Racetrack Insider - News and Views of the Motorsports Industry from Insiders Drew Patey and Buddy Judy

Mark Martin Wins First Race of The Chase

Denny Mark Martin won again, his 5th of this season, and this win extended his lead in The Chase for the Sprint Cup as he held off Juan Pablo Montoya in the final laps at Loudon on Sunday. Martin used pit strategy to move into the lead late in the race as a number of cautions worked in his favor. The strongest competition came from Montoya, Jimmie Johnson and Safety-Kleen sponsored Penske driver Kurt Busch who ran up front all afternoon. The race eventually finished under caution when AJ Allmendinger got spun on the second-last lap thus the field was frozen. The finishing order had Denny Hamlin finishing second, although he crossed the line behind Montoya. However the order was reverted as the caution came out when Hamlin was ahead of the Montoya when the flag came out. Jimmie Johnson, going for his 4th Championship finished fourth and is second in the Chase, 35 points behind Martin. Tony Stewart, who had led the championship for the past 13 weeks, suffered a mechanical issue with the left rear wheel in the first half of the race, apparently caused by contact with Denny Hamlin in the early going. He managed to finish 14th dropping down to sixth in the championship race. Next race at the Monster Mile in Dover this Sunday.