DOVER, Del. — The oldest driver in Sprint Cup happens to be the best one in the sport this season. He's won more races than Tony Stewart. Has more poles than Jimmie Johnson.
He has earned more respect than any other driver in the garage and is the sentimental favorite to win his first Cup title.
At 50 years old, Mark Martin defies his age on the track. Martin is the elder statesmen, but that hasn't stopped the gray-haired veteran from chasing the championship.
He leads the points standings heading into Week 2 of the Chase for the championship at Dover International Speedway, the concrete track where he's won four times. Keep up this pace, and he'll finally have that elusive first championship.
"I'm having the time of my life," Martin said.
When the green flag drops today, Martin will officially make his 750th Cup start, making him only the ninth driver in history to reach that mark. He was 40 victories, 253 top-five finishes and 411 top-10s in the first 749 starts.
The one number that seems the most astounding of them all is his age: 50. At a time in life when most athletes have long settled into cozy retirement, Martin is among the rare breed that not only actively participates, but thrives.
"Why is he still doing so good at that age? I think it has less to do with his age and more to do with the fact that he's really hungry," first-time Chase driver Brian Vickers said. "If he had won four championships, would he still be able to do it at 50? I think desire has more to do with it than age."
Martin is as physically fit and dedicated to healthy eating and clean living as any other driver in the garage. Two pieces of pizzaare about as unappetizing to him as a pair of DNFs in the 10-race Chase.
His lifestyle has played as much a critical part of extending a Cup career that dates to 1981 as his ride at powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports. He almost retired in 2005 and dubbed the season the "Salute To You" tour as a season-long thank you to his fans.
Four years later, he's still here.
"Wouldn't have done it if I could have seen the future, that's for sure," Martin said.
His next attempt at retirement will likely come with less fanfare. It also won't come any time soon. Martin signed an extension last week to stay with Hendrick and in the No. 5 car through the 2011 season.
"It's a little long range for my liking," Martin said. "For planning purposes, sponsorship deals and all those things, it made sense to go ahead and make thecommitment so they could plan longer term than just a year."
Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon knows Martin's break, when he ran a partial schedule in 2007 and 2008, helped re-energize him. Gordon wonders if another season or two of the grind will eventually affect Martin's performance.
"We'll see how and what all takes place two or three years from now when he has been back in the grind a little while," Gordon said. "But I know he is having a lot of fun this year and obviously that team is doing a great job."
Martin, who qualified 14th for today's race, holds a 35-point lead over threetime defending Cup champion Johnson and Denny Hamlin.
"I admire him for what he's accomplished throughout his entire career, especially what he's done this season," Vickers said. "I think he's a huge threat to win the championship. I don't think his age hurts him whatsoever."
Martin has two top-10s in his past two races at Dover. Johnson won the race here in May and starts from the pole as he tries for the season sweep of the Monster Mile.
"Everybody in the Chase right now are performing on a level that they could pull it off depending on how things work out for them," Martin said.
With nine races left todecide the champion, Martin has a favorable stretch of tracks ahead.
He has four victories at Charlotte, two each at Martinsville, Talladega and Phoenix, and one victory apiece at Kansas, California and Texas.
Homestead-Miami Speedway, the last race of the season, is the only Chase track where he has failed to win a Cup race.
Martin leads the series with five victories, including last week's Chase opener at New Hampshire. The victory was the 40th of his career and made him one of three active drivers to reach that milestone, along with Hendrick teammates Johnson and Gordon.
Johnson and Gordon leada talented Chase field with a combined seven championships. Stewart has two and Kurt Busch won in 2004.
While Martin appears to have the stars aligned for him to grab that title, former Roush teammate Greg Biffle cautioned that the other Chase drivers are just as able and hungry to win it all as NASCAR's top senior.
"I want to win a championship just as bad as everybody else," Biffle said. "Mark probably feels an urgency to win the title because he's 50 years old. I think he's 50, at least that's what I keep hearing."
The only number that really matters this year to Martin is that "1" he can put in his career bio under championships.
NASCAR Sprint Cup lineupAAA 400 At Dover (Del.) International Speedway Lap length: 1 miles (Car number in parentheses) 1. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 157.356 2. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 156.699 3. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 156.393 4. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 156.284 5. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 155.979 6. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 155.871 7. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 155.777 8. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 155.555 9. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 155.494 10. (98) Paul Menard, Ford, 155.434 11. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 155.373 12. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 155.353 13. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 155.192 14. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 155.045 15. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 154.992 16. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 154.905 17. (12) David Stremme, Dodge, 154.832 18. (71) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, 154.639 19. (44) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 154.633 20. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 154.606
21. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 154.573
22. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet,
154.533
23. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 154.480
24. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet,
154.407
25. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford,
154.288
26. (43) Reed Sorenson, Dodge,
154.136
27. (47) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota,
154.07
28. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 153.879
29. (07) Casey Mears, Chevrolet,
153.807
30. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 153.557
31. (7) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 153.44
32. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet,
153.387
33. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet,
153.211
34. (19) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 153.107
35. (66) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 153.074
36. (09) Mike Bliss, Dodge, 153.029
37. (34) John Andretti, Chevrolet,
152.938
38. (55) Michael Waltrip, Toyota,
152.873
39. (82) Scott Speed, Toyota, 152.62
40. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota,
152.046
41. (96) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 152.001
42. (37) Tony Raines, Dodge, 151.547
43. (36) Michael McDowell, Toyota,
151.388
Sports, Pages 29 on 09/27/2009