Mark Martin's win is a big win for NASCAR itself

  

  
Crew chief Alan Gustafson, the best-kept secret in NASCAR, congratulates his driver Mark Martin after a breakthrough victory in Saturday night's Phoenix 500 (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   PHOENIX
   NASCAR needed a big shot in the arm, to snap out of the spring doldrums, and Mark Martin delivered big – and with class.
   Yes, sometimes nice guys in NASCAR do finish first.
   Even at 50….though with Martin age is simply meaningless. He outdrives most racers on the stock car tour with ease, and with just a few more breaks here and there, he could easily have 50 tour wins over his career….and very likely at least two NASCAR Cup tour championships.
   "I want to thank the fans, man," Martin said. "I wouldn't have this job if I didn't have so many fans.
   "Thanks to these guys, this is a dream come true.
    "I really want to thank Rick Hendrick for making an incredible, incredible day in my life.
     "The thought went through my mind about back in 1989, with Jack Roush, when we got our first win at Rockingham: I said then 'My life is fulfilled.'
    "I thought about saying that again tonight. I stopped short of that.
   "But it means that much…It means just as much as getting that first one for me."
    Tony Stewart, who ran second, said the mass celebration in victory lane "tells you how much respect we all have for him.
   "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 driver.
   "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. And 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 from the pole and showed the fastest car most of the night, leading 197 of the 312 laps. And he finally cracked victory for the first time since October 2005 – that's 121 tour events ago. But Martin, on a limited schedule until this year, only competed in 97 of those.
   Key to Martin's good runs this season – solid qualifying. And to have rallied up to 13th in the standings, despite two blown engines, shows just how strong this team is.
   Only three other NASCAR drivers over 50 have won Cup events, but that's really just a footnote to Martin's win, because he's in better shape than just about every rival on the tour.
    Martin insists much of his career has simply been one lucky break after another:
  "I didn't plan all this out. It's been an incredible ride since stepping out of the 6 car (and leaving Jack Roush)…having a chance to re-energize myself and realize how much I love it…and how it's going to be hard to give it up.
    "The performance level I have, and the cars I'm getting to drive, I love it. I feel really lucky."
    Martin's late-career charge is surprising. Just a few years ago he was planning 'retirement' from Cup racing, and taking a leisure gander at Truck racing.
   Then Chevrolet came up with a deal for him. Or rather old buddy Jay Frye, who convinced Martin to stay in the game. In 2007 Martin came within inches of winning the Daytona 500. And last season, despite unexpected changes in car owners, Martin was still in the game. But this year, now with Hendrick, Martin has been back in old form.
   And Martin gave a lot of credit to Frye here after the win.
   "I feel really good….I've been so incredibly blessed," Martin said, with his typical humbleness, such a rare quality in NASCAR these days.
   "I was really happy in 2008, and even more happy in 2009 -- and I didn't think that was possible, because I am in a different league stress-level compared to last year. 
   "But working with these guys puts so much more fun in the factor that it overcomes the stress level."
   After all Martin is now compared against Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, two of the best ever in this business, and now teammates.
   In that light, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s again woeful evening is quite the contrast.
   Earnhardt left the track without commenting to reporters.