April 19, 2009
By Ron Felix
CIA Stock Photos
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Gordon's Crew Salutes Martin
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Mark Martin is back on the horse and riding again.
Martin snapped a 97 race winless streak by winning the Subway Fresh Fit 500k at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday night. It was the first victory for Martin since he drove for Jack Roush on Oct. 9, 2005, at Kansas Speedway. Martin won 35 races while he was with Roush Racing and now one with Hendrick Motorsports, for a total of 36 career wins.
Team Owner Rick Hendrick called Martin on his cell phone and when he was asked what Hendrick said to him, he replied, "He just congratulated me, man."
"He makes dreams come true," Martin said of Hendrick. "I remember watching Tim Richmond win after he was sick. This is as big a deal to me. It just means so much."
Martin also made a point of thanking his wife for allowing him to go racing. "Arlene, thanks for letting me do it," said Martin.
On a late restart with seven laps remaining, Ryan Newman was leading and Martin was second. Martin had just stopped for fresh tires while Newman had stayed out. Martin quickly disposed of Newman and held off the rest of the field in the remaining six laps.
Tony Stewart was closing fast in the final laps but settled for second place. If the race had gone a few more laps it may had a different ending.
"I knew Tony was good for a while," Martin explained. "I knew I had the opportunity to lose it right there (on the restart). Tony would race me clean, but he would race me crazy, too, to get a win. I knew I had to go. "I went one way. That didn't work. So, I went another way."
Jack Roush was among the many who stopped by Victory Lane to congratulate Martin.
Martin is the oldest driver at 50, to win at Phoenix and he recorded his 400th top ten finish. There have only been three other drivers in NASCAR history that has won past the age of 50 in the Cup Series, Harry Gant, Morgan Shepherd and Bobby Allison. Gant won eight races past the age of 50.
Kurt Busch placed third and Jimmie Johnson was fourth.
"We had a decent car at the start, it maybe faded a little. But after that, man, we were really strong," said Johnson. "We drove up to the top-five, top-three a few times, come down pit road and had something going wrong with the glue on the lugnuts and the wheels. They would just fall off on our pit stops. It happened like three times. Track position is so important here. I'd work my way all the way back up there and then it would happen again. That time we got up to fourth. I really think we had a shot at winning this race if that didn't happen. But, this is racing and everything and anything will happen."
Greg Biffle finished fifth followed by Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., David Reutimann, Sam Hornish Jr. and Carl Edwards to round out the top ten.
Joey Logano finished 21st and took home the Raybestos Rookie of the race honors.
Gordon's team shot themselves in the foot, sending Gordon out of the pits on lap 234 -- missing a lug nut. He was forced to pit again restarted at the end of the longest line. Gordon could never recover from the mishap and finished 25th.
"We couldn’t afford to have any mistakes anymore, really," said Gordon. "Steve (Letarte) made a great call to keep us out there, but I don’t know. I was just struggling with the car. We had some damage. Me and Denny (Hamlin, No. 11) got together. It was just one of those nights. The No. 55 and the No. 7 spun out in front of me. The No. 34, I was trying to pass him and he didn’t know it. It was just one of those crazy nights.”
Jeff Gordon now leads his teammate Jimmie Johnson by 85 points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings.
The race was slowed by six cautions for a total of 29 laps. The race also featured 14 lead changes among ten different leaders.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues his slide toward the back of the pack. Earnhardt was leading two-thirds of the way through the race, but it was only because of pit strategy that put him up front. He stayed on the track while everyone else pitted and as soon as the pit stops cycled through and he had to stop for tires and fuel, he found himself back in 30th place. He finally wrecked with twelve laps to go, capping off a miserable night at Phoenix.
The next race on the Sprint Cup schedule – the ninth event of 36-races for the 2009 Sprint Cup Championship. The Aaron's 499 will be on Sunday April 26th, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. The race begins at approximately 1:30 p.m. eastern time with live, high-definition coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 1:00 p.m. eastern time.
The race will also be broadcast live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128 and PRN radio.
For full final race results...
(Insider Racing News)
For top-40 Sprint Cup drivers points...
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