Newman, Park wreck ends Martin's bid for win

DOVER, Del. - Ryan Newman blamed himself for the lap 124 incident that took out the cars of Steve Park and Mark Martin in Sunday's MBNA Platinum 400 at Dover.

Newman was attempting to complete a pass on Park in Turn 2 when his car darted up the banking and hit Park, sending the two cars sliding down the entrance to the backstretch.

Mark Martin's damaged car after the lap 124 wreck. Credit: Autostock

Martin, who was leading at the time, couldn't avoid the fray and hit Park in the left rear, crumpling up the nose of his No. 6 Viagra Ford.

Martin's crew patched up the car but Martin lasted only until lap 293. He finished 41st and he slid from third in the Winston Cup standings to sixth.

"It's unfortunate that we got caught up in the accident," Martin said. "We'll come back at Pocono and see what we can do."

The wreck also nearly took out the winning car of Jimmie Johnson, who was running right behind Martin.

"The hole (Martin) was heading for closed up in an instant," Johnson said. "There was an opening for me to go through."

Newman's car was only slightly damaged in the accident. He stayed on the lead lap and finished fourth for his sixth top-10 of the year.

"I guess I was the one at fault this time," said Newman said. "I got underneath him (Park) and got in the gas and washed the nose. At the same time, he started coming down the racetrack."

Park's crew made repairs to the left side of his No. 1 Pennzoil Chevy, but he finished 39th for his tenth straight finish out of the top 20 since returning from the injuries he sustained in a Sept. 2001 Busch Series accident at Darlington.

Park was infuriated at seeing his chances at a top-10 finish disappear.

"Just look at the TV and you can see the No. 12 (Newman) just smacked into the side of us," Park said. "The media needs to pump up all the young guns so they drive just like Ryan Newman did.

"We thought we'd pace ourselves and finish in the top 10, but to have a rookie take us out in a dumb move is just jackass."