Mark Martin Wins the LifeLock 400

Have you ever noticed how sometimes something wonderful falls right in your lap during an activity when it wasn’t your actual goal? Mark Martin has probably experienced this before, so when his plans to try for a top five finish in Sunday’s LifeLock 400 turned into a victory lap, he might not have been as surprised as a younger driver. This didn’t stop him from expressing his joy to the world in a bright smile that certainly speaks miles about his opinion about his good fortune and the final result at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday.

Mark Martin looks as stunned at his victory as the other drivers

Fuel conservation again played a pivotal role in the final standings in the race as race leaders Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle misjudged the amount of fuel they had used during their battle and ran out of fuel in the final two miles of the scheduled 400 miles. Mark Martin on the other hand had been in fuel-conservation mode for a large part of the race, which included turning off cooling fans and units in order to save fuel, and resulted in his car having enough fuel to complete the last 44 laps. He crossed the line just 2.992 seconds ahead of Jeff Gordon, who also had enough gas to complete the race due to fuel conservation.

This victory was Mark Martin’s 38^th career win and moved him through the pack from 13^th to 8^th position in the series standings, just 321 points behind series leader Tony Stewart, who managed to finish seventh on Sunday. This is the third victory of the 2009 Sprint Cup season for Mark Martin’s No. 5 V Chevrolet tying him with Kyle Busch for the Cup Series lead.

Jimmie Johnson, who managed to lead the race for 146 laps and twice built up leads of more then seven seconds, managed to coast into the pit. After refueling, he drove around Martin’s car and crossed the finish line in 22^nd position.

Denny Hamlin finished third, just ahead of Carl Edwards in fourth, and Greg Biffle who grabbed fifth position, despite running out of fuel on the backstretch of the final lap. Juan Montoya finished sixth, Tony Stewart took seventh, Kurt Busch managed eighth, Brian Vickers survived to finish ninth, and the top ten was filled out by Clint Bowyer.

Image: Zuma Press