News and Media Releases

Fourth Win for Mark Martin

11/07/2009

Mark Martin Captures Fourth Win Of 2009 Season With Dominating Performance At Chicagoland Speedway Gordon Brings Home a Second-Place Finish with Johnson Earning a Top-10 Run

Hendrick Motorsports driver Mark Martin won Saturday night's running of the LifeLock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway after leading 195 of the 267 laps. Fellow Quaker State teammate Jeff Gordon finished in the runner-up spot with Jimmie Johnson coming home in eighth. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished 15th after turning in a solid and consistent run.

"I want to thank CARQUEST, Kellogg's and Chevrolet, Sprint, Rick Hendrick and his race team," said Martin from Victory Lane after claiming his fourth win of the season. "That was fun! That's what life's all about right there. These guys deserve to win. We could have parked the car yesterday with an hour left in practice."

Jeff Gordon started from the seventh position and raced in the top-10 for the majority of the event before taking on fresh tires in the closing stages of the race. The new tires allowed the Quaker State driver to make a run for the lead before finishing second.

Johnson also had a strong car taking the lead early but a problem on pit road dropped him several spots and out of the lead. The driver of the No. 48 Chevy remained in the top-five until the end of the race before finishing eighth.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had a solid run in Saturday night's event before adjustments late in the race made the handling of his car go away. Junior raced in the top-10 several times before settling for a 15th-place finish.

Jeff Gordon remains second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship point standings with Jimmie Johnson maintaining his third-place position. Mark Martin's win pushed him back into the top-12 where he now sits 11th. Dale Junior also remained in the same spot occupying the 21st position with seven races remaining before the start of the Chase.

Following Martin and Gordon was Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart finishing third and fourth. Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will take a weekend off before heading to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana for the running of the Brickyard 400. Live television coverage begins on Sunday, July 26, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. (ET) on ESPN.  The event will also be broadcast live on IMS Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio with coverage beginning at 1:00 p.m. (ET).