Veteran Mark Martin (Chevy No 5) won a second Sprint Cup race of the season by grabbing the checkered flag of the Southern 500 at the legendary Darlington Raceway Saturday evening.
Though Greg Biffle (Ford No 16) led the most lap at the "Too tough to tame" race track, hitting the turn four wall made him lose the race (he would finish 8th). But Martin, who was strong from the start, managed to avoid the multiple crashes (wrecks called for 17 caution situations) not only stayed at the top at the end of the race but also managed to keep teammate Jimmie Johnson (Chevy No 48) behind (Jimmie had to start 42nd because he crashed during qualifying).
Tony Stewart (Chevy No 14) did another great job and finished third, good enough to push him to second place in the race for the championship, only 29 points behind leader Jeff Gordon (Chevy No 24). Gordon finished fifth at Darlington just behind Stewart's teammate Ryan Newman (Chevy No 39 and he is now 8th in the championship).
Fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Chevy No 88) will be disappointed to learn he could do no better than 27th (he was sent to the back of the back when one of his tires went rolling out of the pit box on the 10th caution) while Carl Edwards (Ford No 99) ended up 32nd when he hit the wall after being tapped by his own teammate Gregg Biffle.
As far as Kyle Busch (Camry No 18), he too tapped the wall on lap 274 leaving him with a 34th place finish.
As Gordon still leads the championship over Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch (Dodge No 2), Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin (Camry No 11 and mark martin is now 11th), the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will take a break next week to run the All-Star Race (that does not count for the Championship) next week (May 16) at the Lowe's Motor Speedway.
The series will be back in action at the same race track on May 24.
Though Greg Biffle (Ford No 16) led the most lap at the "Too tough to tame" race track, hitting the turn four wall made him lose the race (he would finish 8th). But Martin, who was strong from the start, managed to avoid the multiple crashes (wrecks called for 17 caution situations) not only stayed at the top at the end of the race but also managed to keep teammate Jimmie Johnson (Chevy No 48) behind (Jimmie had to start 42nd because he crashed during qualifying).
Tony Stewart (Chevy No 14) did another great job and finished third, good enough to push him to second place in the race for the championship, only 29 points behind leader Jeff Gordon (Chevy No 24). Gordon finished fifth at Darlington just behind Stewart's teammate Ryan Newman (Chevy No 39 and he is now 8th in the championship).
Fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Chevy No 88) will be disappointed to learn he could do no better than 27th (he was sent to the back of the back when one of his tires went rolling out of the pit box on the 10th caution) while Carl Edwards (Ford No 99) ended up 32nd when he hit the wall after being tapped by his own teammate Gregg Biffle.
As far as Kyle Busch (Camry No 18), he too tapped the wall on lap 274 leaving him with a 34th place finish.
As Gordon still leads the championship over Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch (Dodge No 2), Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin (Camry No 11 and mark martin is now 11th), the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will take a break next week to run the All-Star Race (that does not count for the Championship) next week (May 16) at the Lowe's Motor Speedway.
The series will be back in action at the same race track on May 24.