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.

No, it's never easy for anyone to win a Sprint Cup Series race. Martin should know. Saturday's victory was his first since 2005 and broke a 97-race winless streak.

Of course, Martin didn't drive full time in either 2007 or 2008, and most thought he was finished with the grind that is a complete 36-race season. He even thought so for a while.

But the longer he was away, even though he never really was completely away, the more he missed driving a fast race car. So when team owner Rick Hendrick came calling with the offer of a full-time gig -- insisting on it even when Martin at first balked and thought he could come on board on his own part-time terms -- Martin eventually jumped all over it.

That is the way with Mark Martin. He joked after Saturday's race that he has a history of sometimes flip-flopping on decisions he makes -- but once he decided to come on board to drive the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick, he was all-in.

After that, according to Gordon, it was only a matter of time until Martin started winning races.

"I know how bad he wanted to win," Gordon said. "He's got a car and a team that can do it and he's one driving fool."

First of many?

Yet because of Earnhardt slapping the wall to bring out the late caution on Saturday, Martin's seemingly insurmountable lead over Stewart not only disappeared -- but when he came back on the track after pitting, Martin wasn't even in the lead any longer.

Ryan Newman gambled and stayed out of the pits to take the lead, and suddenly stood in the way. Like Earnhardt earlier, it was a mirage. Newman was a sitting duck on his old tires and knew it.

So did the wily Martin. He blew past Newman on the outside on the ensuing restart and never looked back (watch video).

No one was surprised. Even when he got off to a rough start this year -- battling engine troubles and blown tires that were not of his own making -- Martin not only tried to keep himself positive but also tried to inflate the optimism of his entire team.

The pole he won Friday at PIR was, incredibly, his third of this young season. So in some ways, his comeback season already was a success. Martin was clearly driving really fast race cars again.

But he admitted following Saturday's victory that he felt he needed to win to validate his return to the full-time circuit in the big-time chariot he knew Hendrick would provide for him.

Now he has one, and even greater respect from his fellow competitors -- if that is possible.

"The guy has been at the top of his game for 30 years in this sport. It's unbelievable to watch," Busch said. "If I'm halfway as competitive as he is when I'm in my 50s, that would be an accomplishment."

Martin hasn't quite been racing at the Cup level for 30 years, but he did run his first race in the series in 1981. Kurt Busch was 3 years old.

Twenty-three years later, in 2004, Busch won a championship while driving for Jack Roush. Martin was his teammate.

The championship has eluded Martin all these years, and he cautioned not to label this year as his "one last run" at changing that. He's having too much fun to declare that he won't come back and try it again next year.

His win Saturday also served notice that he can challenge for that which floated just outside of his grasp in 12 consecutive seasons when he finished in the top 10 in points (1989 through 2000), including runner-up on four occasions. He also qualified for the Chase each of the three seasons when he was driving full time following its introduction.

But since 2005, he hasn't always felt the cars he was driving were fast enough for him to win. Now he feels like they are almost every week.

"We didn't just fall into this one. We earned it," Martin said. "That's cool. That's the way I want to win. ... You never know when your last one will be."

Maybe so, but odds are Saturday's victory wasn't Martin's last.

Video
• Mark Martin: Victory Lane | Press Pass | Race Rewind

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.

Joe Menzer is the author of "The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation." Click here to purchase.