LAST MAN STANDING; That's Mark Martin's story at Dover.(Motorsports)

Byline: AL PEARCE

Someone at NASCAR should padlock the videotape of its MBNA 400 at Dover International Speedway in a file called "How Not To Race,'' and then for good measure, dump it the Atlantic, hopefully lost and forgotten for all time.

In one of the ugliest shows in memory, Mark Martin snapped a 72-race losing streak in the 400-lap debacle in Delaware. He and his Roush Racing Ford team avoided the madness that surrounded them, so the win-its first since May 2002 in Charlotte-is by no means tainted. "It was just a stroke of luck,'' Martin said after his 34th career NASCAR win. "Everything worked in our favor and the car got stronger and stronger. But believe me, we were due.''

The race was marred-there is no nice way to say it-by 11 cautions for 90 laps. Two red flags came out, each for about 20 minutes. More than half the 43-car field crashed out or lost time with crash-related repairs. Five cars finished on the lead lap and Martin's winning speed was barely 97 mph. He led only the final 19 laps and won by 1.7 seconds over Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose stirring late-race scrap for second saved the day's entertainment value. Jeff Burton and rookie Scott Riggs rounded out the top five.

Stewart led three times for 243 laps and was going to win the race. But he missed pit road during a routine green-flag stop at lap 318, fell behind with a slow lap to get back, and never caught up. Moments later, leader Ryan Newman spun and crashed entering pit road, ending his chances. The 19-car wreck at lap 346 that brought out the first red flag slowed or eliminated other contenders, including pole-winner Jeremy Mayfield and top-five runner Jimmie Johnson.

"I don't believe all this,'' said Kevin Harvick, who barely avoided the Turn Three melee. "I've seen a lot throughout my career, but I've never seen this much stuff torn up. Maybe at Talladega or Daytona, but not someplace like this. It's hard not to laugh because it's kind of funny.''

Rookie Kasey Kahne avoided that mess and was in charge until crashing at lap 381. He led Martin and Stewart when Casey Mears hit the wall behind them. NASCAR didn't throw the caution until Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers and Robby Gordon ran through Mears' oil and crashed. The race was stopped a second time to clean the track and refigure the running order, and to ensure a green-flag finish.