((HT: The State/Steve Wiseman))
On a night when Darlington Raceway celebrated 60 years of racing, the driver with the most first-hand experience was the life of the party.
Fifty-year-old Mark Martin ((Pictured, thanks Rich Glickstein/The State)), who nearly retired earlier this decade, survived a record-setting night of wrecks to hold off Jimmie Johnson and win Saturday night’s Southern 500.
The third-oldest driver to win a Sprint Cup race, Martin last won at Darlington in the 1993 Southern 500, a 16-year stretch between wins that is the longest such period in track history.
“I’m loving it,” Martin said. “That was so incredible, man. Once we got in front, it was easy.”
It was Martin’s second Sprint Cup series win in four races during his surprising comeback season.
The circuit’s lone stop at the historic, 60-year-old Darlington Raceway saw a track-record 17 cautions, the first coming on the fourth lap and the final coming on lap 342.
The events eclipsed the 15 cautions in 1995.
“It was a wrestling match for 367 laps,” said Tony Stewart, who finished third.
Martin, who started in the No. 12 position in his Chevrolet, stayed off the walls enough to take the lead on lap 322 when he and six other cars stayed off pit road.
“That’s definitely the toughest race I’ve ever run,” said Alan Gustafson, Martin’s crew chief. “It was not easy for a second. Nothing went our way. It was tough, except for the end. It was really special.”
Jamie McMurray and Brian Vickers brought out the night’s 16th caution on lap 335. Martin carried the lead over Jimmie Johnson into the yellow and off the restart on lap 338, and he hung on as he, Johnson and Tony Stewart were tightly packed.
The group took a break as Dale Earnhardt’s trip into the wall on lap 342 brought out the night’s 17th yellow flag.
After the green flag, Martin held off a strong charge from Johnson on lap 349, then extended his lead to five car lengths.
Johnson, who started at No. 42 after a wreck in qualifying, made one more run at Martin on lap 354. But after approaching Martin’s bumper, Johnson could not pass him and backed off for the night.
“I pushed Mark as hard as I could,” Johnson said. “He made one little mistake, but I knew I wasn’t going to get by him. We had to go into a fuel-save mode at that point. I’ll take second on this night.”
The slip-sliding night of racing came a year after a major pavement-resurfacing project at Darlington. But last year’s maiden race on the new surface saw only eight cautions, covering 31 laps.
On Saturday night, 70 laps were lost to cautions.
“I felt like my car was 40 percent or 50 percent out of control,” Martin said. “So I stayed away from people.”
Here's the end of the race as Martin takes the checkered...
((HT: NASCAR/Fox))
