MARK MARTIN WINS CHICAGO NASCAR RACE

Ageless wonder Mark Martin used a great move on a late race restart after a caution to take the checkered flag at Saturday night’s LifeLock.com 400 NASCAR race at Chicagoland Speedway.  The 50 year old legend led most of the way, but needed a strong finish and some good old fashioned ‘racing luck’ to pass Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne for his 39th career victory in NASCAR’s top level Sprint Cup series.  Martin had also earned the pole position in qualifying, the 42nd time in his career he’s started at the front of the pack.

Martin also gave his financial backers a nice payday, earning the win as a +900 wagering choice.  Race favorite Jimmie Johnson went off at +350 and held the lead for a time before settling for an 8th place finish.  Johnson has never won at Chicagoland Speedway, obviously owing his status as the favorite to his overall consistency and top form overall.  Runner up Jeff Gordon was the second favorite in the race at +600.

An elated Martin poked fun at his relatively advanced age in his victory celebration:

"I'm going to feel like hell tomorrow because I ain't going to sleep much tonight. When I'm pumped up driving fast race cars, I certainly don't feel 50."

He continued to talk about cheerleading hard charging teammate Jeff Gordon who overcame a late race pit miscue to finish second:

"I saw Jeff coming and I was like, 'Get it, get it. I wanted him to get it. This is really, really special. Incredible what everybody does for us."

Martin’s solid performance this season has him poised for a possible berth in NASCAR’s ‘Chase for the Cup’ playoff system.  He entered the race 13th and discussed the standings:

"I leave the track in my mind 13th and that's fine with me. I'm not going to let myself get sucked into that. I may change my mind later, but I'm leaving the track at the same position I was last week."

After the results were tabulated, Martin sits in 11th place in the point standings, a single point ahead of 12th place Matt Kenseth and 11 points ahead of Greg Biffle in 13th place.  Tony Stewart maintained his overall series points lead with a fourth place finish and enjoys a 175 point margin over second place Jeff Gordon.  Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five at Chicago, and he holds the same spot in the points standings.

The biggest loser in the overall standings was Kyle Busch, who dropped to 10th place overall with a dreadful 33rd finish.  Radio communication with his team indicated that he was frustrated all night with the setup of his #18 M&M’s Racing Toyota at one point complaining to his crew chief "I got nothing. I don't care what you do. It's junk."

NASCAR’s Sprint Cup traveling circus is off this weekend before heading to Indianapolis for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, considered one of the most prestigious contests of the season.  Following the race at Indianapolis, the series will head to two technically demanding tracks over the next two weeks—August 2nd at the triangle configured Pocono Raceway and the following week on the road course at Watkins Glen, NY.