I can see it now, geriatrics are combing the waterways near Mark Martin’s home looking for the Fountain of Youth. It’s got to be around here somewhere! Just when it look liked “The Kid” was starting to fade away, he got the win he needed under the lights of Chicagoland Speedway.
With the victory, Martin assumes the Sprint Cup Series lead for wins with 4. He needed the points as he dances on the head of a pin to try to get into the chase for the championship. Disastrous runs at Daytona, Talladega, Las Vegas and Fontana have left the 50-year-old with little margin for error. With the win, he’s back in.
Martin began lulling us to sleep after winning the race off pit road in the wake of the race’s first caution flag for debris. After that- Martin spent the better part of the race delivering a major butt-whuppin’ to the rest of the field. Teammate Jimmie Johnson was in his rear view mirror, but not as large as he normally appears.
Just when fans might be prepared to chalk this up as another racing equivalent of an economics class lecture, the plot began to thicken on the double file re-start after the 5th caution of the night. Johnson seized the lead on the outside and pole-sitter Brian Vickers shot past for second.
Another caution comes out. Denny Hamlin gets into the back of Johnson and while he and Vickers jockey for position, Martin ducks inside to take the lead. While Johnson staggers a bit, contact ensues between his car and that of Kurt Busch. The elder Busch brother reminds us he still has a little fire in his gut and he offers a little love tap to Johnson.
Kyle Busch- who gets my “Rocky Balboa Award” for battling about the most dreadful race car I’d seen in a while- finally bites the dust to bring on the final yellow flag of the night. Jeff Gordon- who’d overcome earlier contact with Carl Edwards- pushed his way to second with much fresher tires than Martin.
For the second night in a row, the discussion of older tires came into play when pondering who was best poised to win. From atop his pit box, Gordon crew chief Steve Letarte thought his driver’s tires had already raced off their advantage.
The final laps proved Letarte correct as the race at Chicagoland ended the way it began. Martin blew away the field at the finish.
The 1-2 finish of Martin and Gordon made for a second HMS 1-2 finish in a race sponsored by LifeLock. With that result, some lucky couple won a cool million dollars. Along with Martin’s win, all four Hendrick drivers finished in the top 15 on the eve of owner Rick Hendrick’s birthday.
Joining Martin and Gordon in the top five was Kasey Kahne with another racy run that vaults him to 8th in the season’s standings. Tony Stewart overcame tough luck to finish with his 12th top 5 finish of the season. Denny Hamlin survived the late fireworks for another solid top five run.
This race produced the yin and the yang of double file re-starts. Jeff Burton- who was wrecked shortly after a restart with Scott Speed and Paul Menard- says he’s getting tired of it already. On the other hand- the rash of cautions over the last 70 or so laps of the race produced all the action the earlier race was missing.
Speaking of Menard, he had such a good run going. He was top 10 most of the night before this incident.
Clint Bowyer got a good finish out of this race. In a season of such incredible frustration, Bowyer took 9th- just ahead of a suddenly steady Juan Pablo Montoya. Who ever thought we’d ever be using the term “steady” in association with the mercurial Colombian.
Even Martin had his worries about the re-starts. He had grown concerned that they’d messed up his rhythm, and he also said the new restart rule tended to hurt the best car in the field.
Whatever the case, the best car won- though perhaps the second best car was a victim of all the late mayhem. Things could get interesting with Kurt Busch and Johnson, Johnson and Hamlin come Indianapolis.
Could this be producing some of the old school type rivalries fans are looking for?
It pays to stick around. I’ve said that more than once and I’m saying it again. At first, I thought I’d be writing only about a commanding performance by Mark Martin, when suddenly Jimmie Johnson seizes the lead. Just when I thought I might be writing about another Johnson victory a la David Pearson, a melee breaks out on a late re-start. then I wondered: would I be writing about a historic victory for Gordon (his next win give him 83 to tie Cale Yarborough) or would I be talking about much needed win for Martin?
We got the latter on this occasion. All I know is this: if we find that there’s a rejuvinating stream near the Martin house, I’m comin’ to git me some!
