After all the chaos from the final lap at Daytona one week ago, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series headed up north to Chicago for another Saturday night showdown. All the questions surrounding the incident between Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch were still the talk of the garage, and whether the incident was behind both drivers would not be answered until the green flag flew on the LifeLock.com 400.
Pole-sitter Brian Vickers brought the 43-car field to the green flag on a warm night at Chicagoland Speedway. Both he and second-place starter Jimmie Johnson quickly pulled out to nearly a three-second advantage on the field. Johnson would eventually take the lead away on lap 10. This lead would hold until the first caution of the night came on lap 39 for debris.
The first round of pit stops shook things up as Mark Martin, who came into the pits running third, came out with the lead followed by Vickers. On the ensuing restart, Martin was able to gain the advantage and pull ahead to take the lead, a lead that Martin would stretch out to nearly three seconds and hold on for over 50 laps. On the radio, Martin was ecstatic of how the car was handling, and sounded confident he would claim victory.
The first round of green-flag pit stops would begin on lap 93. Many of the lead cars such as Vickers, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards would pit shortly after for new tires and fuel. Martin pitted on lap 95, handing the lead to Stewart. One lap later, Stewart would come in as the cycle of pit stops finished, handing the lead back over to Martin.
Martin’s lead over second-place running Kasey Kahne would grow to over four-seconds, despite the fact that the leaders had to deal with lapped traffic. Some of those drivers would get a reprieve as the second caution flag came out on lap 131, again for debris.
The field would once again come in for service and adjustments on pit road, but the Kellogg’s crew would not let their driver down and Martin kept his lead.
The field would restart on lap 136, and again Martin was able to get a slight advantage on second-place Johnson, and soon was able to stretch out his lead to over one second. As the field continued to run under green conditions, Martin’s lead grew to nearly three seconds.
The next round of green-flag pit stops began on lap 173. Most of the leaders did not hit pit road for another 10-12 laps because they pitted later than some of the other drivers. The crew of the No. 5 car were on their game as they got Martin back out front after their stop.
The gap between Martin and the rest of the field grew to over three seconds, but that lead was erased again as the third debris caution flag of the night came out on lap 211. Pit stops again did not shake up the field much, with Martin and Johnson leading the field to the green flag once more on lap 215.
At this point, the race became more exciting because just as the race was under green, the caution came back out. Sam Hornish was battling with Joey Logano and the two made contact, sending Hornish to the inside wall.
As close as it was to the finish, the lead cars elected to stay out knowing they had enough fuel to make it to the end. The green flag came back out on lap 222, but the old racing slogan of “cautions breed cautions” came true again as four laps later, Paul Menard cuts down a left-front tire following contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr. The cut tire spun out Menard, but the spin also caused Scott Speed, Jeff Burton and Jamie McMurray to get collected in the aftermath.
Just prior to the caution, Johnson was able to make the move for the lead around Martin. On the restart, Vickers was able to get a great run and pass Martin for second heading into the second turn, but is unable to make his way to Johnson. Martin then began to reel in the Red Bull Toyota and make a move to get the runner-up spot, but his momentum was halted again as the sixth caution came out when David Reutimann hit the first turn wall following contact with Juan Montoya.
Some of the cars near the back of the lead lap decided to come to pit lane for new tires and fuel, including Gordon, Earnhardt Jr. and Montoya. However, up front it was Johnson, Vickers and Martin leading the charge to the green flag.
The lead took a huge twist as on the restart, fourth-place running Denny Hamlin pushed Johnson and got him out of line, dropping him to fourth spot. Hamlin was able to lead the lap over Vickers, but heading through the first two corners the two make contact and slow each others momentum. This gave the opening for Martin to take the lead back.
It would look like Martin would sail off to victory, until the caution flag flew for the seventh and final time on lap 260 after Kyle Busch, who was running near the back with an ill-handling car, finally had the motor blow up on him after running over 60 laps on just seven cylinders.
Some cars came in for service, but the cars up front stayed out as the green flag would be posted with just two laps remaining. On the restart, Martin was able to get a jump on Gordon and Kahne, and that was all he needed. On a night where he led 195 of the 267 laps, it was Mark Martin taking his fourth win of the season as he wins the LifeLock.com 400.
In victory lane, Martin was happy and humbled to have the most wins on the year, and is now one win away from tying Harry Gant for wins by a driver age 50 or older. Martin now has the most wins on the year and the most by a Hendrick Motorsports driver this year. That is not bad for a driver who says he’s having fun.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has a rare weekend off this coming week before the series makes the trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Allstate 400.
RESULTS: 1-Martin 2-Gordon 3-Kahne 4-Stewart 5-Hamlin 6-Newman 7-Vickers 8-Johnson 9-Bowyer 10-Montoya
NOTABLE FINISHES: 14-Edwards 15-Earnhardt Jr. 17-Kurt Busch 19-Harvick 23-Kenseth 31-Biffle 33-Kyle Busch 37-Burton
CAUTIONS: Seven for 33 laps. Lap 39-43, 131-135, 211-214, 218-222, 226-231, 246-249, 260-264.
LEADERS: Vickers 1-9, Johnson 10-40, Sadler 41, Martin 42-95, Stewart 96, Martin 97-186, Kahne 187-188, Martin 189-223, Johnson 224-250, Vickers 251, Martin 252-267. Ten lead changes among six drivers.
POINT STANDINGS (Seven races until Chase): 1-Stewart, 2884 points 2-Gordon, -175, 3-Johnson, -212 4-Kurt Busch, -358 5-Hamlin, -427 6-Edwards, -446 7-Newman, -499 8-Kahne, -548 9-Montoya, -563 10-Kyle Busch, -586 11-Martin, -588 12-Kenseth, -589
