NASCAR Points Race Gets Closer After Martin Wins

Mark Martin placed himself solidly in the closest five-way points race in NASCAR history with a record-setting victory Sunday in the Mello Yello 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Martin has moved from 352 points to 88 points behind faltering series leader Bill Elliott in three races.

The combination of bad days by Elliott and runner-up Davey Allison and a 1-2 finish at Charlotte by Martin and Alan Kulwicki turned the point race into something special with three races remaining.

Martin took control late in the 334-lap race, passing Kulwicki on lap 303 and pulling away to win his second race of the season. He won by 1.93 seconds, with Kyle Petty--who led four times for 130 laps--placing third.

Elliott finished 31st, after coming in 26th and 30th in the previous two races. He ran into problems 50 laps from the end of Sunday’s race.

He came into the race leading Allison by 67 points, Kulwicki by 141, Harry Gant by 167 and Martin by 193. He was running comfortably in seventh place on the 1 1/2-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway oval when he suddenly slowed on lap 285, tagged the wall going through turn two and drove onto pit road with a broken rear spring.

He got back onto the track after a lengthy stop, but finally gave up with five laps remaining. Allison, who never seemed to get his car handling right all day, was a disappointing 20th.

When it was over, Elliott led Allison by 39 points, Kulwicki by 44, Martin by 88 and Gant, who finished eighth, by 95.

“It’s hard to believe that we’ve come that far (back in the points),” Martin said. “But it’s hard to believe we got that far behind. . . . A week or two ago, we were just hoping to have a shot at third. Now the championship looks like it’s within reach.”

Martin has finished second three times in the last five races. He averaged 153.602 m.p.h.