Dale Jarrett wins NASCAR race

BROOKLYN, Mich., Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Dale Jarrett survived a spin and a slide across the tri-oval grass on the 12th lap Sunday and went on to take the lead with five laps remaining and to win the Pepsi 400 NASCAR Winston Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.

The victory came 11 years to the day that Jarrett won his first Winston Cup race, one that came in this event.

Jarrett was able to pass race-leader Jeff Burton on lap 196 with the pass coming in the same area where he had spun out earlier. Burton's engine later blew up and Jarrett was able to cross the finish line 2.285-seconds ahead of Tony Stewart.

Kevin Harvick was third, followed by Jeff Burton and Mark Martin.

Todd Parrott, Jarrett's crew chief, made the decision to take four tires rather than two on the final pit stop with 32 laps remaining. The extra rubber allowed Jarrett's Ford Taurus to be superior late in the race against the cars that had just two tires changed on the final pit stop.

Jarrett's second victory of the season came in front of a crowd estimated at 150,000 fans.

Jarrett dropped to 17th after spinning out early in the race but was able to recover and drive to victory.

"Today, I looked up and saw him spinning through the grass and couldn't believe this was happening as good a race car as I've got," Parrott said.

Burton was able to secure a fourth-place finish despite an engine that was losing water throughout the race.

"We had a really good car the second half of the race, put on tires and drove up to 12th, then stayed out at the end," Burton said. "We were able to survive the engine problem because we kept putting water in it. There are positives to everything, but I can't lie about the disappointment."

Stewart was attempting to win his second race in as many weeks, having captured the NASCAR stop at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

"I was pretty happy with the day," Stewart said. "We got a good start, got going really good, settled into a good rhythm, got out and tried to give my tires a chance to cool down on that first pit stop. But we lost 15 positions on the first lap of restart.

"Whatever that is, it's a problem we'll have to watch out for in the future. But we were able to come back from that. We weren't perfect at the end of the day but if it had gone green a bit longer, we might have won the race."

It was the third time Jarrett has won a race at Michigan International on Aug. 18.

"It was wild," Jarrett said. "Thank God for a safe race and for these guys on the team. The engine was incredible. Who would have through when we spun out on lap 12 that we'd be sitting here in victory lane? What a great day.

"I know Michael Waltrip won the race Saturday on two tires, but I thought four tires would be the way to go here today. We ended up making the right call."

Jarrett drove to victory at an average speed of 140.556 miles per hour around the 2.0-mile oval in a race that was relatively free of on-track incidents.