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.
Where:Lowe's Motor Speedway Time: Saturday 7:00 p.m./EDT TV/Radio: SPEED, MRN Radio Twitter: Updates at FanHouseRacing Forecast: 63 degrees, 80% chance of rain Distance: 4 segments, 100 laps (150 miles) Pole Winner:Jimmie Johnson 2008 Winner:Kasey Kahne
The Storylines
The last time rain affected the All-Star event at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon walled his primary No. 24 in a 2001 first-turn crash thanks to rain on the track and later won the event in his backup. While that's a legendary story, the rain isn't -- and it might take center stage tonight.
If NASCAR's looking for a good way to spice up qualifying, they've already got the format ready to roll.
But before we tackle that issue, Jimmie Johnson will lead off Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway after he and his team dropped a fast time of 121.416 seconds in the three lap and four-tire pit stop qualifying process.
Johnson will lead Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth to the green flag for the first segment after one of the most-enjoyable ways to qualifying for a race the sport has come up with.
As comforting as it is to see NASCAR's new drug policy work, it makes you wonder what was going on before the stricter enforcement.
This weekend Jeremy Mayfield became the first Sprint Cup Series driver suspended indefinitely under the tougher random drug testing policy instituted this year. Two other crew members from other teams also tested positive, bringing the total to five suspensions in the first four months of the season.
Unlike the "wink-wink" slaps on the wrist NASCAR gives its drivers for in-race offenses, stock car's sanctioning body is proving itself serious about its new drug testing policy.
Where:Darlington Raceway Time: Saturday 7:20 p.m./EDT TV/Radio: FOX Sports, MRN Radio Twitter: In-race updates at FanHouseRacing Forecast: 64 degrees, 20% chance of storms Distance: 367 laps (500.1 miles) Pole Winner:Matt Kenseth 2008 Winner:Kyle Busch
The Storylines
NASCAR's gettin' used to this two day show format, it would seem. Both this weekend's action at Darlington Raceway and last weekend's run at Richmond have been run in a quick and simple two day pattern.
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.
Saying 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.
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.
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.
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- The most surprised person to find Mark Martin in Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway was the driver himself.
Race: 
If NASCAR's looking for a good way to spice up qualifying, they've already got the format ready to roll.
As comforting as it is to see NASCAR's new drug policy work, it makes you wonder what was going on before the stricter enforcement.
Race: 
Let's take a quick glance at some of the Richmond post-race storylines:
Saying 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. 
TALLEDEGA, Ala. -- 
It took 97 races, nearly four years and lot of decision-making but 50-year-old 
Race: 
