Martin turns back clock again at Darlington
50-year-old outlasts Johnson in wreck-filled show for 2nd win in 4 races
 Mary Ann Chastain / AP Mark Martin, left, celebrates his victory in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Saturday night. |
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DARLINGTON, S.C. - Don’t let Mark Martin’s joyful demeanor fool you — he knows how well he’s running and knows where that could lead this season.
“It’s early in the year,” Martin said Saturday night. “A lot of cool things could happen the way things are going.”
Like maybe a Sprint Cup championship?
The 50-year-old Martin moved into playoff position, 11th in points, with his victory at Darlington Raceway — his second series win in four races. Martin outlasted his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, three-time defending series champ Jimmie Johnson in a wreck-filled show.
“Once we got out front, man, it was just easy. The car was awesome,” Martin said.
In other, younger, Roush Racing years, Martin might have followed such a win by ticking off all the tracks down the road he planned to dominate.
These days, Martin wants to revel in the moment — and not look too far ahead.
“We don’t need to say we’re going to win a whole bunch of races,” Martin said. “Don’t take those kind of answers from me as pessimistic, or a lack of confidence. All I want to do is be happy and have fun doing this.”
Martin’s only other Darlington win was in the 1993 Southern 500, a 16-year stretch.
Martin’s victory ended a long, hot day for NASCAR that began with the sobering news of Jeremy Mayfield’s failed drug test and indefinite suspension, which was announced about two hours before the start of the race.
The garage buzzed most of the afternoon about who was snagged by NASCAR’s beefed up testing system.
“I don’t know much about it,” Johnson said. “There’s a policy in place and it’s there for a reason.”
Mayfield, who had failed to qualify for the event, said in a statement he believed a mix of an over-the-counter drug and a prescription medication led to the failed test.
NASCAR also announced the suspension of two other crew members for failed drug tests under its new policy, which calls for weekly random testing. NASCAR does not reveal the banned drugs found in the positive tests.
“There is no place for substance abuse in our sport,” NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said.
Seems like Martin’s place is back in Victory Lane. He won multiple races for the first time in 10 years, all the while swearing he’s driving for the moment and not chasing a championship.
Earlier this week, Martin re-upped with Hendrick for 2010.
“It’s OK to have the passion. It’s OK to have the drive, but you can’t let it tear you apart,” he said.
Martin ended a 97-race winless streak in Phoenix last month and proved there’s no age limit on mastering the track “Too Tough To Tame.”
Martin led the final 46 laps in his 37th career Sprint Cup victory.
Besides his two wins Darlington wins in NASCAR’s top series, Martin has won a record eight Nationwide Series races the track.
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