Mark Martin proved that even at 50 years old, if a driver has a team that is behind him, he can contend for wins and championships. Martin, the Sprint Cup Series point leader, took his first step toward winning his first Cup title with a win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday. The victory was his first at the speedway in 26 attempts and fifth win of the 2009 season. The win didn’t come easily, however; as Martin had to hold off charges by both Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin over the final 10 laps. Montoya had the dominant car all day, leading a race high 105 laps en route to a third place finish.
While Martin, Hamlin, and Montoya got off to a solid start in the chase, drivers like Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart struggled. On lap 67, Kahne’s motor blew and left a trail of smoke billowing out of the #9 Budweiser Dodge. Stewart on the other hand, had a strong run going until about lap 200 when a problem with an axle slowed his progression to the front. After coming down pit road to fix the axle, Stewart dropped to the 29th position for the ensuing restart. He would be able to drive his way back up to the 14th position before the checkered flag waved.
The rest of the top-12 divers in the championship points battle had decent runs. For much of the day, 5-7 positions in the top 10 in the race were occupied by a driver competing in the chase. The comple top 10 results for the Sylvania 300 are as follows:
#5 Mark Martin
#11 Denny Hamlin
#42 Juan Pablo Montoya
#48 Jimmie Johnson
#18 Kyle Busch
#2 Kurt Busch
#39 Ryan Newman
#19 Elliott Sadler
#16 Greg Biffle
#33 Clint Bowyer
Race #2 in the Chase:
AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway
Time: 1:00PM TV: ABC
Radio: PRN Sirius: Serius Satellite Radio: Channel 128
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