Backstretch Motorsports

Mark Martin emerges victorious in New Hampshire Motor Speedway's Victory Lane, winning the first race in the 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the SYLVANIA 300 (CIA Stock photo)

Pure Mark Martin style - that’s the only way to describe it. He is truly “living the dream” in running for a championship in a Rick Hendrick-owned Chevrolet, a championship that is about the only thing he has not won in his career.

Starting from the 14th position at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Mark Martin opened the 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a victory.

Four of the top five finishers are in The Chase for The NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The Kellogg’s Chevy driver held off Denny Hamlin with three laps to go to win the Sylvania 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Hamlin finished second and Montoya third in a race full of action. Hamlin led twice for 22 (of 300) laps. Hamlin tied his career best finish in the Chase, also finishing second at Martinsville in 2006.

Three-time champion Jimmie Johnson was fourth and Kyle Busch finished fifth. His brother Kurt was next, followed by Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers.

The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver led twice for a total of 68 laps on the way to his fifth victory of the 2009 season. It was Martin’s first win at NHMS in 26 previous starts and the 40th of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) career.

Martin came into today’s 300-lap/317.4-mile race the No. 1 seed in the 12-car Chase. He continues to hold the top spot in the standings by 35 points over his HMS teammate in the No. 48 Loe’s Chevrolet. The current NSCS champion led once for a total of 14 laps.

“Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) won that race — that’s all I got to say. Martin said. “He took a driver that can’t drive Loudon and put a set-up in it that we could run along reasonable. Just like I said before the race, if they can stumble around and get me in the front then I might be able to stay there with it. That’s what we did, but it was sure tough.”

Pole sitter Juan Pablo Montoya finished third after leading four times for a total of 105 laps. Montoya jumped from 11th in the Chase standings to fourth after round one of the 10-race Chase.

The stage for the wild-and-wooly finish was set with less than 10 laps remaining when Marcus Ambrose bumped AJ Allmindinger from behind, sending AJ around. It created a down-to-the-wire dash in which Martin jumped ahead of Montoya by just a few feet. Hamlin was awarded second when a final-lap spin brought the caution out before the cars got back to the start-finish line. Hamlin was ahead when he and Montoya crossed the last scoring line before the caution fell.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., having his best run in many a race (he was running third), was tagged from behind by David Reutimann on Lap 283 and crashed into the outside retaining wall.

Tony Stewart wound up 14th after making a lengthy pit stop to repair a loose axle cap on a left rear tire.

The first mulligan of the Chase for Kasey Kahne , credited with a 28th place finish, when he brought out the first caution of the afternoon with a blown engine on Lap 66. It was tough luck for the Richard Petty Motorsports team, which has a car in the Chase for the first time.

“It’s disappointing.” lamented the No. 9 Bud Charger driver, “It’s better than last week because we wouldn’t have been in the Chase. We just have to work extra hard now. I don’t know how this all works. You never know in the Chase if you can have a mulligan or not. This team is doing a nice job. We’ll be 12th when we leave here. Hopefully, we can make gains in those final nine (races).”

NASCAR Race Number 27
Unofficial Race Results for the Sylvania 300 - Sunday, September 20, 2009
New Hampshire Motor Speedway - Loudon, NH - 1.058 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 300 Laps - 317.4 Miles - Purse: $5,423,189

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 14 5 Mark Martin CARQUEST / Kellogg’s Chevrolet 300 190 5 120.9 $232,750 Running 2 68
2 4 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 300 175 5 121.0 $179,275 Running 2 22
3 1 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 300 175 10 134.6 $195,998 Running 4 105
4 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 300 165 5 115.5 $168,526 Running 1 14
5 9 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 300 155 82.1 $149,523 Running
6 3 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 300 155 5 122.4 $114,750 Running 3 33
7 18 39 Ryan Newman U.S. Army Chevrolet 300 151 5 93.9 $131,679 Running 1 1
8 35 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Tools Dodge 300 142 79.7 $103,500 Running
9 22 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Scotch Ford 300 138 81.6 $104,300 Running
10 17 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet 300 134 87.7 $96,700 Running
11 26 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 300 130 82.9 $113,723 Running
12 13 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 300 127 90.9 $110,973 Running
13 19 07 Casey Mears Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 300 124 68.3 $97,950 Running
14 2 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet 300 126 5 106.2 $100,973 Running 4 52
15 10 24 Jeff Gordon Dupont / National Guard Yellow Ribbon Chevrolet 300 118 95.6 $119,301 Running
16 32 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 300 115 83.1 $123,406 Running
17 5 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 300 117 5 93.4 $125,931 Running 1 2
18 29 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 300 109 68.3 $88,375 Running
19 7 1 Martin Truex Jr. Rain X Chevrolet 300 106 83.4 $114,515 Running
20 31 47 Marcos Ambrose Bush’s Best Baked Beans Toyota 300 108 5 64.0 $95,548 Running 1 2
21 33 20 Joey Logano # The Home Depot Toyota 300 100 58.5 $124,326 Running
22 8 71 Bobby Labonte TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 300 102 5 62.6 $78,650 Running 1 1
23 38 17 Matt Kenseth Carhartt Ford 300 94 54.8 $122,590 Running
24 28 7 Robby Gordon Sylvania Toyota 300 91 51.1 $96,910 Running
25 34 44 A J Allmendinger Berlin City Auto Group Dodge 299 88 67.3 $78,350 Running
26 41 34 John Andretti Taco Bell Chevrolet 299 85 47.4 $85,900 Running
27 21 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 298 82 45.4 $85,225 Running
28 6 12 David Stremme No. 12 Penske Dodge 298 79 71.3 $109,515 Running
29 39 09 Aric Almirola Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Dodge 297 76 35.2 $76,250 Running
30 37 96 Erik Darnell Northern Tool + Equipment Ford 297 73 39.6 $101,629 Running
31 27 82 Scott Speed # Red Bull Toyota 297 70 37.6 $85,373 Running
32 12 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet 295 67 59.5 $110,403 Running
33 42 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 287 64 47.7 $81,800 Running
34 40 98 Paul Menard Sylvania / Menards Ford 287 61 35.6 $103,056 Running
35 23 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet 283 58 84.2 $90,450 Accident
36 25 43 Reed Sorenson McDonald’s Dodge 263 55 43.2 $109,576 Running
37 24 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge 162 52 62.3 $91,785 Engine
38 11 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 66 49 72.5 $114,273 Engine
39 30 64 Mike Wallace Gunselman Motorsports Toyota 48 46 31.5 $71,700 Brakes
40 20 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 41 43 32.5 $71,550 Transmission
41 43 36 Michael McDowell Wave Energy Drink Toyota 36 40 29.9 $71,375 Brakes
42 15 66 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota 23 37 28.9 $71,250 Electrical
43 36 37 Tony Raines Long John Silver’s Dodge 8 34 28.8 $71,618 Overheating
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 101,000, Mark Martin won the SYLVANIA 300, his 40th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. The
following car(s) dropped to the rear of the field to start the race: #37 (engine change).
Failed to Qualify: (2) 75 Derrike Cope, 51 Dexter Bean #.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 09 Mins, 01 Secs. Average Speed: 100.753 MPH Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Caution Flags: 11 for 48 laps: Laps: 68-74 (Fluid On The Track [6]); 87-91 (Debris On The Frontstretch [34]); 142-146 (Debris in Turn 3 [7]); 162-165 (#96 Accident Turn 2 [34]); 169-174 (#7, 19, 20, 34, 43, 55, 98 Accident Backstretch [82]); 177-180 (#00, 31 Accident Turn 2. [82]); 194-197 (#12, 44 Accident Turn 2 [55]); 277-282 (Debris in Turn 3 [17]); 284-287 (#00, 88 Accident Turn 4 [20]); 295-297 (#44, 47 Spun Turn 2 [7]); 301-300 ( [None]).
Lead Changes: 20 among 10 drivers: J. Montoya 0; T. Stewart 1; J. Montoya 2-36; T. Stewart 37-68; J. Montoya 69-123; Kurt Busch 124-142; J. Montoya 143-147; D. Hamlin 148-152; J. Montoya 153-162; T. Stewart 163-180; J. Johnson 181-194; Kurt Busch 195-203; M. Martin 204-242; Kurt Busch 243-247; D. Hamlin 248-264; R. Newman 265; C. Edwards 266-267; T. Stewart 268; M. Ambrose 269-270; B. Labonte 271; M. Martin 272-300.
Top 12 Driver Points: (1) M. Martin 5,230;(2) J. Johnson 5,195;(3) D. Hamlin 5,195;(4) J. Montoya 5,175;(5) Kurt Busch 5,165;(6) T. Stewart 5,156;(7) R. Newman 5,151;(8) B. Vickers 5,140;(9) G. Biffle 5,138;(10) J. Gordon 5,128;(11) C. Edwards 5,117;(12) K. Kahne 5,069.
Coors Light Pole Award : Juan Pablo Montoya, #42 133.431 mph DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Juan Pablo Montoya, #42 crew chief Brian Pattie
DOW Automotive Strategic Call of the Race : Mark Martin, #5 EA Sports Move of the Race : Mark Martin, #5
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Jimmie Johnson, #48 128.511 mph, Lap 184 Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Juan Pablo Montoya, #42
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Juan Pablo Montoya, #42 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : Elliott Sadler, #19 0.279 sec
O’Reilly Auto Parts People, Service and Performance : Ryan Newman, #39 167.729 sec Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Joey Logano, #20
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Mark Martin, #5 Tissot Pit Road Precision : Ryan Newman, #39 137.708 sec
WIX Filters Lap Leader : Juan Pablo Montoya, #42 105 Laps
Next Race: Sep. 27, 2009 - Dover International Speedway