CUP: Martin Wins Another Pole

Sprint Cup

CUP: Martin Wins Another Pole

Part-timer Mark Martin will start in position one for the fourth time this year...

Mike Hembree | Posted August 17, 2012 Brooklyn, MI

Carl Edwards said he played with Mark Martin racing toys as a kid. On Friday, Martin, the speedy old man of NASCAR, outran Edwards to win the pole for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Martin, who seems to get faster as he gets older (he’s 53), won his fourth pole of the season and is the easy leader in that category despite the fact that he’s not running a full-time schedule.

Martin, scoring his first pole at Michigan, ran 199.706 miles per hour as speeds were down slightly from the MIS race in June, when Marcos Ambrose won the pole at 203.241.

The pole is the 55th of Martin’s long career. He is tied with Bill Elliott for seventh on the all-time pole-wins list.

Martin’s exploits at an age at which most drivers have moved on to other things in life continue to surprise people, including himself.

“I am surprised,” Martin said in response to a question. “I was surprised in 2009 at what we were able to accomplish – very similar to this year. I was surprised in 2011 when we were not able to accomplish anything special. And I’ve been surprised again this year to be able to accomplish what we’ve been able to.”

Martin hasn’t won a race this year. He has driven in only 14 of the season’s 22 events but is 26th in points, ahead of four drivers who have run every race and several others who have run more races than he has.

“I don’t expect results,” he said. “I expect effort. The one thing you’ll get from me is every ounce I have. You get that no matter what the result will be.”

Martin has been away for much of the summer but jumped back in the car Friday as if he’s a regular.

“All it is is driving the car,” he said. “I’ve been doing that since I was 15.”

Following Martin and Edwards Friday were Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne.

In the second five were Trevor Bayne, Martin Truex Jr., Ambrose, Landon Cassill and Paul Menard.

The fast qualifying run was particularly important for Edwards, who needs at least one win – and probably two – over the next four races to make the Chase.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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Mike Hembree

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