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NASCAR notebook

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 26, 2001

Nightmare goes on for Roush

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The struggle continued Sunday for Roush Racing when teammates Jeff Burton and Mark Martin were knocked out of contention simultaneously.

Burton and Martin ran 21st and 22nd on Lap 247 of the Food City 500 when Burton blew his right front tire coming out of Turn 3 and slammed into the wall. His car bounced off it and directly into Martin's line.

Martin, the pole-sitter, couldn't avoid Burton and his car's front end was heavily damaged.

"We hit about as hard as you can hit and took two of us out in one shot," Burton said. "It's bad when you wreck, it's even worse when you take a teammate with you."

Burton's car was totaled, and he finished 40th. Martin's crew got his car back on the track and he finished 34th.

If that wasn't bad enough, owner Jack Roush's other two cars, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch, were among five cars in a pileup on Lap 382, knocking Busch out of the race.

Martin and Burton were expected to contend for the championship, but left Bristol 27th and 36th, respectively, in the standings.

FRONT, BACK, FRONT, BACK: Rookie Kevin Harvick had the car to beat most of the race until tire trouble ruined his day.

Harvick, who led three times for a race-high 137 laps, including 79 of the first 82, fell back in the middle part of the race. He worked his way back to the front and was dominating with 70 laps to go when debris cut his left front tire. He fell a lap down and finished 24th, his worst result of the year.

"That's typical Bristol," he said. "We came from the back and we got a flat tire. It just wasn't meant to be, but they knew we were here and that's what matters."

STILL THE LEADER: Dale Jarrett finished 16th, high enough to hang on to his lead in the points standings. He is the first driver this season to come into a race with the lead and hold it afterward.

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