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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Which Mark Martin Shows Up In N.H.?
Mark Martin has either been way up this season or way down...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted June 24, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Mark Martin sits on the grid prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway.(Photo: Getty Images)

If you had to pick a word to describe Mark Martin’s 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, it might be “bi-polar.”

The 50-year-old veteran has enjoyed a lot of luck this year, both good and bad.

The good: Three race victories, including one at Michigan International Speedway where he led but a single lap, the last one. Four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS aren’t too shabby, either.

The bad: Three DNFs and five finishes of 30th or worse. In the three races immediately after each of his race victories, Martin has had an average finish of 31.67. Included in that was a disappointing 35th-place finish last weekend on the Infineon Raceway road course in Northern California.

Add it all up and Martin is 11th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings as the Race for the Chase begins, the final 10 races before the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

All of which begs the question, how will Martin fare this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301?

Actually, history suggest pretty well. Martin’s finishing average of 10.958 at the 1.058-mile NHMS oval is fourth best among the Sprint Cup field, trailing only Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.

In his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at NHMS in 1993, Martin earned the pole position and led 29 laps before finishing second to long-time racing friend Rusty Wallace. Although Martin has never won a Cup race at NHMS, he has finished in the runner-up position three times and has scored eight top fives in 24 starts.

And from Martin’s standpoint, that’s good, given that he is a mere 12 points ahead of the 13th-place driver in the standings, last week’s winner Kasey Kahne.


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