Martin wins another pole
Already changed into jeans and a golf shirt, Mark Martin propped his feet up on a chair and listened as one of NASCAR’s most popular drivers gushed about Martin’s improbable season.
Martin seemed to grow more uncomfortable the more Dale Earnhardt Jr. talked, finally breaking into a tight grimace when his former rival’s son said he was pulling for the 50-year-old to win the Chase.
He should be used to it by now.
Martin’s sentimental run through the Sprint Cup took another turn Friday, when the age-defying driver turned a lap of 175.758 mph at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., to earn his career-best seventh pole of the season.
“He still has the urge and the yearning to do it as if he were in his first season,” Earnhardt said. “You see guys, their temperament seems to soften over time, but he seems just as excited about going around a race track as he did when he first strapped into a car.”
Once a rival to Dale Earnhardt Sr., Martin has never won a season championship, finishing second four times. He’s experienced a racing renaissance this year, winning five races, having top-10 finishes 11 other times to bolt to the top of the Sprint Cup standings.
Martin is 10 points ahead of three-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson heading into Sunday’s Price Chopper 400, the third of 10 races in the Chase for the championship. He’ll start on the front row with Earnhardt after maneuvering through blustery winds at Kansas Speedway’s 1.5-mile oval to break his record of poles set in 1989.
Powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports had the first three qualifiers – Martin, Earnhardt and Brad Keselowski – and had five drivers in the top 11. Jeff Gordon qualified ninth and Johnson was 11th.
Mayfield fights
Suspended NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield is turning to high-profile attorney Mark Geragos to help fight his drug suspension.
Geragos confirmed to the Associated Press that he’s finalizing a deal to represent Mayfield himself out of his Washington, D.C.-based firm Luque Geragos and Marino.
Logano returns
Joey Logano did not hesitate as he climbed back into his car in Kansas City, Kan., and headed onto the track for the first time since his harrowing accident at Dover, Del.
“I’d never been through a wreck like that before,” Logano said. “I don’t care who you put in the car, if you go through a ride like that, you are going to get out and go ‘Holy Moly.’
“But I was fine. I went to sleep fine that night. I’ve forgotten all about it.”
Patrick still mum
Danica Patrick still isn’t saying what she plans for next season.
IndyCars’ most marketable driver just glared when asked about her reported signing of a three-year deal to stay with Andretti Green Racing.
There has been speculation throughout the season Patrick was considering a move to NASCAR.