Jarrett's joy as Jeff goes for a Burton.

Dale Jarrett drove from 43rd to 1st to win Sunday's Pepsi 400 Presented by Farmer Jack at the Michigan International Speedway as Jeff Burton's car cruelly overheated in the final five laps.

Dale Jarrett led only four laps of Sunday's 200-lap Pepsi 400 Presented by Farmer Jack at the high banks of the Michigan International Speedway but they were laps 197-200 as he made up for losing the June MIS race to Matt Kenseth in emphatic style.

The race started out in the worst possible way for Jarrett, who started eighth but fell out of the top ten with a badly loose racecar in the early laps. On just the tenth lap the #88 UPS Robert Yates owned Ford got away from its driver coming through the fourth turn and Jarrett spun wildly through the infield grass, without hitting anything.

Even more miraculous was that, although Jarrett was 43rd and stone last when the race resumed, the handling had improved drastically and enabled Jarrett to begin his monumental charge.

As polesitter Dale Earnhardt Jr, fellow front row starter Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and rookie sensation Ryan Newman put on a great show for the fans as they diced for the lead, Jarrett quietly moved his way up the order and bided his time.

33rd by lap 30, 15th by lap 50, Jarrett was back in the top ten by lap 70 and had moved into the top five when the usual Michigan fuel-economy jiggery pokery began with 60 laps to go.

When Robby Gordon and Hut Stricklin made contact to bring out the fourth caution period on the race, most of the leaders elected to pit leaving defending MIS winner Matt Kenseth in the lead. However just three laps after returning to green flag racing, the luckless Steve Park lost control of his Pennzoil Chevrolet and smacked the wall, bringing out another caution.

Sixty laps on a tank of fuel was a big ask, but Mark Martin, Jeremy Mayfield, Elliott Sadler and John Andretti elected to stay on track and occupied the top four positions when the action resumed again on lap 147. Jarrett was sixth in line (second behind DEJ of those who pitted).

In clear air, as most discovered when in the lead, Martin was able to pull clear of the chasing pack and Jarrett quickly moved into second spot. He was just beginning to make inroads into Martin's two-second lead when the caution came out again on lap 162 for debris.

Martin, Jarrett, Earnhardt Jr, Tony Stewart and the rest of the top ten chose to pit for a final splash of fuel but once again, four drivers, headed by the hitherto anonymous Jeff Burton, chose to gamble on fuel and stay out.

Burton, an aerodynamically challenged Robby Gordon, Bobby Hamilton and the surprising Derrike Cope in the #49 BAM Racing Dodge, took the top four slots ahead of Earnhardt Jr, Stewart and Jeff Green when the green flew on lap 168. Jarrett, who took four tyres as opposed to many who just pitted for fuel, was relegated to 17th.

This didn't deter the #88 Ford driver however and he was soon taking advantage of Michigan's three grooved layout as he scythed his way into fifth by lap 180 behind the grimly determined Burton, a closely following Stewart and Earnhardt Jr and Harvick.

The caution flag came out again for a seventh and final time on lap 185 when Cope's fleeting moment of glory faded and he spun into the wall.

With an eleven lap sprint facing the leaders, Jarrett took off in fourth spot behind Burton, Stewart and Earnhardt Jr and was soon involved in a cracking three-way dice for second with the latter two.

Although DJ was finally able to secure second on lap 193, Burton was the best part of two seconds clear and it looked as though history was destined to repeat itself and leave Jarrett with too few laps to overhaul the leader as was the case with Kenseth at MIS in June.

However little did Jarrett know that Burton's #99 Roush Racing Ford had been suffering from overheating problems for much of the race and without the aid of a recent pit stop, his water levels soon began disappearing.

With five laps to go smoke was visible from the front of the Citgo sponsored car and Jarrett was closing fast. Coming through the fourth turn on lap 196 Jarrett made his move and despite Burton's best efforts, by turn one on lap 197 the race was effectively over. Jarrett's fourth MIS win and his second of 2002 was assured.

Cruelly, Burton also ceded positions to Stewart and Harvick in the final four laps although, perhaps surprisingly, he stayed ahead of his teammate Mark Martin who eventually finished inches behind the dying #99 Ford in fifth place.

Points leader Sterling Marlin had a quiet and unobtrusive day to finish directly behind his nearest Championship rival in sixth position and directly ahead of third place points driver Jimmie Johnson.

Michigan native Johnny Benson rallied for an eighth place finish with Jeff Green ninth and Earnhardt Jr a disappointed tenth.

Lower down the order, Matt Kenseth salvaged eleventh after pitting for more fuel under the final caution while Jeff Gordon was an out of sorts 19th. Robby Gordon fell to 21st after falling from the leading group very early on and recorded Richard Childress' worst NWC finish of any of his three cars since Jeff Green finished 26th at Pocono last month.

Other big names who failed to shine included Rusty Wallace and Bill Elliott, who finished 24th and 22nd respectively while Ryan Newman saw his top five streak snapped as he suffered an engine problem on his Ford and fell to 31st.

Six drivers failed to finish the race; Cope, Kurt Busch, Mike Wallace, Park, Casey Atwood and Tony Raines.

Sterling Marlin now takes a slightly reduced 43-point lead over Mark Martin to the next stop on the Winston Cup tour next weekend at Bristol.