* Mark Martin won the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway after starting from the pole. His victory was the fifth straight win by Hendrick Motorsports at Phoenix. Martin led five times for 157 laps, including the final six. * Martin scored his 400th top-10 finish and became the fourth driver in NASCAR history to score 400 or more top-10 finishes. He scored his second victory in 25 races at Phoenix and is the oldest driver to win at Phoenix at 50 years, three months and nine days. Martin is just the fourth driver to win over the age of 50, joining Harry Gant, Bobby Allison and Morgan Shepherd. Shepherd was the last driver over 50 to score a victory, doing so at Atlanta in March 1993. * Martin is the 15th different driver to win for Hendrick Motorsports, and is the ninth driver to win in the #5 car, which has won 35 times. * This was Martin’s 36th career victory in 730 races and he remained 18th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. * This was Martin’s first victory with Hendrick Motorsports and first with an owner other than Jack Roush. It was his first victory with crew chief Alan Gustafson. This is the 178th victory for Hendrick Motorsports; third in 2009 and third straight (Jimmie Johnson won at Martinsville, Jeff Gordon won at Texas). * Tony Stewart finished second, posting his sixth top-10 finish in 2009. It marked his best finish of the season and best with his new team. * This is the third victory for Chevrolet in 2009, all in the last three races. * Gordon leads the points standings, by 85 over second-place Johnson. * Kurt Busch, third, posted his fifth top-10 finish in 2009. * Jimmie Johnson, fourth, scored his sixth top-10 of 2009 and fourth consecutive top-4 finish. * Sam Hornish Jr. (ninth) scored his career-best finish. * Clint Bowyer (26th) extended an 81-race streak of running at the finish that began at Homestead in November 2006. Bowyer’s last DNF came at Phoenix on Nov. 12, 2006, where he finished 33rd because of an oil pump failure. This ties him for the most consecutive races running at the finish with Kevin Harvick. Herman Beam had a streak of 84 races in which he competed without a DNF, but those races were not consecutive. * The top 10 consisted of four Chevrolets, two Toyotas, two Dodges and two Fords.(ESPN Monday Rundown)(4-20-2009)
