BRISTOL, Tenn. -- A teal blue haze came silently over the Unaka Mountains, as the high-powered lights surrounding the packed, 135,000-seat grandstand glowed in the twilight. It was then that 43 stock cars roared to life on the half-mile Bristol Speedway oval and Rusty Wallace, in his Elvis Presley stenciled Ford, led the field to the line for the start of the Goody's Headache Powder 500.

Moments later they were off in a race to determine whether Winston Cup history would be made.

Back in the seventh starting spot, Jeff Gordon was looking for his fifth straight victory, a feat that would make him the only such winner in the modern (since 1972) era of the sport.

But Gordon, who had parlayed a great team, incredible luck and his own skill into a four-race winning streak, never got his car quite right last night and came up short in fifth place. It was Mark Martin winning for the sixth time this season, and for the first time since his father, stepmother and stepsister died in a plane crash Aug. 8.

"I want to thank the race fans," said a joyous Martin, eyes glistened with tears. "Their sympathy and love of the sport has meant everything. My dad would have been proud of this one."

The victory, by 2.185 seconds over Jeff Burton, brings Martin within 67 points of Gordon, who leads the championship points race. Finishing between Martin, Burton and Gordon were Wallace and Dale Jarrett.

As Martin averaged 86.918 mph through 13 cautions, and led 190 of the 500 laps, including the last 180, he could look in his mirror and see Gordon trailing nearly a half-lap behind.

Gordon, the defending Winston Cup champion who has led at least one lap in each of his last 14 races, did not lead even one last night.

"We got fifth," said Gordon. "Does that count for anything? I'm pretty happy with fifth. I'm beat. I've been fighting a little bit of a cold the last couple of days. I didn't even know if I could make 500 laps."

Gordon said his team performed like a champion.

"We did exactly what we needed to do," he said. "We got a whole lot more out of the car than I thought we could and the guys did a great job in the pits. It [the car] started out pretty loose and we got it tightened up there at the end. We were able to gain on 'em."

But not enough. And that means seven men remain tied with four straight victories in modern times, and that there are still only two drivers in the 50-year history of NASCAR who have ever won five straight: Bobby Allison in 1971 and Richard Petty in 1971 and also in 1967, when he went on to set the all-time record for consecutive wins at 10 in his famous No. 43 Plymouth.

"When I was going for five, it sure didn't get the attention that this did," said Martin. "Not even close. I saw an interview with Dale Earnhardt, and he probably spoke for the rest of us four-race winners when he reminded that a bunch of us had done what Jeff did. But it's an incredible feat and I for one, believe Jeff is the greatest race car driver who ever drove a race car.

"But I'm grateful for what I've got and I've been fortunate enough not to win so much that so many people don't like me."

It did not start as an auspicious night for Gordon. With introductions came a ride for Gordon and his wife Brooke in a red Corvette convertible that was greeted by massive waves of boos as they circled the .533-mile racetrack.

Martin? He was cheered with heartfelt sympathy and appreciation.

Gordon's seventh-place starting position was his worst in the last 15 races, and, perhaps, an omen. He would slip back to eighth on the eighth lap, and at one point in the final 200 laps fell all the way to 10th.

The first of the 13 caution flags that would slow the race for a total of 86 laps came on Lap 42 and made several hearts beat faster. As the then-leader, Ricky Rudd approached the rear bumper of Darrell Waltrip, Waltrip made a move on Morgan Shepherd in the second turn and Shepherd's car went out of control and into the outside wall.

Martin, running second, just missed the spinning Shepherd, as did Jeremy Mayfield, who was running third.

At that point, Rudd, who is still in need of a victory this season to extend his 15-year streak of winning at least one race a season, was the class of the field.

By lap 100, Mayfield, Rudd, Wallace, Dale Jarrett and Martin were running nose-to-tail, and Bobby Labonte and Gordon were closing to within inches. But when Joe Nemechek lost control at the end of the front stretch on Lap 119, the lineup began to change.

Gordon picked up one position to sixth, while Wallace, who had come out in first place after the initial pit stop under the caution, lost a lap and fell back to 39th when he had to pit a second time due to a brake problem.

Through the evening, seven drivers would exchange the lead 12 times.

One of them came under caution on lap 200, after an Ernie Irvan spin in front of the leaders on lap 197. This time it was Jarrett who came out the leader, followed by Mayfield, Martin and Gordon, who picked up another two positions.

Wallace also benefited from the stop. He had made up his lap by passing his teammate Mayfield on lap 169, and was now in 15th position, obviously, back in the hunt.

Things got tense again just two laps after the restart, when an eight-car crash coming out of Turn 2 brought out the fifth caution of the night.

Earnhardt, who finished sixth, led on the restart on lap 292, despite pitting on the backstretch. He pitted on an earlier caution, when the leaders chose not to and found himself up front when they pitted and he didn't.

On this old-fashioned short track, all the pit areas do not fit on the front straight, for that reason, the top 21 qualifiers get the desirable front spots, and cars 22 through 43 pit on the backside.

Earnhardt would lose the lead on lap 313 to Bobby Labonte and Labonte, in turn, would lose it to Martin with 181 to go.

With 100 laps to go, another yellow had shuffled the field again. This time Martin continued to lead, but riding his bumper was Wallace, who had steadily worked his way back to the front. And again in contention was Gordon, lurking in seventh.

Goody's 500

1. (4) Mark Martin, Ford, 500, $80,315.

2. (19) Jeff Burton, Ford, 500, $58,615.

3. (1) Rusty Wallace, Ford, 500, $58,165.

4. (9) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 500, $58,855.

5. (7) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 500, $58,650.

6. (30) Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 500, $42,540.

7. (2) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet, 500, $33,965.

8. (5) Jeremy Mayfield, Ford, 500, $45,015.

9. (3) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 500, $45,540.

10. (24) Kevin Lepage, Ford, 500, $42,590.

11. (33) Bobby Hamilton, Chevrolet, 500, $39,765.

12. (21) Kyle Petty, Pontiac, 500, $33,965.

13. (15) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 500, $37,715.

14. (13) Ken Schrader, Chevrolet, 499, $34,315.

15. (34) Kenny Irwin, Ford, 499, $40,260.

16. (12) Michael Waltrip, Ford, 499, $33,410.

17. (14) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 499, $21,260.

18. (17) Rich Bickle, Ford, 499, $28,210.

19. (27) Bill Elliott, Ford, 498, $32,300.

20. (6) Ted Musgrave, Ford, 498, $35,310.

21. (29) Sterling Marlin, Chevrolet, 498, $24,735.

22. (37) Ernie Irvan, Pontiac, 498, $31,585.

23. (35) Chad Little, Ford, 497, $24,435.

24. (32) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 497, $20,760.

25. (10) Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 496, $38,215.

26. (16) Brett Bodine, Ford, 496, $30,790.

27. (43) Darrell Waltrip, Pontiac, 495, $20,280.

28. (38) Wally Dallenbach, Chevrolet, 489, $30,670.

29. (40) M. Shepherd, Chevrolet, 482, $24,060.

30. (11) Geoff Bodine, Ford, 481, $30,450.

31. (22) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 466, $30,340.

32. (18) J. Nadeau, Ford, 434, handling, $23,230.

33. (23) Johnny Benson, Ford, 434, $30,220.

34. (36) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 422, $22,710.

35. (26) Rick Mast, Ford, 405, wreck, $20,205.

36. (20) D. Cope, Pontiac, 353, handling, $27,185.

37. (8) Ward Burton, Pontiac, 313, wreck, $27,167.

38. (28) John Andretti, Pontiac, 303, handling, $35,150.

39. (41) D. Setzer, Ford, 290, handling, $20,150.

40. (25) R. Pressley, Ford, 272, overheating, $20,150.

41. (42) Hut Stricklin, Chevrolet, 237, wreck, $20,150.

42. (31) Kenny Wallace, Ford, 227, engine, $20,150.

43. (39) Dick Trickle, Ford, 153, wreck, $27,650.

Time of race: 3 hours, 3 minutes, 58 seconds. Margin of victory: 2.185 seconds. Winner's average speed: 86.918 mph. Caution flags: 13 for 86 laps. Lead changes: 12 among 7 drivers.

Lap leaders: R.Wallace pole-10; Rudd 11-14; R.Wallace 15-19; Rudd 20-58; Mayfield 59-120; R.Wallace 121-122; Mayfield 123-190; Martin 191-199; Jarrett 200-234; Mayfield 235-277; Earnhardt 278-311; B.Labonte 312-319; Martin 320-500.

Series points leaders: Gordon 3,417; Martin 3,350; Jarrett 3,194; R.Wallace 3,033; B.Labonte 2,932; Mayfield 2,899; J.Burton 2,778; Earnhardt 2,671; T.Labonte 2,606; Schrader 2,533; Andretti 2,410; Hamilton 2,408; Irvan 2,354; Marlin 2,328; M.Waltrip 2,324.

Four on the floor

A breakdown of Jeff Gordon's four-race winning streak, which ended last night:

1. Pennsylvania 500

Date: July 26

Track: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway

Speed/prize: 134.650 mph; $162,770.

2. Brickyard 400

Date: Aug. 1

Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Speed/prize: 126.770 mph; $1,637,6253.

3. Bud at the Glen

Date: Aug. 9

Track: Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International

Speed/prize: 94.466 mph; $152,970.

4. Pepsi 400

Date: Aug. 16

Track: Michigan Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich.

2& Speed/prize: 153.98 mph; $120,302.

Pub Date: 8/23/98