Martin serves notice title hopes aren't over the hill

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- In the beginning, he made it look so easy.

In the middle, he seemed to settle a little back in the pack and the tendency was to forget about him.

But in the end, Mark Martin was the only story that mattered at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday night. At 50 years, 89 days of age, he became the third-oldest driver to win a race and only the fourth in the history of NASCAR to visit Victory Lane after being on this earth for half a century.

Mark Martin is congratulated by the winner of the previous three races at Phoenix, Jimmie Johnson.

What told the story probably better than anything else was the steady stream of well-wishers, hand-shakers and back-slappers who dropped by Victory Lane to tell Martin how pleased they were for him. It was the ultimate sign of respect.

Three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson stopped by. So did Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton. Jack Roush, for whom Martin used to drive, made a point of congratulating him after the race -- as did Jeff Gordon.

As he grasped Martin's hand and hugged him briefly in Victory Lane, the grin Gordon wore nearly matched the one stretching Martin's creased face and said volumes.

"That tells you how much respect we all have for him," said Tony Stewart, who settled for second behind Martin. "There is nobody that dislikes Mark -- and Mark was responsible for so many of us learning what it took to be a Cup driver and to be that caliber of a driver.

"Mark has taught us all a lot about what it takes to be not only a good driver in this series, but a good competitor and somebody that everybody respects."

Like old times

Martin started Saturday's race from the pole and led the first 102 laps in dominating fashion. It was like old times, back when he was running up front most weeks and in the furious process of racking up his first 35 career Cup victories.

Then, after the sun set over the Arizona desert and the track cooled to the point that it changed everything for everyone, it became a different race.

Teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the helm for a while, but it was a mirage. He was out of pit sequence with everyone else and needed a rash of caution flags -- or at least one perfectly timed -- that never came.

Then the Brylcream rose to the top again, as Martin surged back in front with 57 laps to go and surged to a 4-second lead over Stewart. It was beginning to look like it would be easy again when Earnhardt's once-promising night went from bad to much, much worse as he hit the wall and brought out the caution flag no one at Hendrick Motorsports wanted.

"I knew it wasn't going to be easy. None of them ever are," Martin said. (Continued)