U. S. Army driver Mark Martin left California Speedway leading the Nextel Cup driver point standings after posting a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s Auto Club 500.
It was the second consecutive top-five result for Martin, who finished runner-up by a few feet in last week’s season-opening Daytona 500. The last time the racing icon led the point standings was Sept. 22, 2002. It is also the first time a Ginn Racing driver (formerly MB2 Motorsports) has led the NASCAR Cup driver point standings.
Running in ninth place, Martin and crew chief Ryan Pemberton took a gamble when they decided not to pit when the caution flew with eight laps remaining in the 250-lap event. When the race was restarted after being red flagged for approximately 15 minutes, Martin’s No. 01 U. S. Army Chevrolet charged to the checkered flag with a top-five finish.
“I’m just proud to represent the United States Army and to work with this team—man, this is just awesome, ” said Martin. “We had a really fast car and I’m very encouraged. The pit stops were excellent. “
It’s nice to lead the points, but it’s even better to be competitive, ” added Martin. “All in all, we have potential to get up there and win a race. I think we’ve shown that the last two weeks. “
Martin started the race third and at times exhibited a car strong enough to win. However, the team would be forced to overcome an untimely caution that put Martin a lap down early.
“That was a bad break, but Mark hung in there until we got our lap back, ” said Pemberton. “We made the decision to stay out at the end and it turned out to be the right call. We’re off to a good start and it’s been a total team effort. “
The Nextel Cup Series is off this weekend and will resume competition March 11 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
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