Subway Fresh Fit 500 Race Review

Phoenix International Raceway -- 04/18/2009

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Sunday Apr 19 2009 4:34pm

Since Thursday, I had a hunch that the winner in Phoenix would be someone other than the usual suspects. In my Pace Lap feature on Friday, I mentioned Mark Martin in my ‘Quote of the Week’ when he said, “When we beat Jimmie Johnson to win a race, I’m going to feel like I beat Superman.”

I guess it’s time to sew a big red ‘S’ on the veteran driver’s fire suit.

Though Martin started on the pole and led a race-high 157 of 312 laps, he had to get by Ryan Newman, who’d stayed out for position, and hold off a hungry Tony Stewart to seal the deal with less than ten laps to go.

“Tony Stewart, I've seen that dude in action on the restart. Whew, he can do stuff. I knew it was my opportunity to lose it, and I also knew that Ryan couldn't just quit - I mean, he knew he was done for, but he still had to do what he had to do … I've seen Tony in action, man. I couldn't afford to - I had to go and I'm really fortunate that it worked out. He looked low, he went in the corner and slid up some, but our car was really spectacular the last two runs of the night.”

The victory was the feel-good story of the NASCAR season, perhaps of the last several NASCAR seasons. This is Martin’s 28th season in Cup competition and his perseverance, as well as his personality, makes him a perennial favorite among fans and fellow racers.

“There's nobody that dislikes Mark, and Mark was responsible for so many of us learning what it took to be a Sprint Cup driver and to be that caliber of a driver,” said Stewart after the race. “When you came up in the Nationwide Series and ran with him when he just dominated, he taught you a lot while you were running those races. When you had a good day against Mark and when you did things right and you watched him and learned from him, that just accelerated the learning curve to get you ready for the Sprint Cup series. Mark has taught us all a lot about what it takes to be not only a good driver in this series, but a good competitor and somebody that everybody respects.”

Martin started the race from the pole and led the first 100 or so laps except for pit stops. The first 55 laps went caution free until a single car incident brought out the yellow and overall the race had several long green flag runs.

Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. both appeared to be contenders in the mid part of the race, each leading 63 laps, along with Tony Stewart, who was the only other double-digit lap leader with 19. While Stewart finished second and Busch third, Junior came in 31st after contact from Casey Mears sent him into the wall with ten laps to go, triggering the final caution and restart.

Following Martin, Stewart and Busch across the finish line were Jimmie Johnson in fourth and Greg Biffle in fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Denny Hamlin (6), Martin Truex Jr. (7), David Reutimann (8), Sam Hornish Jr. (9), and Carl Edwards (10).

Newman, who’d gambled with pit strategy on that final caution, finished 16th. Kyle Busch, hit with a late race pit road speeding penalty, finished 17th, the last car on the lead lap, and Jamie McMurray, who hit the wall in practice on Friday, rebounded for an 11th-place finish.

The win boosted Martin five spots in the point standings to 13th, now just nine points behind Matt Kenseth in 12th.

The top three in points – Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Kurt Busch – all held serve, though Gordon’s 25th-place finish in Phoenix cut his lead over Johnson in half, from 162 points after Texas to just 85 after Phoenix. Gordon had a series of mishaps during the race, including fender damage from a run-in with Denny Hamlin and problems on pit road. He also complained of back pain throughout the weekend. “There were a lot of things that were unfortunate,” said Gordon after the race. “It just wasn't our night.”

Tony Stewart inched up another spot in the points to fourth and Denny Hamlin also climbed one spot to fifth.

The pressure is on for a number of teams heading into Talladega this week, where just about anything can, and usually does, happen – particularly the six drivers within 100 points of 12th-place: Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman and Brian Vickers.

Meanwhile, those drivers just above the cutoff, including David Reutimann, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton, and Matt Kenseth will be fighting hard to stay there.

Check back with Nascapper.com for my Talladega race preview later this week.

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