QUALIFYING: Ernie Irvan won his second straight Bud Pole with a speed of 183.416mph and a time of 00:39.255sec. Rusty Wallace started 11th with a speed of 182.283mph and a time of 00:39.499sec. Top Ten Qualifiers: 1st-Ernie Irvan, 2nd-Bobby Labonte, 3rd-Jeff Gordon, 4th-Dale Jarrett, 5th-Mark Martin, 6th-Joe Nemechek, 7th-Wally Dallenbach, 8th-Jeremy Mayfield, 9th-Ward Burton, 10th-Ken Schrader. Notables in field: 11th-Rusty Wallace, 13th-Terry Labonte, 25th-Jeff Burton, 30th-Michael Waltrip, 37th-Dale Earnhardt. Starting Grid
RACE: Gordon became the 7th driver in modern NASCAR history to win four straight races, coming from far back to take the Pepsi 400. It was also his first victory at Michigan. Gordon took the lead for the only time with eight laps to go, following a pit stop during which crew chief Ray Evernham ordered two right-side tires for the Chevy. Mark Martin and the others seemed to have the best of Gordon's poor-handling car, which was barely in the top 10 for much of the event. But everything changed after the 3rd and final caution flag came out on the 179th lap, when Ward Burton blew an engine. Martin, Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett where running 1-2-3 at that time. All the cars on the lead lap went in for a final stop with 20 laps to go. While Gordon was pitting, Burton ran over his air hose leaving the pit and was forced to return. That made the order Martin, Jarrett and Gordon with 18 laps remaining and the caution still out. On the restart three laps later, Gordon quickly passed Jarrett, and the race was on for the lead. Gordon rapidly closed the gap, but Martin kept him back. The cars almost touched twice. Finally, Gordon took the lead on the 192nd lap. He roared on as Martin, Jarrett and Labonte lost the draft by racing side to side. The win tied Gordon with Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, Bill Elliott and Martin as the only drivers in the modern era to win four consecutive races. **Martin, a four-time Michigan winner, was racing despite the deaths a week earlier of three family members.** Top Ten Finishers: 1st-Jeff Gordon, 2nd-Bobby Labonte, 3rd-Dale Jarrett, 4th-Mark Martin, 5th-Jeff Burton, 6th-Ernie Irvan, 7th-Jeremy Mayfield, 8th-Wally Dallenbach, 9th-John Andretti, 10th-Chad Little. Notables in the field: 14th-Ken Schrader, 18th-Dale Earnhardt, 22nd-Michael Waltrip, 23rd-Rusty Wallace, 36th-Terry Labonte. Race Results
�6 - Mark Martin
�������Started: 5th�
�����������Highest: 1st����������������Laps Led: 60
�������Finished: 4th��������������Lowest: 5th
RACE RECAP:
After 200 Laps
Leaders: 9
Lead Changes: 25
3 Cautions for 18 Laps
Cars Out of Race: 8
Average Speed: 151.995mph
Winner: Jeff Gordon
Margin of Victory: 1.826
Time of Race: 2:37:54
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