Posted by Outlaw Girl
on 8/12/2009, 10:07 am
66.157.61.163
RETURNING VICTOR: Mark Martin won the June NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway in dramatic fashion. He conserved enough fuel to outlast the first- and second-place cars and improved from the third position to lead the final lap on his way to Victory Lane. The win was his fifth at the two-mile track, which is the most for the veteran driver at any racetrack.
MARTIN AT MICHIGAN: Martin will make his 48th Cup start at Michigan this Sunday. In his 47 previous races there, he has earned five wins, 17 top-five finishes and 29 top-10s. Surprisingly, Martin, who has 45 career Sprint Cup pole positions, has not earned the pole for a Cup race at the speedway. Martin has led a total of 883 laps at MIS.
FOUR WINS: Martin's four wins are the most for any Cup driver thus far in the 2009 season. This Sunday's race at Michigan marks the first track Martin will return to where he has won previously this year.
THE NO. 5 TEAM: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST team has competed in seven races at Michigan International Speedway, earning its first win at the track in June. The team has earned one top-five finish and three top-10s at the speedway with Gustafson at the helm.
CHASE RACE: With four races remaining until the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins, Martin and the Kellogg's/CARQUEST team are 11th in the Sprint Cup standings, 89 points ahead of 13th.
MICHIGAN CHASSIS: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-550 for Sunday's race at Michigan. This is the same chassis that Martin drove to a runner-up finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month.
HENDRICK AT MICHIGAN: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has scored five wins, 35 top-five finishes, 66 top-10s and has led 1,710 laps at Michigan. Martin drove the No. 5 Chevrolet to score Hendrick Motorsports' fifth win at the two-mile oval on June 14.
APPROACHING MILESTONE: On Aug. 22 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Martin will make his 1,000th career NASCAR start. That date will mark his 746th Sprint Cup race. Martin also has competed in 231 Nationwide and 23 Camping World Truck series events. He is the third driver to achieve this mark, behind only Richard Petty and Michael Waltrip. Across all three series, Martin has won 93 points-paying events.
AND IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING: At Dover (Del.) International Speedway on Sept. 27, Martin will make his 750th career Sprint Cup start. Martin will become only the ninth driver to reach this mark in NASCAR's 61-year history. In his 743 Cup starts, he has earned 39 victories, 249 top-five finishes and 407 top-10s (almost 55 percent). He has driven 272,794.4 miles during his 27-year career.
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WIND TUNNEL: Martin will be a guest on "Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain," which will air Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on SPEED.
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MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON HIS JUNE WIN AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY.): "The win at Michigan was like, 'Wow! Did we really win this?' It all happened really fast and normally fuel mileage just doesn't work out for me. We had qualified pretty bad that weekend, and I was worried how it was all going to go. But the guys dug deep on Saturday, and I knew we had a fast race car. Not racing the (Nos.) 48 and the 16 there at the end was tough. I knew our car was good enough, but Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) kept the big picture in mind, and it was exactly the right call."
MARTIN (ON THE TIGHT POINTS BATTLE.): "In my head, I'm always 13th. I'm always on the outside looking in. I don't ever want to get comfortable or think we're safe. You can't count on that until the end of the race at Richmond (Va.). We had a rough weekend at Watkins Glen (N.Y.). We didn't expect that, and that's why you can't get comfortable. One race and you're right back there fighting to stay in. These guys deserve to be in the Chase. This is a team capable of really big things, and I know they'll feel like they didn't get that shot if we don't make it. So I'm going to do everything that I can to get in there. And I know they're doing everything they can, too."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON THE LAST MICHIGAN RACE): "The biggest thing that stands out in my mind about the last race is we didn't qualify very well at all, and it was the track that we had high hopes going in to. We struggled on Friday and qualified 32nd. So we went back and worked really hard Friday night and Saturday morning and got the car in race trim. It was really good from then on. We had a really fast car in practice and a really fast car in the race. Mark was able to drive up to the front. After the last pit stop we started third or fourth, and we really never got a chance to go, we just had to save gas and go as fast as we could and still save enough fuel to make it to the end. The last lap was really exciting, and we hated to see Jimmie (Johnson) have those problems and run out of fuel, but (Greg) Biffle ran out, too, and we won. So it was a real whirlwind, and it was an exciting day. Winning is awesome, and the thing that makes me feel good about going back is just that the car was really good throughout the race."
GUSTAFSON (ON LAST-LAP WINS OR DOMINATING WINS BEING MORE EXCITING.): "I think Michigan was more exciting, but I don't know that it was more rewarding or more special. I think it's exciting because you're just like, 'Man, it happens all at once.' But with Chicago you prepare yourself or you realize early on in the race, 'Man, we can really win this race.' Where Michigan, I knew we could win it, but we didn't know how realistic that was. So it happens a lot quicker and a lot more suddenly. They are all very rewarding to win. They're so hard to win. Even at Chicago, we had such a good car, you go through so much to win, and you really appreciate it when you can. It's really special."
GUSTAFSON (ON HOW THE NO. 5 TEAM OUTLASTED THE NOS. 48 AND 16 ON FUEL LAST TIME.): "We knew we couldn't go wide-open, full speed, and make it on gas. So then you say to yourself, 'OK, do you feel like you are going to get some cautions? Do you prepare to go the whole way if it goes green?' And that's what we chose to do. We chose to be conservative from the get-go, get clear of traffic, and then run only as fast as we had to in order to keep the leaders in sight and to keep the drivers behind us, behind us. And Mark did a great job over that run to do it and did it perfectly. We ran out off of (Turn) 4. You couldn't have timed that any better. He got as much speed out of it with using the exact right amount of fuel. And the (No.) 48 was in a position where they didn't really have to be as conservative as we did because we were more concerned about points than they were. So they were going hard for the win. If they wouldn't have done that, than they wouldn't have pushed the (No.) 16 so hard, too. And I know the (No.) 16 had to use more gas than he wanted to use, too. So, that worked out for us."
GUSTAFSON (ON IF HE PREPARES FOR A FUEL-MILEAGE EVENT AT MICHIGAN.): "You prepare for it everywhere. Some places you put more effort into it than others. Michigan is a track that you would consider definitely putting fuel mileage at the top of your list. Michigan, Pocono, road courses, Indy, Loudon -- those are tracks that come to mind right away. You just make sure you've got the fuel system to max capacity and your mileage is as good as possible."
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