Dale Jarrett overcame a bad break and won Sunday's Dura-Lube 500, tightening up the Winston Cup championship race as points leader Jeff Gordon came close to disaster.
When it was over, Jarrett had leapfrogged past Mark Martin into second place in the standings, trailing Gordon by 77 points with only the season-finale on Nov. 16 remaining. Martin also gained ground on Gordon, finishing sixth and moving within 87 points.The 26-year-old Gordon, the 1995 series champion and last year's runner-up, was running in the top five when he began to experience a tire problem on lap 240.
Gordon, who has 23 top-10 finishes in 31 starts this season, can still wrap up the title at Atlanta by finishing 18th or better, no matter what the two contenders do.