Mark Martin Wins 2009 Southern 500

Darlington Raceway is known for being tough. The 2009 Southern 500 reinforced that reputation as this race set a record for cautions. When the dust cleared Mark Martin had the best car and the best strategy and claimed the win.

Qualifying

Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth set a new track record to put his Roush-Fenway Ford on the pole for the 2009 Southern 500 with point leader Jeff Gordon along side. The second row was made up of Ryan Newman and Sam Hornish. Joey Logano rounded out the top five.

Drop Of The Green

Matt Kenseth got a great start and put a few carlengths on the field right off the bat. They only made it to lap four before Scott Speed and Max Papis tangled and brought out the first caution.

By lap 30 we were already working the third caution with a number of cars already damaged. "The Lady in Black" struck early and often tonight.

Storylines

Darlington is known to be a very tough race track. This weekend 25 cars hit the wall during practice and qualifying for the 2009 Southern 500. That was before the race ever started!

When the green flag flew on Saturday night it didn't stay green for long. "The Track Too Tough to Tame" immediately starting taking victims. This race never got into a rhythm and the cautions continued to fly.

By the time the 2009 Southern 500 came to a close this race had set an all-time record for caution flags and a long string of broken cars in its wake. Mark Martin made it to Victory Lane but Darlington Raceway was the real winner tonight.

Chasing The Checkers

With 21 laps to go the race returned to green for the final time. Mark Martin held the lead over Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman.

Martin and Johnson got a small lead and looked to settle this one between them. Johnson haunted Martin on the restart and was able to close the gap a few times but couldn't get past.

Mark Martin held on and picked up the 2009 Southern 500 win.

Top Ten

1. Mark Martin
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Tony Stewart
4. Ryan Newman
5. Jeff Gordon
6. Martin Truex Jr.
7. Brad Keselowski
8. Greg Biffle
9. Joey Logano
10. Matt Kenseth

The Points

Jeff Gordon extended his point lead this weekend as Kurt Busch had trouble and slipped to third. Tony Stewart is still winless in 2009 but his consistent top finishes have moved him up to second in points.

The top twelve are now:

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Tony Stewart -29
3. Kurt Busch -55
4. Jimmie Johnson -136
5. Denny Hamlin -156
6. Jeff Burton -217
7. Kyle Busch -221
8. Ryan Newman -238
9. Greg Biffle -256
10. Matt Kenseth -275
11. Mark Martin -285
12. Carl Edwards -330