A WORD FROM GENNA:

Talk about déjà vu. I sure hope that this will be a recurring theme in the months to come. It seems surreal to me, I am not sure why. I woke up this morning wondering if Mark Martin really won that race or if it was only a dream.

It wasn’t in dominating fashion that he won. It was definitely different from Phoenix where he led several times. Martin took the lead, by default, on lap 322 when he, along with six others, stayed out after a caution. Martin led the next 42 laps and won the race but what shocked me the most was how he almost effortlessly held off a charging Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson seemed to have a very strong car on the restart and caught Martin several times going into the corners but he could never quite make the pass. It was pretty amazing to watch the action. Most definitely one of the best races I have seen in a long time.

I just love to watch Martin race. He is a clean, good racer. He knows when he has a good car and drives it hard, just like he did on Saturday night. Watching him hold off a much younger man who was running him down hard was just amazing. Its wonderful to see him back on top and driving the way I knew he could all along. This is the first time since 1999 that Mark Martin has had a season with more than one race win. However, people tend to forget just how close he’s come several times to that very elusive win that he finally claimed this year at Phoenix. I could bring up the one that should have been his but I won’t…

Continue reading “Mark Martin: The Kid Does it Again”

NSCS Recap: The Old Man and the Big D; Martin Tames Darlington
DARLINGTON, S.C. — The oldest driver in the 43-car field showed the young whippersnappers a thing or two Saturday night at fabled, old Darlington Raceway.

He won the race. Fifty-year-old Mark Martin, a throwback to the old days, charged home ahead of three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson and other younger drivers to win the Southern 500, a 367-lap marathon on what is known as NASCAR’s toughest track.

Martin, an ageless racing junkie who tried to retire a couple years ago but couldn’t, won the race in style, pulling away from Johnson at the end.

Physically fit and pumped up for the season in a Hendrick Chevrolet, Martin ran with the big dogs up front all night, keeping his car in one piece and saving the best for last.

Continue reading “Mark Martin grabs 2nd win of the season at Darlington”

RACE RECAP | DARLINGTON
10 Matt Kenseth the pole sitter
9 Joey Logano great finish for a rookie
8 Greg Biffle led the most laps
7 Brad Keselowski  great finish for a rookie
6 Martin Truex Jr. led a bunch of laps
5 Jeff Gordon nice recovery after being a lap down
4 Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas continues with solid finishes
3 Tony Stewart tewart-Haas continues with solid finishes, best ever finish at Darlington
2 Jimmie Johnson amazing finish after spinning in qualifying

VICTORY LANE

1 Mark Martin takes home his second win of the season, and second career win at Darlington.  It’s Mark’s 37th career win, and in the last 7 races he’s got 6 top 10’s.  This is his first multiple win season since 1999.  Martin is now 11th in the point standings.

OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY

Scott Speed driving Joe Nemechek’s car spun Max Papis

Michael Waltrip spun his 55 machine with no damage

Dale Jr. slides through his pit stall in the first stop, later on, his pit crew let a tire leave the box for another penalty.  Then with under 40 to go, Dale Jr. brushed the wall.  He also brought out the 17th caution by spinning after touching the 43.  Jr. finished 27th

Casey Mears, AJ Allmendinger and Denny Hamlin got caught up in a wreck

Michael Waltrip’s 55 car became a fireball, Michael is okay

Jeff Gordon went a lap down reporting a vibration

David Ragan wrecked multiple times, headed to the garage

Kurt Busch spins off turn 4 but no damage

Jimmie Johnson spun in his pit box

Clint Bowyer pounded the wall on lap 223 ending an 83 consecutive race streak of no DNF

Kyle Busch cut a tire down after pounding the wall several times and heads to the garage with no brakes and a wobbly wheel

Carl Edwards was spun by teammate Greg Biffle and headed to the garage

Greg Biffle later spun on his own damaging his lap leading #16 car

They set a new track record for number of cautions

Mayfield released a statement regarding his suspension:

“As both a team owner and a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, I have immense respect for the enforcement policies NASCAR has in place. In my case, I believe that the combination of a prescribed medicine and an over the counter medicine reacted together and resulted in a positive drug test. My doctor and I are working with both Dr. Black and NASCAR to resolve this matter.”

“Mayfield Motorsports remains committed to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the organization will announce an interim owner and a temporary replacement driver early next week. Those roles will commence immediately beginning with next week’s Sprint Open and continuing through Charlotte and beyond.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 9, 2009) – Jeremy Mayfield, driver of the No. 41 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Tony Martin, a licensed crew member with the No. 34 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Ben Williams, a licensed crew member with the No. 16 team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, have been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.

All three were found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 7-5 (violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy) of the 2009 NASCAR rule book.