Martin ends Gordon’s Streak at Bristol

Jeff Gordon’s car couldn’t seem to do anything right Saturday night at Bristol, Tenn. Mark Martin had no such problems.

Martin dominated the final third of the Goody’s 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, ending Gordon’s bid to set a Winston Cup modern-era record with his fifth consecutive victory.

While Martin defeated teammate Jeff Burton before a record crowd of about 145,000, Gordon battled an ill-handling car all night.

Not only did he wind up in fifth place, but he never challenged for the lead. It ended Gordon’s streak of 14 consecutive races in which he led at least one lap.

Martin’s fifth victory of the season and 27th of his career came one week after he failed in his bid to win a race in memory of his father, Julian, who was killed in a plane crash two weeks ago.

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Defending champion Tony Stewart has lost the lead in the Indy Racing League championship race because of a penalty against his team.

IRL officials dropped Stewart from first to third in the standings because the post-race inspection Sunday at Pikes Peak International Raceway revealed rules violations in his car and that of teammate Robbie Buhl. Both cars were found to be racing with rear wings that violated technical specifications.

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Cruz Pedregon topped Funny Car qualifying in the VisionAire NorthStar Nationals at Brainerd, Minn., while Cory McClenathan kept the No. 1 spot in the top-fuel division.