Dover

RICHMOND, Va. -- Mark Martin's record-tying Winston Cup run ended at Richmond International Raceway Saturday night, but Rusty Wallace sounded convinced that he had started a string of his own.Martin was the main draw in the Miller Genuine Draft 400, as he tried to put his Valvoline Ford in victory lane for a record fifth straight time.After leading twice for 155 laps, Martin's car ran into handling problems and an inspired performance by Wallace, who overcame a stop-and-go penalty for a three car-length victory over Bill Elliott.

DOVER, Del. -- The Dover Downs International Speedway is known as an unforgiving track where anything can happen during the final 100 miles.Yesterday in the Miller 500 at the Monster Mile, almost everything did.No leader was safe through the stretch and Ricky Rudd neatly picked up the pieces in his Tide Ford to nudge a charging Mark Martin for the victory by .091 of a second, the closest winning margin of the Winston Cup season.Yogi Berra would have loved this event. Nothing was over until it was over.

The photograph on the front page and Web site of The Baltimore Sun could not be more stark. In part, it's the composition: a series of repeated horizontal lines, from the red and white stripes of the American flags draping two caskets, one resting on a loader, the other being carried from the aircraft by a team of camouflage-clad Marines and both perfectly level with the ground. But the true power of the photograph lies beyond the image. The two Marines, on a final journey home to Maryland after being killed in the war in Afghanistan, bear witness to the continuing and ever-mounting casualties there and in Iraq, conflicts that have remained largely out of sight and thus out of mind on the home front.

DOVER, DEL. -- With 53 laps to go yesterday in NASCAR's Neighborhood Excellence 400, Matt Kenseth's crew chief, Robbie Reiser, told his driver it was time for a pit stop. You need fresh tires, Reiser said over the radio as the yellow caution flag went up. Get in here. Now. Kenseth, in fifth place, looked at the drivers in front of him: Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton. None was going in for tires. Kenseth figured if he pitted, he could probably make up some ground, but not all of it. But if he stayed on the track, remained calm, trusted his car and his instincts, he thought he could win. It wasn't a tough call for Kenseth.

It was two years ago that Jerry Miraglia, the executive vice president of Dover Motor- sports, walked across Dover (Del.) International Speedway at the end of pre-race ceremonies and came to be standing at the start-finish line when the drivers started their engines. The roar set off vibrations that rumbled across the track and up through the soles of Miraglia's shoes, spreading until they reverberated into his chest. "I stood there thinking that the feel of this sport is so powerful," he said.

DOVER, Del. -- The workdays have been long and hard for Sgt. Bob Gray and his fellow Air National Guard members and will stay that way for a while -- despite the end of the Persian Gulf war.But two things have kept the guardsmen pumped up.More than any other war, U.S. military commanders say, those stationed at Dover are immensely proud that their massive logistics operation has kept the troops in the desert well supplied with everything from peanut butter...

Cal's goin' racin'. Major League Baseball, NASCAR and the Orioles are expected to announce before tomorrow's game against the Toronto Blue Jays that third baseman Cal Ripken will serve as honorary starter for the Sept. 23 MBNA-Cal Ripken 400 at Dover Downs International Speedway in Dover, Del. The race date coincides with the celebration surrounding the final home game of Ripken's career. Ripken will attend the race with his family then helicopter back to Baltimore for a 7:05 p.m. game.

Say the name Waltrip at a race track and heads spin. Darrell Waltrip? Where? Where? But this Waltrip isn't the three-time Winston Cup champion. This one is Michael, Darrell's "little" brother, and while the older brother has soared to the top, the younger one is in danger of being labeled mediocre."

DOVER, Del. -- Dover Downs International Speedway sits back from Route 13. It is nestled among strip malls and restaurants and its sign can get lost among the many that line the highway. And so A. J. Foyt drove right past the entrance when he arrived here to begin preparing his two race cars for tomorrow's Pep Boys 400, which marks the halfway point in the Indy Racing League's season."The last time I was here, this track was way out of town, in the country," Foyt said, laughing in the heat yesterday.

DOVER, Del. -- Rusty Wallace and "The Snake" chased history yesterday afternoon at Dover Downs International Speedway -- and passed it."The Snake" is Wallace's Miller Lite Ford, and the two of them raced faster around this one-mile concrete oval than anyone before.Faster than other Winston Cup cars and even faster than Bobby Unser drove his Indy car here 29 years ago."Wow, I knew I was fast," Wallace said. "But I didn't know I was that fast."Wallace claimed the pole for tomorrow's MBNA Platinum 400 with a run of 155.898 mph. That performance broke Bobby Labonte's track-qualifying record for stock cars (155.