NASCAR’s Class Act Wins It His Way

The classic line of baseball great Leo Durocher still reverberates throughout the world of sports today. “Nice guys finish last.” A lot of folks in NASCAR still believe that. Hard to argue that when you consider many of the sports’s great got to the top bumping, banging and pushing their way to the checkered flag a la Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough and Curtis Turner.

That has never been Mark Martin’s style.

If he puts a fender on you, you can bet it was unintentional. Watching his crew at work, they aren’t frantically go through the paces- Alan Gustafson’s gang is steady and sure. In this culture of the crazy fast, Mark Martin is a one-of-a-kind. Tonight- for the first time in 97 races- the driver known as “The Kid” gets his 36th career victory- his first win since Kansas, 2005.

The “5″ car got off to a dominant start from the pole position. Martin’s car has been sweet off the hauler, and for a time, it was tempting to think he’d just set sail on the field.

The stiffest competition in the early going came from Kurt Busch. The Blue Deuce would ultimately take the lead in the race off pit road after the second caution flag of the night. As Busch began asserting himself, it was evident Tony Stewart would be a force to reckon with.

Smoke would finish second on the night, and it’s clear that the newly minted Stewart- Haas Racing is not your grandfather’s Haas- CNC. He ran a good race, his crew kept him in position to be a factor no a night where once again, pit road miscues were the undoing of numerous teams.

Jeff Gordon was victimized by a bum pit stop, as was Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kyle Busch- who really started to come on late in the race was penalized near the end of pit road as he desperately tried to catch Martin on the race’s final stop.

Speaking of drivers named Busch, Kurt has to be given props for hanging in there in spite of the fact his car seemed to be going away as day turned to night. The Miller Lite Dodge raced hard until the end, and the elder Busch was able to hold off Jimmie Johnson for 3rd.

As for JJ-he did not fail in his attempt at a fourth straight win at PIR for lack of effort. The defending champion’s car never did seem 100% right, but Johnson and Knaus worked their tails off in a well fought for 4th place finish.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had flashes of brilliance. Around mid-race, the cousins Junior gambled by staying out to try to gain track position. For the longest time, it really looked like the gamble paid off. There was a long stretch of green flag racing- and things stayed green long enough to cycle Junior to the front. Unfortunately, the car got incredibly loose and eventually, Earnhardt brought out the last caution of the night, derailing a good effort. There was contact between the “88″ and the “07″ of Casey Mears. Junior and Mears ended up trading paint on the cool down lap as they expressed their displeasure with each other.

The night proved another solid effort in what has been a bit of an up and down season for Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin. The Cinderella story of 2009- David Reutimann- also made the top 10. Martin Truex Jr. overcame an early pit road incident with David Stremme. Sam Hornish also made the top 10 after flirting with good runs earlier in the season, only to have things fall apart late. Hornish acquitted himself quite nicely in this race.

It’s a special win for Martin. Not only does it give his #5 the first win its had since the days of Kyle Busch, not only is he only third winner at Phoenix to do so from the pole, it also validates his decision to run his first full-time schedule since 2006. He now sits in 13th for the season, and with the bad luck behind him, there’s no telling what Mark Martin may accomplish.

In a sport where so many of its most popular drivers are both beloved and reviled, there is a unique class of driver who commands universal respect. Jeff Burton is one of those guys, Matt Kenseth comes pretty close to achieving that, but there’s one who stands at the head of the list: the winner of the 2009 Subway Fresh Fit 500- Mark Martin. It figures that a fit and 50 Martin would be the winner of this race.

Oh- and true to his unique approach- Martin elected not do do a burnout.