Mark Martin withstood late challenges from Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson to win the LifeLock.com 400 on Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway.
Leading 195 of 267 laps, the most in NASCAR’s nine visits to Chicagoland, Martin pulled away from Gordon on a restart with two laps to go for his series-leading fourth win of the season.
Martin’s 39th career victory was an early birthday present for team owner Rick Hendrick, who turns 60 today. It also was worth $1 million to a fan in a promotion by sponsor LifeLock after Martin and Gordon duplicated their 1-2 finish from Michigan last month in a race also sponsored by LifeLock. Indianapolis Star
“That was fun,” Martin exulted after climbing from his car. “That’s what life’s all about right there. These guys [Martin’s No. 5 Chevrolet crew] deserved to win. We could have parked the car [Friday] with an hour left in practice. I knew it was awesome.
“But the best car doesn’t usually win. The double-file restarts are to mess the best car up so he doesn’t win, to make it good for the fans—and it did—but luckily we pulled it off anyway.”
As the race neared its end, the action intensified. Contact from Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s Chevrolet cut the left-rear tire of Paul Menard’s Ford on Lap 227 of 267, igniting a multi-car wreck in the tri-oval that eliminated the cars of Jeff Burton and Scott Speed. NASCAR.com
During the mid-stages, Gordon and Carl Edwards made slight contact, getting both cars loose. Gordon lost track position, but a pit stop call by crew chief Steve Letarte to take on four new tires during a late-race caution helped the four-time Cup champion to a runner-up finish.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Chicagoland Speedway - Race Results
“We had our struggles, but we had a good car,” Gordon said. “Carl Edwards and I were racing really hard, and he got loose underneath me. We about wrecked, so we had a long battle from that point on, but what an incredible call Steve Letarte made.”
Kasey Kahne finished third, while points leader Tony Stewart and Hamlin rounded out the top-five. Stewart fell back in the field late in the race when he had to pit again for a loose lug nut
Ryan Newman and Brian Vickers finished sixth and seventh, while Johnson ended up eighth. Clint Bowyer and Juan Pablo Montoya completed the top-10. MiamiHerald.com
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