Mark Martin (Left) is congratulated in victory lane by teammate Jeff Gordon (Right) after Martin wins the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. (Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Mark Martin comes into Infineon Raceway on a roll, having won last Sunday’s LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway after leaders Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle both ran out of gas on the last lap.
As a result of the Michigan victory, Martin is now eighth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points and is tied with Kyle Busch with most victories in the series with three.
Martin will be looking to build on that momentum in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon, a track where the 50-year-old Batesville, Ark., native has one victory and seven top-five finishes in 18 starts.
Following are Martin’s thoughts on this weekend’s race and his Michigan victory.
You’ve had a great season thus far, including last weekend’s win in Michigan. With your past success at Infineon Raceway, can you talk about coming out to the road course in Sonoma?
Yeah, I’ve had great runs out there and really good road-course cars, and it’s a place that I have a lot of memories. My first time out there (in 1989), we made a pit stop and I think it was for gas only, and when I left, I turned to go up the hill and the right rear tire flew off and I spun and turned over. I didn’t know if I did that or what, but we weren’t changing tires and it turns out the guy ran out and took off all the nuts off the right-rear tire like he was going to change it. We had some great battles with Dale Earnhardt and some others. Lots of good times out there.
I know you’re into physical fitness. How does that play out coming to Infineon Raceway, being that it’s such a tough, physical course?
Well, I mean, I don’t know. It can be hot out there, and it’s a little bit of a physical race, but all of our races are incredibly demanding in one way or another. We’re racing every week and I prepare every day, like tomorrow’s the big day, and I look forward to it. I’ve had great race cars this year. I haven’t been on a road course in three years, so this is going to be fun.
