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| | Monday, October 23 Keller places third, stays in race | |||||
| Associated Press ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Jeff Green all but locked up NASCAR's Busch Series championship Saturday with a last-lap pass that gave him his first victory at North Carolina Speedway. The series leader chased down the dominating car of Jeff Burton and got by him twice in the waning laps of the Sam's Club 200. The first pass came on lap 185 when Green's Chevrolet slipped by and beat Burton's Ford to the flagstand after Ricky Hendrick hit the wall on the backstretch, bringing out the fourth of five caution flags in the 197-lap event. Burton, quicker on cool tires, flashed back into the top spot on the restart on lap 190 and appeared able to hold off Green until Elton Sawyer's turn two spin brought out the last yellow flag on lap 194. NASCAR was able to get the green flag back out for one last lap and Green took full advantage, using the outside lane on the 1.016-mile oval to squeeze past Burton and win by two car lengths. "He did a great job, timed it just right," said Burton, who led a race-high 106 laps. "What I should have done was checked him up, but after he got up with me, it was too late." Green needs only to start the race in Memphis, Tenn., on Oct. 29 to clinch his first Busch Series title. "I got that run on him and he spun the tires a little bit," he said. "I wanted that outside lane and just got a real good start and got alongside him." Asked if he was surprised that Green got such a good jump on him, Burton, a regular on the Winston Cup circuit, replied: "It always surprises the leader when the second place guy is beside him at the start-finish line." Green picked up his first victory in Rockingham, his sixth of the season and the 10th of his career. He led only six laps while averaging 113.138 mph. Jason Keller, Green's ppc Racing teammate and the series runner-up, finished third - just good enough to keep Green from closing out the title race with three races remaining. Todd Bodine was fourth, followed by Ward Burton. Mark Martin, who has a record 11 Busch Series victories on this track, led 81 laps and was battling with Roush Racing teammate Burton for the win until a broken airgun forced him to make a second stop. That sent Martin, who started from the pole, all the way to 19th for a restart on lap 144. Although he didn't have enough time to get back into contention, Martin charged back to finish sixth. Martin will retire from the Busch Series after racing in the season finale Nov. 11 in Homestead, Fla. | ALSO SEE Sam's Club 200 Results AUDIO/VIDEO   Teammate Jason Keller spoiled Jeff Green's chances of grabbing the points title.wav: 261 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Jason Keller was hoping to get a one-two finish with his teammate Jeff Green.wav: 134 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |||||