Running on fumes: Hendrick Motorsports' Mark Martin stretches fuel mileage for Michigan win
Hendrick Motorsports driver Mark Martin celebrates his victory in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Lifelock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
BROOKLYN, Mich. – Hendrick Motorsports driver Mark Martin was simply running for points near the end of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. At the very end, he was celebrating an unlikely victory.
After Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson and Roush Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle – owners of the two strongest cars on the afternoon – dropped from the first and second positions, respectively, in the final two laps when their fuel tanks ran dry, Martin decided he had more than points in mind.
"If we’re this close, I’m gonna run hard,” Martin said in victory lane, adding he ran dry on fuel coming off Turn 4 for the final time.
Martin, who qualified 32nd, notched his 38th career victory – and his third this season. It was Martin’s fifth career win at Michigan.
Johnson dominated the event by leading 146 of 200 laps. He fell to 22nd at the finish after running out of gas one lap short of the full distance. Biffle, who led 42 laps, finished fifth.
Jeff Gordon came home second, Denny Hamlin third and Carl Edwards gave Roush Fenway Racing another presence in the top five, finishing one spot ahead of Biffle in fourth.
The race consisted largely of green-flag runs with only three cautions on the afternoon, two of which were for debris. The lone incident of the day involved Penske Racing’s David Stremme, whose No. 12 Dodge careened into the wall at the entrance of pit road on lap 151.
With the win, Martin moved back into the top 12 of the point standings and is now eighth. Stewart-Haas Racing's Tony Stewart remains atop the standings with a 47-point edge over Gordon.
Martin's win marked the second consecutive year that a Hendrick Motorsports driver won a fuel-mileage race at Michigan after Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s victory in this event last season.
