Martin tames Darlington; second win in four races

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- In a Hendrick Motorsports assault on Darlington Raceway, Mark Martin -- at 50 the senior member of the team -- won Saturday night's Southern 500 by 1.531 seconds over teammate Jimmie Johnson.

Attrition trimmed the field, and perseverance allowed Johnson and teammate Jeff Gordon to rally from a lap down each to finish in the top five.

But it was a call by Martin's crew chief, Alan Gustafson, that gave the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet his second victory of the season and the 37th of his career -- tying him with Bobby Isaac for 17th on the all-time career wins list (watch video).

Martin and Johnson were two of seven drivers who stayed out on old tires under the 15th caution of the race on Lap 321, while Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr. and Gordon were the first three drivers out of the pits with fresh right-side tires.

Stewart charged through the field to finish third in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, a car that gets engine, chassis and technical support from Hendrick. Stewart's teammate, Ryan Newman, ran fourth, followed by Gordon. Stewart moved past 16th-place finisher Kurt Busch into second in the Cup standings, 29 points behind Gordon.

Truex came home sixth, followed by Brad Keselowski in the No. 25 Chevy owned by Hendrick. Greg Biffle, rookie Joey Logano and pole-sitter Matt Kenseth completed the top 10.

"It's absolutely unbelievable," Martin said. "This is a big surprise. We had a strong car, but I never expected to win. Alan Gustafson is absolutely the best. I may have been his childhood hero, but I'm living a second childhood now -- and he's my childhood hero.

"We had a good enough car to do it, and pit strategy put us in a position to pull it off." (Continued)