vear, was near the front all day out wasn't nearly as strong as Martin. "I was really happy I could get my best finish here at Watkins Glen," Dallenbach said. "This is great track for me, and I've had a lot of fun here in the past in (SCCA) Trans-Am and IMSA." Jimmy Spencer from Berwick, Pa, finished third, grabbing his fourth top-five finish of the season and his best-ever finish on a road course. Bill Elliott, who won the Fay's 150 Busch Grand National race here June 26, was fourth, and Ken Schrader, who qualified second behind Martin, rounded out the top five.

1 Race leader Kyle Petty spins out exiting Turn 2 on lap 85. Dale Earnhardt, running second, hits Petty. 2. Todd Bodine brings out the fifth caution of the day with a blown motor, allowing Mark Martin to pit under the yellow instead of the green flag. 3.

Martin's pit crew uses the caution to contend with the lug-nut problem that had earlier lost Martin the lead in the race. blown engine by Todd Bodine scattered debris over the track between Turns 10 and 11. Martin, third when he came into the pits, dropped out of the top 10 but remained in sight of the leaders. That was a major improvement over his last stop, on lap 52, when he fell from first to 25th after his crew struggled for more than 30 seconds with the lug nuts. "That felt like it lasted forever," Martin said.

But Martin knew he had time to recover. "We were awful fast, but we were an awful long way back." Martin marched through the field into third, then got the critical yellow flag he needed from Bodine. t- WATKINS GLEN Todd Bodine night have provided the boost to help put Mark Martin in a position to win Sunday's Bud at the Glen race. Steve Hmiel, Martin's crew Chief, said a caution on lap 75 lessened the damage caused by Slow pit stops. The slow stops were caused by soft lug nuts that were difficult to remove.

"We changed our strategy wlien we realized we had a problem with the lug nuts," Hmiel said. "We needed to pit on a yellow near the end so we wouldn't lose as much ground. "Mark wanted to come in on the green, but we got our break on lap 75 when a caution came out." caution came out when a JULIE "I didn't see what was happening because I was negotiating the turn," Martin said. "I was looking right at the turn, but I saw the smoke starting to fly. I don't know what happened." Five laps later, Martin saw the checkered flag for the first time this season.

Thanks to that caution, Martin was able to return to third place when he caught his second major break the accident caused when leader Kyle Petty spun exiting turn 2 and hit the second-place car of Dale Earnhardt on lap 85. Kyle Petty on getting a ride to the pits with Dale Jarrett after he wrecked his car. We haven't been the luckiest team this year." Geoff Bodine on staying out on the track when others pitted to take the lead: "We didn't have the fastest car, so we wanted to make as few stops as possible. It put us up front with lesser tires, but Here's who finished in the top 10 in Sunday's Bud at the Glen and how much they won: 1. Mark Martin, $166,110 (includes $98,800 Unocal 76 Challenge bonus).

2. Wally Dallenbach $37,045. 3. Jimmy Spencer, $31 ,1 35. 4.

Bill Elliott, $28,075. 5. Ken Schrader, $24,655. 6. Sterling Martin, $1 8,1 90.

7. Bobby Labonte, $14,670. 8. P.J. Jones, $10,460.

9. Kenny Wallace, $12,210. 10. Harry Gant, $19,990. Bud at the Glen winners, runners-up.

1 993: Mark Martin t- 2nd place: Wally Dallenbach 1 9 92: Kyle Petty 2nd place: Morgan Shepherd Jl 991: Ernie Irvan 2nd place: Ricky Rudd jl 990: Ricky Rudd 2nd place: Geoff Bodine 1989: Rusty Wallace 2nd place: Mark Martin 1988: Ricky Rudd 2nd place: Rusty Wallace 987: Rusty Wallace 2nd place: Terry Labonte 1 986: Tim Richmond 2nd place: Darrell Waltrip Mark Martin full-page photo All week long the Star-Gazette has been featuring a driver of the day in full-page, color photos. Today the driver is the 1 993 Bud at the Glen champion, Mark Martin. Page 8C. Bud treats Bodines unkindly Geoff flirted with the lead but, because of transmission trouble, faded in the end. Brett and Todd had mechanical problems too, finishing 20th and 30th, respectively.

Page 2C. Jimmy Spencer bolts to third Local racing fans used to watch Jimmy Spencer circle the track in nearby Owego. Sunday they saw him scoot into third place. Page 7C. was waiting for a ride back, but I had been standing there about 10 minutes so I figured I would get back the best way I could." Mark Martin on winning the race with the help of the accident.

"Today was the day we got paid back for all the ugly stuff (this season). we got good track position." mrmmmB rTO7EMPaCT'.