Martin takes first career Coca-Cola 600 win

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jimmie Johnson was untouchable for most of the Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 Sunday evening, but overshot his pit stall on the race's final pit stop, handing the lead -- and eventually the win -- to victory-starved Mark Martin.

With the win, Martin terminated his highly publicized winless streak, which had climbed to 73 races entering Charlotte, and earned himself and Janet Hogan of Sterling, Va., the Winston No Bull 5 Million Dollar Bonus.

Jimmie Johnson passes Robby Gordon in Turn 4.

"This feels so good," said an exhausted Martin in Victory Lane. "I'm out of breath. Matt Kenseth run me so hard. I've never driven that hard in my life to win a race.

"It's just great, this team, I'm going to share a huge portion of this money with them. The money don't matter. We're taking this trophy home to Florida. That's what matters."

While in Victory Lane, Martin pulled out his cell phone for a quick conversation with team owner Jack Roush, who continues to rest at home in Michigan following an airplane crash last month.

"Thank you, man!" Martin shouted to Roush in elation. "We're going to win Dover, too. But we'll start worrying about that about 3 a.m."

Martin's car was found to be 1/8 of an inch too low in post-race inspection. Any penalty -- if any will be handed out -- will be announced on Tuesday.

Bobby Labonte led two laps but faded to 14th after this pit incident.

As he was for 263 of the 400 laps, Johnson was the race leader on lap 359 when he encountered the lapped-car of Hut Stricklin. Coursing through Turn 4, Johnson hit Stricklin, sending the No. 23 Dodge into the Turn 4 wall and bringing out the day's ninth caution.

Johnson locked up the brakes as Stricklin slid up the track in front of him, and only barely avoided contact. Unable to make it the final 41 laps on fuel, Johnson was forced to pit. The rest of the leaders followed suit. That's when Johnson's dominance ended.

For the second time in three stops, Johnson overshot his pit box, costing the team vital time on pit road. He reentered the track in ninth position, and was only able to get back to seventh.

"To dominate like we did throughout the day and a mistake on my behalf -- I can't blame it on anyone but myself," Johnson said. "That tells the tale. You're a hero one lap, and another you're a zero."

	Jeremy Mayfield brings out a caution with a spin. He finished 39th.

On the same stop, Martin's pit crew got him off pit road first. He then stretched his lead a bit before Roush Racing teammate Matt Kenseth made a race of it.

Kenseth, the 2000 Coca-Cola 600 champion, surged to Martin's rear bumper. Feeling the pressure, Martin darted through lapped traffic as if possessed.

Kenseth was unable to catch him and make the pass, handing Martin his 33rd career win, and first ever in the Memorial Day classic.

"I couldn't wait," Martin said. "Matt was faster than me, and I had to go. I couldn't afford to get him up on me. He was going to beat me fair and square. This was big for us. It was a great race."

Roush Racing has won four consecutive Coca-Cola 600s, four of the season's first 12 events, including three of the past six. Kenseth leads the way for the organization with two victories. He nearly did it again.

"I was just doing everything I could to catch (Martin)," said Kenseth, who now trails Sterling Marlin by 87 points in the championship points race. "He had a good car. I could get to him but I couldn't get around him, didn't have enough to get around him. I'm thankful for our whole day.

Ward Burton finished 42nd after hitting the wall.

"(Johnson) was the class of the field by far, so for Mark to win and us to finish second, it's awesome. He's taught me everything I know about Charlotte. I was trying to do everything he taught me, but I couldn't get around him."

Ricky Craven finished third, followed by Ricky Rudd in fourth and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five.

"I think it was one of the fastest cars we've ever had, but you never know unless you get out front," Gordon said.

Kurt Busch had an interesting day. Busch started 43rd in the field after changing engines prior to the event. Then, on lap 12, he spun out, barely missing the inside pit wall as he slid down the track. No matter. By lap 216 he was fifth. By lap 333 he was the leader.

On that very lap, Busch entered pit road for a routine green flag stop, but missed his pit stall and had to be pushed back into proper pit position. Hence, the stop took 29 seconds -- nearly twice as long as a typical stop.

He was then black-flagged when a tire rolled outside his pit box. After coming back down pit road, his car stalled. Once re-fired, he was caught speeding on pit road. He was then assessed a pass-through penalty.

After all that, he returned to the track three laps down in 28th position. He finished 31st.

Still yet, his headache didn't compare to Johnson's.

"I had my fork dug into the cake and I was ready to take a big ol' bite out of it," Johnson said. "Well, that cake fell off my fork right onto the floor."