Nascar Sprint Cup: Mark Martin Prevails in Southern 500
By Stephen Lars
In the middle of a complicated race that was marked by a great amount of accidents that constantly affected the pace of the competition, the veteran driver Mark Martin, knew how to face and overcome the setbacks due to he attended correctly to all the indications that his team, Hendrick Motorsports, gave him so that he could advance without any problem.
The use of a good strategy to stay within the track the greater amount of time possible without going to change tires, in combination with a powerful car that was taken to the limit and that responded in the best way to an impeccable and skillful driving, were the main elements that helped Martin to be the champion for the second time in the present season. With this triumph, the Chevrolet #5 driver added 37 victories throughout his participation in the Sprint Cup Series.
Mark Martin was placed in the twelfth position at the exit grill. In the course of the competition the other drivers made their respective stops to enter the pits area to refuel and change tires; these were the moments that Martin used to accelerate his Chevrolet with the clear intention to advance as quickly as possible to be scaling positions. The tactics of remain in the race with the same tires served the 50-year-old experienced driver to obtain his objective.
With a talented demonstration of how to lead without committing errors, avoiding and surpassing the constant mishaps that caused the appearance of yellow and green flags which hindered the pace of the event several times, Martin managed to advance at great speed until being placed at the head of the fought challenge.
From the moment Mark took over the first position, he became the absolute leader until he was affected by an accident that happened during the 119 lap, moment in which Greg Biffle took the leading position and stayed after surpassing several neutralizations until Martin Truex Jr. stole his position after a quick refuel.
After this, the race was stopped eight times more. After the 254 lap, the race restarted and Biffle took the leadership again, but lost it in the lap 296 because his car skidded crashing against the protection wall. When Martin realized of what happened, he immediately took advantage of this and took the leading position again after overtaking his teammate Jimmie Johnson.
Martin firmly resisted the constant attacks from his nearer pursuers, who could not do anything else but watch how Mark was letting them behind moving away at full speed to cross the finish line and appropriate himself with the checkered flag with which the victory was adjudged to him the Saturday night at Darlington Raceway. The second place was for Jimmie Johnson, whereas Tony Stewart with his Chevrolet # 14 arrived in the third position.
About the Author
Stephen Lars has been a prominent writer on daily NASCAR races; sports news and the sports book industry for many exceptional sport web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.