Martin Doesn’t Tire, Wins Goody’s 500

Mark Martin emerged unscathed from near-constant hazards brought by a track record-tying 17 caution flags Sunday and his late-race gamble on old tires paid off in a victory in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Goody’s 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va.

Martin wasn’t a factor as Rusty Wallace dominated the first 436 laps, but he went ahead for the first time when he stayed on the track during a caution with 64 laps to go. Martin never let teammate Jeff Burton get close during the run to the finish.

“Once we got to the lead, man, I just ran like a dog, you know, ran like a dog,” Martin said after his 32nd career victory, this one by 1.5 seconds. He became the eighth different winner in as many Winston Cup races, a record for the start of a season. The overall record is 13 consecutive different winners, set in 1961.

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Kenny Bernstein won the top fuel final in the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at Las Vegas, beating Joe Amato in a tire-smoking duel.

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Michael Schumacher, who promised to make Ferrari fans happy, did so in driving to victory--1.1 seconds ahead of Finland’s Mika Hakkinen--in the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Italy.

The third consecutive season victory and the second consecutive in the race also might help Schumacher fulfill another promise: Ferrari’s first world drivers title since 1979.