Mark Martin's victory vaulted him to seventh in the Chase standings. Credit: Autostock

Martin dominating in much-needed Cup win

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Mark Martin bounced back from a costly crash with a dominating victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway, keeping the veteran racer's slim championship hopes alive.

But to get the 35th victory of his career and stay in the hunt for the Nextel Cup, Martin had to hold off his teammates. A lot of them.

Inside the Chase Point standings after Kansas Pos. Driver Pts. Behind 1. T. Stewart 5,684 -- 2. R. Newman 5,609 -75 3. G. Biffle 5,596 -88 4. R. Wallace 5,594 -90 5. J. Johnson 5,592 -92 6. C. Edwards 5,589 -95 7. M. Martin 5,571 -113 8. M. Kenseth 5,568 -116 9. J. Mayfield 5,527 -157 10. Ku. Busch 5,460 -224 • Race results, click here • Cup standings, click here Victory LaneMark Martin celebrates his 35th career win at Kansas On the moveGreg Biffle gains two spots in the point standings Banquet 400Catch all the highlights of the Chase in Kansas Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Martin and teammate Greg Biffle led Roush Racing's sweep of the top three spots, and Roush cars took four of the top five. It was the 46-year-old Martin's first since Dover in June 2004.

But the last laugh might belong to Tony Stewart, who finished fourth and extended his Chase lead from four points to 75. It was Stewart's 15th top 10-finish in the last 16 races.

Biffle, another of the 10 drivers in the 10-race Chase, passed Stewart for second place 30 laps from the end of the 267-lap Banquet 400 and went after Martin, cutting a lead of about 20 car-lengths to less than half of that.

But Martin was able to maintain that lead to the end, leading Biffle and Carl Edwards to the finish line. Martin jumped from ninth to seventh in the standings, 113 points behind Stewart with six races left in the Chase.

"It probably puts us back close," Martin said. "But it's going to be a lot harder now than it was going to be if we could have finished in the top 10 at Talladega."

Martin credited the crew of his No. 6 Ford with putting him back in Victory Lane.

"I want to win so bad and they believe in me," he said. "They made a winner out of an old man [Sunday]."

Martin's crash early in the race Oct. 2 at Talladega Superspeedway relegated him to a 41st-place finish and, worse, cost him valuable points, sending the four-time series runner-up tumbling to ninth place, 138 points out of first.

But Sunday's race was a bit of redemption for Martin, who took the lead for the first time with a two-tire stop on lap 122 and wound up leading three times for 139 laps.

All five Roush drivers are in the Chase field and four of them finished in the top 10, with polewinner Matt Kenseth finishing fifth. Reigning Cup champion Kurt Busch, the fifth Roush driver, finished 14th.

Stewart now leads Ryan Newman, who finished 23rd, by 75 points. Newman trailed by just four points heading into Sunday's race.