Martin has goal in mind as a part-timer: win a race

RICHMOND, Va. -- A part-timer winning a Cup Series race? Mark Martin tried to make that outlandish possibility a reality on Saturday night, and if it weren't for Richmond's tight packs of lapped traffic, the Crown Royal 400 outcome may have been different.

With less than 30 laps to go in the scheduled 400-lap event, Martin was running fourth. He'd been in the top five the entire night after starting on the outside of the front row. And as the laps wound down, it looked like it was going to be another Mark Martin-type of night -- solid run, out of trouble, quietly score a top-five finish.

But then the leaders ran upon lapped traffic. That's when fifth-place Clint Bowyer slipped around Martin for fourth as the No. 8 Chevrolet struggled to get around a lapped machine.

It turned out to be the winning move.

The series of events that unfolded afterward couldn't have been predicted. Leader Denny Hamlin, who'd led all but one lap of the event up until that point, cut a tire and slowly dwindled before stopping on the track and bringing out the caution flag on Lap 391.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. assumed the lead and appeared ready to fulfill another storybook ending, only he crashed while defending the lead from Kyle Busch.

All of that left Bowyer in the lead and Martin trailing Busch on the race's final green-white-checkered restart. He challenged Busch for second but never could get around him, settling for a third-place finish.

"Just felt like some of the lapped cars were disrespectful [Saturday], that's all," Martin said afterward, referring to being held up while Bowyer passed him.

Still, it was Martin's third consecutive top-10 and his best finish since he ran third at Texas last year. Not bad for a part-timer, who continuously praises his crew and the support from his Dale Earnhardt Inc. organization.

"I really want to see their faces in Victory Lane," Martin said of his crew chief, Tony Gibson, and his crew. "I mean, they are right there. They are getting it done."

Mark Martin

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So is Martin. He's run seven of the 11 events this season, and aside from the Daytona crapshoot and a poor run at Atlanta, he's been a competitor every week he shows up. And each week, it just keeps getting better.

It started with his 10th-place finish at Las Vegas. After the Atlanta struggle, he rebounded at Texas to finish eighth. A week later he appeared to be the car to beat at Phoenix, leading 68 laps and being in position to win before a late-race decision brought him to pit road. Jimmie Johnson stayed out and ended up winning, leaving Martin in fifth.

And then there was Saturday night.

"You know, we were just one little whisker off of being able to get it done [Saturday], very close," Martin said, noting the car slipped a little midway through the race but that the handle returned when it mattered. "We got caught up with some lapped traffic and the No. 07 got around us."

The finish gives Martin more top-10 finishes than 19 drivers who have competed in every race this season. In driver points, he's ahead of six drivers who have started every race, 13 who have started as many as Martin.

Driver points, however, aren't the top concern for a hired gun.

"We were really close," Martin said, "but I know if we can keep this going, we'll reach our goal and win in the soldiers' car."