hehe thanks Taz, i'm excited for tonight.

i'm watching pole day at indianapolis, currently ryan briscoe has the pole. yay! i love him!!

 

Martin wins Southern 500

Mark Martin wins his second race of the season by taking the Southern 500. The win puts him into the top 12 in points. Four of Hendrick Motorsports' cars finish in the top seven.

top 10:

1. Mark Martin
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Tony Stewart
4. Ryan Newman
5. Jeff Gordon
6. Martin Truex, Jr.
7. Brad Keselowski
8. Greg Biffle
9. Joey Logano
10. Matt Kenseth

Complete Unofficial Race Results

It was a caution filled race! A record 17 caution flags flew tonight. Jimmie Johnson finished 2nd, despite starting last in a backup car that had zero laps on its engine. Biffle led early and often and the race seemed like it was his to lose for a while, however a late race spin on lap 295 set him back. Joey Logano ran up front all night. Kenseth started the race on the pole, but started falling backward early. He rebounded to finish 10th.

Jeff Gordon retains the points lead. Tony Stewart climbs 1 spot to 2nd, 29 points out of 1st.

Current Point Standings

Complete lap by lap coverage of the Southern 500

 

wow, pretty quick with the updates, thanks! your posts kick butt, thanks

 

thanks! me and space make a good nascar team i would have posted more info but i had to hop in the car to listen to the post race show on xm.

 

Southern delight

The 50-year-old man tamed the 60-year-old track. Racing at Darlington like he had been there a time or two, Mark Martin laid low until it was time to go, winning for the second time there and for the second time in the past four races this year.

Watch the final laps of the Southern 500

If Mark Martin keeps winning like this, even he might have to concede that he's racing for a Sprint Cup championship. The 50-year-old Martin won for the second time in four races, outlasting Jimmie Johnson in a wreck-filled show at Darlington Raceway on Saturday night.




Read the full story here!


It was a tough night for a lot of drivers, including many of the series' top contenders. The first caution came out on only lap 4, with Scott Speed (in Joe Nemecheck's #87 car) and Max Papis got together and spun. Caution flag #4 came out on lap 75, when Michael Waltrip's #55 Napa Toyota blew up and caught fire as he hit the wall and spun. He was able to right the car and finally came to a stop in his pit stall. The fire had gone out on its own. Waltrip was unhurt in the incident.

Sam Hornish, Jr. spun on lap 118, but didn't hit anything, bringing out caution for the 5th time. Biffle takes the lead on the restart on lap 123.

David Ragan in the #6 UPS Ford brought out both the 7th and 8th caution flags on the night, first by spinning and hitting the wall hard in turn 2 on lap 185, and again on lap 196. He had a tire go down and hit the wall hard again in turn 3.

Lap 214 sees Kurt Busch spin in turn 4. He brushes the wall but avoids contact with other drivers to bring out the 9th caution flag. During pit stops, Jimmie Johnson is turned around on pit road by Kevin Harvick and loses a bunch of spots. Biffle takes 4 tires and hands the lead over to Martin Truex, Jr. on the lap 219 restart. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has another tough night on pit road as he is penalized by nascar for a tire going outside of his pit box, and restarts at the rear of the field.

A good pit stop has Greg Biffle back in the lead on lap 251 after yellow flag #11 for debris. On lap 273, Kyle Busch slams the Turn 1 wall after cutting a tire but he is able to get to pit road and the race stays green. 2 laps later, Jamie McMurray cuts a tire and loses his brakes, bringing out the caution (#12) yet again. The restart on lap 281 has rookie Joey Logano out front. On lap 273, Carl Edwards hits the wall again after contact with Greg Biffle and can't get to pit road so the caution flies. Edwards is held a lap for pulling a U-turn on the track to get to pit road.

On lap 295, Biffle, running fifth, spins and hits the wall in turn 4. He was able to make repairs without having to go to the garage, and finished the race in 8th. Martin Truex was still the leader at the restart.

Record-tying caution flag #15 flew on lap #319 for debris. Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Elliott Sadler and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all stay out and bring the field to the green flag on lap 325. On lap 333, Tony Stewart passes Ryan Newman for third. Jimmie Johnson is on the bumper of Mark Martin. 2 laps later, Jamie McMurray and Brian Vickers wreck together and bring out the caution again. Everyone except Martin and Johnson pit for fuel. On the lap 338 restart, Martin leads Johnson, Stewart, Newman and Brad Keselowski. Earnhardt Jr. spins and hits the wall after contact with Reed Sorenson on lap 342, bringing out the 18th and final caution of the race.

Martin, Johnson, Stewart, Newman and Gordon bring the field to the green on lap 346 and though Gordon challenged Newman for 4th and Johnson challenged Martin for the lead, they ran that order to the checkered flag.

 

 

Mark Martin grabs 2nd win of the season at Darlington

..Martin's Win sure made `Space's Grandfather `Happy
& I was happy 4 both of them.....Age/Experience/Team/Luck = Win's : )


NSCS Recap: The Old Man and the Big D; Martin Tames Darlington
DARLINGTON, S.C. — The oldest driver in the 43-car field showed the young whippersnappers a thing or two Saturday night at fabled, old Darlington Raceway.
He won the race. Fifty-year-old Mark Martin, a throwback to the old days, charged home ahead of three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson and other younger drivers to win the Southern 500, a 367-lap marathon on what is known as NASCAR’s toughest track.
Martin, an ageless racing junkie who tried to retire a couple years ago but couldn’t, won the race in style, pulling away from Johnson at the end.
Physically fit and pumped up for the season in a Hendrick Chevrolet, Martin ran with the big dogs up front all night, keeping his car in one piece and saving the best for last.
Continue reading Mark Martin grabs 2nd win of the season at Darlington

Cap: Mark Martin takes 2nd win of 2009
RACE RECAP | DARLINGTON

10 Matt Kenseth the pole sitter
9 Joey Logano great finish for a rookie
8 Greg Biffle led the most laps
7 Brad Keselowski great finish for a rookie
6 Martin Truex Jr. led a bunch of laps
5 Jeff Gordon nice recovery after being a lap down
4 Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas continues with solid finishes
3 Tony Stewart tewart-Haas continues with solid finishes, best ever finish at Darlington
2 Jimmie Johnson amazing finish after spinning in qualifying
VICTORY LANE
1 Mark Martin takes home his second win of the season, and second career win at Darlington. It’s Mark’s 37th career win, and in the last 7 races he’s got 6 top 10’s. This is his first multiple win season since 1999. Martin is now 11th in the point standings.
OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY
Scott Speed driving Joe Nemechek’s car spun Max Papis
Michael Waltrip spun his 55 machine with no damage
Dale Jr. slides through his pit stall in the first stop, later on, his pit crew let a tire leave the box for another penalty. Then with under 40 to go, Dale Jr. brushed the wall. He also brought out the 17th caution by spinning after touching the 43. Jr. finished 27th
Casey Mears, AJ Allmendinger and Denny Hamlin got caught up in a wreck
Michael Waltrip’s 55 car became a fireball, Michael is okay
Jeff Gordon went a lap down reporting a vibration
David Ragan wrecked multiple times, headed to the garage
Kurt Busch spins off turn 4 but no damage
Jimmie Johnson spun in his pit box
Clint Bowyer pounded the wall on lap 223 ending an 83 consecutive race streak of no DNF
Kyle Busch cut a tire down after pounding the wall several times and heads to the garage with no brakes and a wobbly wheel
Carl Edwards was spun by teammate Greg Biffle and headed to the garage
Greg Biffle later spun on his own damaging his lap leading #16 car
They set a new track record for number of cautions

 

i noticed that, space!! i was wondering if you have some sort of racing super ESP abilities. those picks were spot on!!

tony's best finish at darlington was very cool to watch, he's never finished better than 4th there so to see him run so well all night made me very happy. his pit crew gave him some great pit stops all night and that definitely helped him. they're getting better and more comfortable as each race passes.

glad you got to see at least some of it. hopefully soon you'll be able to sit and relax and watch a whole one!!