Mark Martin drives during the NASCAR LifeLock 400 race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.,
BROOKLYN, Mich.—The most surprised person to find Mark Martin in Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway was the driver himself.
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The 50-year-old NASCAR star has run well but has had to deal with considerable bad luck this season. It looked like more of the same Sunday when the battery in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet began to fail before the halfway mark in the LifeLock 400 Sprint Cup race.
Martin turned off everything in the car that he could, nursing it as best he could. Then he realized the race was going to be a fuel economy run.
"I always, always come up short in those gas things," Martin said. "I'm probably about 2 and 25 in these things."
Make that 3 and 25 now.
Martin saved just enough gas to hang on for his third victory of the season and the 38th of his Cup career.
Jimmie Johnson dominated most of the LifeLock 400 and took the lead from Greg Biffle six laps from the end as Martin watched the duel from third place.
Johnson, the three-time reigning Cup champion, ran out of gas two laps from the finish, giving the lead to Biffle. But he also ran out of gas as the final trip around the 2-mile oval began, clearing the way for Martin to drive to the front.
His car also was left with an empty tank on the last lap, but Martin was able to coast to the finish line almost three seconds ahead of runner-up Jeff Gordon.
"My car was good, but I couldn't run their pace and save gas," Martin said. "When Jimmie ran out, I said, 'Heck, we're this close. I'm going to run hard. With three quarters of a lap (left), what can happen?'"
Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by Carl Edwards, Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya and series points leader Tony Stewart. Last year's race winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished 14th.
Brian Vickers started from the pole, but Kyle Busch passed him at the start and led the first eight laps with Johnson moving into second.
Johnson swept past to take the lead on the ninth lap and looked unbeatable, leading 141 of the next 142 laps. He was never challenged, building big leads after each caution flag bunched up the field.
But Biffle and Hamlin both came out ahead of Johnson when the leaders pitted under caution on lap 154.
At that point, all the leaders were being told to conserve fuel.
Johnson got past Hamlin to take the runner-up spot on lap 179, trailing Biffle by 1.7 seconds. He steadily ate into that lead and finally was right behind the leader on lap 193.
The two were briefly side-by-side -- using more gas -- on lap 194 and Johnson managed to get past the next time around. Biffle immediately sped up and tried to repass Johnson -- again causing both to use more gas -- with Johnson remaining ahead.
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COMMENTS (0)
The 50-year-old NASCAR star has run well but has had to deal with considerable bad luck this season. It looked like more of the same Sunday when the battery in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet began to fail before the halfway mark in the LifeLock 400 Sprint Cup race.
Martin turned off everything in the car that he could, nursing it as best he could. Then he realized the race was going to be a fuel economy run.
"I always, always come up short in those gas things," Martin said. "I'm probably about 2 and 25 in these things."
Make that 3 and 25 now.
Martin saved just enough gas to hang on for his third victory of the season and the 38th of his Cup career.
Jimmie Johnson dominated most of the LifeLock 400 and took the lead from Greg Biffle six laps from the end as Martin watched the duel from third place.
Johnson, the three-time reigning Cup champion, ran out of gas two laps from the finish, giving the lead to Biffle. But he also ran out of gas as the final trip around the 2-mile oval began, clearing the way for Martin to drive to the front.
His car also was left with an empty tank on the last lap, but Martin was able to coast to the finish line almost three seconds ahead of runner-up Jeff Gordon.
"My car was good, but I couldn't run their pace and save gas," Martin said. "When Jimmie ran out, I said, 'Heck, we're this close. I'm going to run hard. With three quarters of a lap (left), what can happen?'"
Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by Carl Edwards, Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya and series points leader Tony Stewart. Last year's race winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished 14th.
Brian Vickers started from the pole, but Kyle Busch passed him at the start and led the first eight laps with Johnson moving into second.
Johnson swept past to take the lead on the ninth lap and looked unbeatable, leading 141 of the next 142 laps. He was never challenged, building big leads after each caution flag bunched up the field.
But Biffle and Hamlin both came out ahead of Johnson when the leaders pitted under caution on lap 154.
At that point, all the leaders were being told to conserve fuel.
Johnson got past Hamlin to take the runner-up spot on lap 179, trailing Biffle by 1.7 seconds. He steadily ate into that lead and finally was right behind the leader on lap 193.
The two were briefly side-by-side -- using more gas -- on lap 194 and Johnson managed to get past the next time around. Biffle immediately sped up and tried to repass Johnson -- again causing both to use more gas -- with Johnson remaining ahead.
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