May 25, 2005

By Rebecca Gladden

Two racers. Two generations. Two emotional victories.

Two weeks ago, 25-year-old Kasey Kahne earned his first Nextel Cup win at Richmond International Raceway. Last Saturday, 46-year-old Mark Martin took home the $1,000,000 prize in the Nextel All-Star Challenge.

Both wins were crowd pleasers, for reasons similar and disparate.

Kahne and Martin share certain qualities that endear them to fans and fellow drivers. Both are friendly, self-effacing nice guys and generally clean racers. Both are seen as especially deserving of these particular wins.

In Richmond, Kahne finally cleared the first-win hurdle that has seen him finish second six times in his fledgling Cup career. The 2004 Raybestos Rookie of the Year was relieved about the accomplishment. "It's an unbelievable feeling," Kahne said after the race. "We've been leading at four (laps) to go, ten to go, and not gotten it done. At least we finally won one."

For Mark Martin, who plans to retire at the end of this season, the win was equally meaningful. Though still chasing the championship that has eluded him in 24 years of Cup racing, Martin was nevertheless thrilled to win the All-Star Challenge in the twilight of his career. "This one's for the fans," Martin called to the cheering crowd at Lowe's Motor Speedway after the race. "A salute to you!"

Victory was that much sweeter when the drivers who finished second in each race expressed admiration and praise for the eventual winners.

Tony Stewart, normally not one to be happy about finishing second, was positively beaming when he poked his head in Kahne's window immediately after the Richmond race. "I just told him that down the road, when they talk about his first win, I got the honor of being the guy they mentioned that he had to race for the win," Stewart enthused. "I'm just really happy for him. It's long overdue. If we were going to run second tonight to anybody, the kid who won the race is the guy to run second to."

And while Elliott Sadler was clearly disappointed with his second-place finish in the All-Star Challenge, he remained respectful of Martin's win, which a Fox Sports News reporter termed, "Maybe the most popular victory in the world."

After trading paint with Martin on a late-race restart, Sadler credited the veteran with cagey driving down the stretch. "We got together a little bit, and it slowed me down, and I lost a little bit more momentum than he did, and we fell back to third," Sadler explained. "It was just good hard racing. Again, 19 laps to go, running for a million bucks, you're going to do every little trick in the trade and everything you know how to do to try and win the race. Mark outsmarted me a little bit on that one. That was a great job. He did a great job."

A grizzled veteran. A youthful newcomer. Two popular drivers whose special victories will likely be remembered long after the 2005 season is over.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN. Although we may not always agree with what is said, we do feel it's our duty to give a voice to those who have something relevant to say about the sport of auto racing.