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Mark Martin Wins LifeLock 400

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- The most surprised person to find Mark Martin in Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway was the driver himself.

The 50-year-old NASCAR star has run well but has had to deal with considerable bad luck this season. It looked like more of the same Sunday when the battery in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet began to fail before the halfway mark in the LifeLock 400 Sprint Cup race.

Martin turned off everything in the car that he could, nursing it as best he could. Then he realized the race was going to be a fuel economy run.

Sprint Cup Notes & Quotes: Darlington

Here's a quick-hitting rewind on all of the happenings from Saturday night's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Yellow Fever - Despite 60 years of racing and 106 Sprint Cup Series events at Darlington Raceway, never had the field combined to create as many caution flags as it did Saturday night. The yellow waved 17 times for 73 laps, upping the previous record from 15 cautions.

The number of caution flags wasn't a record though as a race in 1995 had 12 cautions for 94 laps, a race in 1977 had 6 cautions for 93 laps, and one in 1974 with 11 cautions for 101 laps.

Sprint Cup Notes & Quotes: Richmond

Let's take a quick glance at some of the Richmond post-race storylines:

"We lost the brakes."

Jimmie Johnson, as Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway proved, isn't the racing robot with a switch stuck on "Dominate" we've come to think he is after three-straight Sprint Cup titles. Nope, not even at a track where he's won three of the last four events before Saturday night's race.

In fact, it was an all-around miserable night for the No. 48 after brake problems caused him to spin once, get caught up in another crash and then race the rest of the way with a damaged race car. Unfortunately for the rest of the competition, his 36th-place finish won't be a barometer of his 2009 season.

Wheel2Wheel: From 'Dega to Richmond

Jump in as FanHouse writers Holly Cain and Geoffrey Miller try to put a cap on the weekend that was Talladega and look ahead to the always exciting spring race in Richmond with a little thing we like to call Wheel2Wheel.

NASCAR Feuds

    While Carl Edwards' wreck stole the show at Talladega, two of NASCAR's biggest stars will be thrust into the spotlight Saturday. Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. traded paint at both of last year's Richmond races. Click through to see their two dustups and other top feuds.

    Getty Images

    Race: Crown Royal presents Dan Lowry 400 Date: May 3, 2008
    Feud: Kyle Busch spins out leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. with three laps to go.
    Memorable Quote: Kyle Busch: "The deal with Jr. ... man, it was racing."

    Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images

    Race: Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Date: Sept. 7, 2008
    Feud: Dale Earnhardt spins out leader Kyle Busch on lap 212.
    Memorable Quote: Dale Jr.: "I really ain

    Shawn Chamberlin, AP

    Race: Subway Fresh Fit 500
    Feud: Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed with 11 laps to go after he and Casey Mears made contact. Earnhardt then spun Mears on the cool-down lap and Mears retaliated by bumping into the back of Earnhardt's car on pit road.
    Memorable Quote: Mears: "I guess he was a little bent out of shape about it, because he spun me out after the checkered flag."

    LEFT: Jim McIsaac, Getty Images RIGHT: Christian Petersen, Getty Images

    Race: Subway Fresh Fit 500
    Feud: Robby Gordon, left, gets upset with Michael Waltrip after contact with Waltrip's No. 55 Toyota sends Gordon into the Phoenix International Speedway wall.
    Memorable Quote: Gordon: "I

    Getty Images

    Race: Daytona 500
    Feud: Dale Earnhardt Jr's clip of Brian Vickers triggers a 9-car accident
    Memorable Quote: Earnhardt: "What the hell am I supposed to do? ... If he wasn't so damn reckless, we would have never had that problem."

    Getty Images (2)

    Race: Gatorade Duel 150 Date: Feb. 12, 2009
    Feud: Ryan Newman wrecked by David Reutimann
    Memorable Quote: Newman: "Reutimann is a good name for him -- because he rooted a man right out of there and sent me up into the wall."

    Steve Johnson, Orlando Sentinel / MCT

    Race: Amp Energy 500 Date: Oct. 7, 2008
    Feud: Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick clash four days after race
    Memorable Quote: Harvick after race: "I know that [Edwards'] fans won't be very proud of him sitting back there riding around like a pansy."

    AP

    Race: CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 (Nationwide) Date: May 24, 2008
    Feud: Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski mix it up under a caution
    Memorable Quote: Hamlin: "If he throws a rock, I'll throw a concrete block back."

    Jason Smith, Getty Images

    Race: Food City 500 Date: March 17, 2008
    Feud: Kevin Harvick wrecks Tony Stewart with two laps left
    Memorable Quote: Stewart: "I thought I left him plenty of room. I was far enough ahead of him that I didn't see where he hit me or when he hit me. But I'm sure, somehow, it's my fault."

    Jason Smith, Getty Images



Q: What was your first reaction to all of the events and drama that Talladega produced this weekend?

Holly Cain: The accident began only a few yards below my seat in the Talladega press box. At most tracks, the press box is an elevator-ride atop the grandstands, but at Talladega it sits only about 15 rows up.

The last lap was sensory-overload, but that's what you expect at Talladega.

Injured Fan, 17, Leaves Alabama Hospital

For Blake Bobbitt, 187 laps of last Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway were pretty much the same as the rest of the 142,000 fans on hand -- fast and exciting. Then, on the lap 188, Carl Edwards' No. 99 flew into the catch fence in front of her, ripping apart and spewing a chunk of metal into her face and shattering her jaw.

Talk about a bad experience at your first NASCAR race.

NASCAR Satisfied With Safety Measures

Carl EdwardsSaying they were "glad all the safety devices worked properly,'' NASCAR officials addressed the national media Monday to answer questions in the wake of Sunday's frightening final-lap crash at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway that injured seven fans.

NASCAR Vice President Jim Hunter reiterated the sanctioning body's "number one priority" is the safety of its participants and spectators. And he sent the organization's thoughts to the fans who suffered minor injuries from debris when Carl Edwards' car went airborne and crashed into a fence along the front-stretch grandstands.

Hunter said the sanctioning body would take any steps necessary to ensure safe events. But at this point, there aren't any additional steps to take.

Blame NASCAR for Edwards' Scary Ride


Let's face it: NASCAR's own rules nearly killed multiple spectators Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.

The scary last-lap crash in the Aaron's 499 involving Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman and first-time winner Brad Keselowski is just the concoction NASCAR has cooked up with their set of rules governing the cans and cannots of racing at restrictor plate tracks.

At issue, primarily, is the much discussed yellow line rule that prohibits a driver from going below to advance a position.



Keselowski Wins in Spectacular Fashion

TALLEDEGA, Ala. -- Brad Keselowski did what any driver would do.

It was the last lap, and he had a shot to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race. So he held his line and powered forward.

That the ensuing collision between his Chevy and Carl Edwards's Ford as they approached the finish line resulted in Edwards taking a frightening airborne ride into grandstands fencing and injuring seven fans had less to do with Keselowski than the innate dangers of restrictor plate racing.

In fact, NASCAR started putting restrictor plates on the cars at its two super speedways in Talladega and Daytona because of a similar airborne accident at Talladega in 1987. The idea was to control speeds. Roof flaps developed in the 1990s were supposed to keep the cars on the ground.

And so the 25-year-old Keselowski, whose win came in only his fifth Cup start, didn't make apologies for the racing.

FanHouse Warmup: Subway 500k

The Essentials

Where: Phoenix Int'l Raceway
Time: Saturday 8:46 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, MRN Radio
Forecast: Clear, Lows in the 50s
Distance: 312 laps (312 miles, 500k)
Pole Winner: Mark Martin
2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson


The Storylines


Mark Martin has gotten awful good
at starting Sprint Cup races from the front in 2009 in his new Hendrick Motorsports ride, but its the whole finishing part that hasn't gone as planned.

Gordon a 'Victim of His Own Success'

Speed TVWhile Jeff Gordon's win at Texas Motor Speedway was a big deal to most of us, it wasn't as significant as we've all made it out to be. Sure, he broke a 47-race winless streak and snagged a win on one of the two remaining tracks he hadn't conquered, but the whole incident was terribly overplayed and revealed just how much of a slave Gordon is to his own success.

While Gordon had never before visited Victory Lane at Texas, how quickly we forget the man led a bunch of laps and landed many top-five finishes at the 1.5-mile venue before.

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