Martin Ends Streak of 621 Consecutive Starts on Top
Mark Martin closed out the current longest consecutive streak start in NASCAR with a top-10 finish in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. With the finish, Martin maintained his lead in the Nextel Cup point standings, despite the fact that he will not race next week in Bristol. With the finish, Martin opens the season with four consecutive top-10 finishes, for the first time since 2000 and for only the third time in his career. Martin will now bow out of the car next weekend as the oldest driver in NASCAR history to lead the points for more than one week. Martin and the U.S. Army Team started the race fourth after a strong qualifying effort on Friday, but struggled early with a loose race car, dropping as far back as 16th during the race.
"It is really cool and I guess it's kind of a story book way to go out leading the points after chasing those points so hard for the last 20 years," said Martin. "It's definitely the way to do it and I just can't say enough about this U.S. Army Race team. They are a fabulous team and an awesome group of guys and it's just so awesome to finally see them get the recognition they deserve. I sure wish I had been driving their car a little sooner."
"We weren't as good today as we had been the first couple of races," said Martin. "But the guys on the Army team never gave up and we kept getting a little bit better each time. They were able to gain positions on pit road during those last two stops and we were able to bring home a top-10 finish. "They also allowed me to leave here the point leader and I have to thank them for all they have done for me this year," added Martin. "These guys are just fabulous and they give their heart and soul and they are finally getting the recognition they deserve."
Check out that smile on Mark's face and tell me he is not having the time of his life.
HAMPTON, Ga. -- Jeff Burton made it two Busch Series victories in a row Saturday, easily holding off Richard Childress Racing teammate and reigning Busch champion Kevin Harvick to win the Nicorette 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kyle Busch again appeared to be on his way to a victory Saturday, building leads of a full straightaway before the last of six caution flags came out on Lap 167 of the 195-lap race when Todd Kluever hit the wall after being hit from behind by open-wheel star Sam Hornish Jr. All the leaders pitted and Busch easily led everyone back onto the track. But a NASCAR official spotted a missing lugnut on Busch's left front wheel and called him back into the pits. The Hendrick Motorsports driver fell all the way to 15th for the restart. The race restarted on Lap 174 and Busch charged through the field. He got all the way to third before running out of laps.
Series points leader Carl Edwards finished fourth, followed by Casey Mears, Clint Bowyer -- in the third RCR car, Kasey Kahne, rookie Juan Montoya -- the former Formula One star's best stock car finish on an oval -- Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart, all cup regulars who will also race on the 1.5-mile oval in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500.
Jeff Burton may not have been the fastest car, but he was fast enough. Burton battled a vibration the final four laps. “These things are never over until their over. We’ve just been on it here, lately,” said Burton. Obviously we had a little bit of luck." It is Burton’s second victory of the 2007 campaign and 24th of his Busch Series career.
Teams fought tire wear problems most of the day. Because of heavy rain that fell on Friday and the consequence of lost practice time, NASCAR mandated a competition caution early in the race and allowed teams an extra set of tires.
At one point during Saturday’s race, Burton felt a vibration while running in the top-10 and was forced to pit for new tires under green. Luckily for him, the rest of the lead lap cars did as well shortly thereafter and he didn’t fall out of sequence.
"I had to pit with a big vibration there at one point and I thought it was over then. But they found what was wrong," he said. "Then I got another vibration with about five laps to go, but I couldn't pit then." “We had some luck today. Nonetheless (our car) was fast,” Burton said. “That’s the key to racing – get yourself in position and good things can happen.”
"Obviously, the 5 car today, he was the class of the field," said Burton. "The last run, I thought we might be able to have something for him, but he was so fast and just had some bad luck."
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and his fans should be quite familiar with the Kobalt Tools paint scheme by the time the 2007 NASCAR season concludes. That's because Kobalt Tools will sponsor the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet in two of Johnson's NEXTEL Cup Series races as well as all three of his Busch Series races in 2007.
Kobalt Tools will also be the title sponsor for the March 18 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway now called the Kobalt Tools 500. "I think the race fans are going to like the Kobalt Tools car paint schemes," Johnson said. "I'm excited about running the two Cup races as well as going back to the Busch Series for three races.
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MOORESVILLE, N.C.
