 |
|
High Sierra Photo |
On Friday night, Todd Bodine and Ted Musgrave got the final shot at Mark Martin they were denied a week earlier at Daytona International Speedway.
It made no difference.
The outcome of the Racetickets.com 200 at California, which also finished with a green-white-checker, found Martin's No. 6 Scotts Ford on top trailed by the Germain Motor Company Toyotas of Bodine and Musgrave.
Martin, who led a race-high 63 laps, handily held off his rivals after the eighth caution and won by .131 second, about two lengths of his Ford F-150. In doing so, the 47-year-old Roush Racing hand became the first in series history to capture a season's first two races.
Martin, who'd previously won NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series races at the 2.0-mile speedway, averaged 121.529 mph and won $57,210 to run his 2005 season total $148,060.
 |
|
High Sierra Photo |
"We really had our hands full on that last restart," said the winner, who started seventh. "Todd was really good on the restart and he was giving us a pretty good run. We had great horsepower here and we just stepped on it and got across the line first.
NASCAR scoring's loop data backed up Martin's comments: He was the fastest (169.888 mph) on restarts, turning three of the five fastest, post-yellow speeds. Sprague topped the other two.
Bodine, who recovered from a rear of the pack restart at lap 26 after NASCAR penalized him for passing to the left after the previous caution, said his truck's handling was too loose when it counted.
Ironically, the final yellow flag, for Mike Wallace's Turn 4 accident, didn't do him any favors.
"The last five laps of the green, I figured out how to get by him," said Bodine. "Then the yellow came out. When the yellow came out I knew we didn't have a shot (in a two-lap shootout)."
Musgrave, meanwhile, was experiencing déjà vu, despite the switch from right to left coasts.
"Riding around out there, I was thinking it was Groundhog Day," he said in reference to the film in which Bill Murray experiences the same set of circumstances day-after-day. "We'll take this finish and sooner or later things will switch around we'll be in the lead."
Actually, four of the top-five finishing positions reflected the Daytona order. Jack Sprague was fifth for the second week in the Con-Way Toyota, led to the line by Bud Pole winner David Reutimann's Team Tundra Toyota.
Johnny Benson, Mike Bliss, Rick Crawford, Jon Wood and Dennis Setzer completed the top 10, Setzer's finish marking defending manufacturer champion Chevrolet's first top 10 of 2006.
Twenty-six of 31 finishers completed all 106 laps falling one short of the series record.
Eight competitors swapped the lead 10 times. Martin took the point for the first time at lap 30 and handed the point to Chad Chaffin following his pit service at lap 58. Chaffin, making his first start of the season in the Key Motorsports Chevrolet, was succeeded by Wood with Martin back at the held on lap 71.
Bodine took the No. 1 position on laps 81-82 but Martin's Turn 4 pass at lap 83 proved to be the winning move.
Martin, due to make his third start of the season (of a planned seven) at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 17, holds a 380 to 350 championship lead over Bodine. Musgrave is 45 points off the pace.