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 Coming into the 2009 season, hopes were high that Mark Martin could once again contend for wins and possibly even the championship. Early season struggles quickly dampened those hopes, but the always thankful and always optimistic Martin kept his nose to the grindstone. Earning three poles on the season – including this weekend’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 in Phoenix – the 50-year-old veteran proved he still has what it takes to get the job done.
Saturday night, Martin solidified that fact by leading 157 of the 312 laps en route to his first victory since Kansas in 2005. Clearly the most dominant car of the evening, Martin was able to hold off a hungry Tony Stewart following a late-race restart to capture the win.
“Man, that was, that, was pretty awesome,” Martin said following his first victory in 97 races. “Great, great race car. Great pit stops. Great strategy. There was a lot of pressure on both of us, and I really, truly believe that it will be a little bit easier for us going forward. Maybe not for Alan, I don’t know, but for me, I’ve carried a lot of weight, you know, on my shoulders. I really, really, really wanted to do this. I really, really, really wanted to win.” Becoming the third-oldest driver in NASCAR history to score a victory, Martin did not wow the crowd with a burnout or a back-flip, instead he honored his late friend Alan Kulwicki by turning his No. 5 Chevrolet around with a Polish victory lap. As he made his way around the track after taking the win, fans made their way to the fence to wave to the fan favorite as the cameras flashed around the speedway. “No burnouts for me,” Martin said over the radio. “Just a backward Polish victory lap for my man Alan Kulwicki.” After celebrating in Victory Lane, Martin explained he couldn’t help but think of the former Cup Series champion whose time was cut all too short. “I wasn’t going to do a burnout, but it was pretty incredible. It came to me, usually I’m all preoccupied with all kind of stuff, but it came to me immediately,” Martin said of his post-race celebration. “I actually had quite a bit of thoughts about Alan, you know, and where he might have been in front of me if he would have still been around tonight; what an incredible competitor he was. “So I thought about that. Obviously enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm from the race fans,” he went on to say. “But you know, the response from the competitors means much more than the trophy, and that was an incredible – really, really incredible, from all of the crew guys to all of the guys, including Jack Roush, who seemed genuinely happy. And Jack and I are at tight as we have ever been and have been through all of this.” While he would have loved to score his first win as an owner/driver, Tony Stewart explained there was no shame in losing to a competitor like Mark Martin. “I don’t think there’s anybody that’s not a Mark Martin fan,” Stewart pointed out. “It was an awesome night for our organization and awesome night for Mark. Nobody, just like Kurt [Busch] said, nobody works harder to stay in shape to be good and be fit and to be ready to go than Mark does. And when you see somebody that works that hard at it, you like to see the results come for him, too.” With Martin and Stewart taking the top-two spots, Kurt Busch was able to come home third, while defending race winner Jimmie Johnson and Friday night’s Nationwide Series winner Greg Biffle rounded out the top-5. Jeff Gordon finished the night 25th, one lap down, but was able to maintain his points lead over teammate Johnson.  MORE NASCAR CUP NEWS
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