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.
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.
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.
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- He's won the Indy 500 and Formula One jewel, the Grand Prix of Monaco, but Columbian Juan Pablo Montoya figures winning his first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway ranks right up there on a list of impressive racing feats.
Certainly, it is another shot of adrenalin for the newly merged Earnhardt-Ganassi operation, which also won the pole position for the season-opening Daytona 500. It's been a big week for owner Chip Ganassi, who's Grand-Am sportscar team won the pole in Virginia and whose IndyCar Series team is coming off a win at Long Beach on Sunday.
Mark Martin's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory last weekend at Phoenix very well may have been the most popular and sentimental win in years.
Not only did the fans in the grandstands voice their thundering approval but numerous drivers and car owners ducked into Victory Lane to congratulate Mark on his accomplishment. Greg Biffle articulated it best when he said, in summary, that he couldn't think of anyone else, besides himself, he'd rather see in Victory Lane. The feeling of virtually every driver in the garage is that if they can't pull their car into Victory Lane, they're happy to see Mark do so. He has that much respect because he races everyone clean and is as intense as they come.
For the first time since October 2007, we don't have to hear about Jeff Gordon's winless streak.
Gordon went from worst a year ago at Texas Motor Speedway to first on Sunday to win the Samsung 500 and cement the No. 24 as a legitimate championship contender.
When the checkers fell, Greg Biffle was left out front -- literally, as just 10 cars finished on the lead lap -- to snap his 76-race drought of winning in the series.
But in between, the 209 laps that made up the Sam's Town 300 turned out to be quite hairy for a number of drivers.
On a night when Hollywood was honoring its best just miles down the road, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series saw a mellowed star continue his rise back to the top.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Here are a few rumblings from Friday, the calm before the storm at Daytona. DIS: Tournament Fishing Venue - Friday morning, the Darrell Gwynn Foundation and the Spediatrics unit at Daytona Beach's Halifax Hospital got a nice boost thanks to a nice use of Lake Lloyd -- the six-acre infield lake dug out to produce DIS's high-banked corners.
Featuring drivers like Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr., Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman and others, the Hot Rods & Reels NASCAR Drivers Charity Fishing Tournament -- sponsored by Miccosukee Resort & Gaming -- saw NASCAR's wheelmen take to the water in an armada of bass fishing boats.
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- The most surprised person to find Mark Martin in Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway was the driver himself.
Here's a quick-hitting rewind on all of the happenings from Saturday night's 
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TALLADEGA, Ala. -- He's won the Indy 500 and Formula One jewel, the Grand Prix of Monaco, but Columbian 
It took 97 races, nearly four years and lot of decision-making but 50-year-old 
Did you get a chance to catch that 
