A week after Jeff Gordon gained points on series leader Sterling Marlin with a 40th-place finish, Mark Martin took the lead with a 16th-place finish in Sunday's New Hampshire 300.

Marlin has struggled during much of the last two months, finished 21st Sunday and now trails in the standings for the first time since Feb. 24. He said a lot of his problems are directly linked to the rules package that have been tweaked to help Chevrolet and Pontiac in the last month.

"We can get the car to turn," Marlin said. "There's just no valance. But we'll go to Dover next week, and maybe we'll get it figured out."

Chevrolet was allowed to extend its front bumper by an inch, while Pontiac was granted a half-inch extension two weeks ago. Two of the last three races, however, have been won by Ford, including Sunday's winner Ryan Newman.

Martin now has 3,545 points. His lead is a meager six points over Marlin.

Rookie Jimmie Johnson is third with 3,505 points, followed by Tony Stewart in fourth with 3,486, Gordon in fifth with 3,478, Rusty Wallace in sixth with 3,399, Bill Elliott in seventh with 3,354, Newman in eighth with 3,353, Matt Kenseth in ninth with 3,325 and Ricky Rudd in 10th with 3,318.

Mathematically, any of the top six drivers can take over the lead next week at Dover. Eight drivers within 192 points represents the most-competitive points race with nine events to go in the sport's history.

SILLY SEASON UPDATE: Kyle Petty is waiting on John Andretti's decision whether he will return to Petty Enterprises next year. It's possible Andretti, along with Bobby Hamilton and Jerry Nadeau, are both waiting to see if anything happens with Jimmy Spencer's job at Chip Ganassi Racing.

Spencer, who's struggled all year, apparently needs a couple strong finishes in the next few weeks to keep his job. Because of that, several drivers seem content with waiting it out.

Hamilton said he's not in any hurry to find work in 2003. He's already tendered his resignation at Andy Petree Racing, effective at the end of the year. Petree hasn't found a replacement, and he's probably waiting to see who's available if and when Ganassi makes the next move.

Also, the second car planned at ppi Motorsports probably won't happen. Car owner Cal Wells said Sunday he's hasn't put a deal together yet, and it's not likely Ricky Craven will have a teammate next season.

BUMPY ROAD: Drivers were irate with the track conditions at New Hampshire when the series made its stop at the mile-long oval in July. The pavement in the third and fourth turns broke into pieces, causing several accidents.

Although it was easier to concentrate more on the rain that caused a delay in the start of the race, a red flag condition that lasted nearly two hours and a premature finish , drivers said the problems haven't gone away. Johnson said the pavement was marbling" in the third and fourth turns. This time, however, there weren't any crashes at that end of the speedway.

PIT STOPS: Car owner Rick Hendrick told a Charlotte, N.C., newspaper he'd like to hire newly-crowned Indy Racing League champion Sam Hornish to drive his No. 25 Chevrolet next year. Other candidates include current driver Joe Nemechek and Busch Series rookie Scott Riggs ... Rudd dispelled rumors that he and Elliott Sadler would switch rides this year to get an early jump on their new jobs for the 2003 season. Rudd will switch to Sadler's seat aboard the No. 21 Ford next season, while Sadler will drive Rudd's No. 28 Ford.