Mark Martin has gotten off to a fantastic start this Sprint Cup season, following up his third-place finish at last Sunday's Daytona 500 with a pole win at Phoenix International Raceway for the second year in a row as Danica Patrick finished 40th after winning a historic pole at Daytona.
According to the Associated Press, Martin became the second-oldest driver in Sprint Cup history to win a pole at an event, taking the top speed over the mile track with 138.074 mph. The pole win was the 56th of his career, putting Martin past Bill Elliot for seventh in history.
"A lot of people describe Mark by saying, 'Mark's on it,'" Martin's crew chief, Rodney Childers, said. "Well, for 2013, Mark's on it squared."
At 54-years-old, Martin is only a few months younger than Harry Gant was when he took the pole at Bristol in the 1994 event. Martin will be in the top position on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway and will be next to Kasey Kahne on the front row. The two will be ahead of Jimmie Johnson, who is coming off his second career Daytona 500 win, and Kyle Busch in the second row.
"I said it last week and had some people make some snide remarks about it, but at this stage of the game it's pretty amazing I get to drive something like this," Martin said.
Martin has had great success at Phoenix in the past and won after taking the pole in 2009. He came in ninth last year after winning the pole and has started off the season in prime fashion after coming in third at Daytona after coming up from 14th to come past the checkered flag behind Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Martin won his third career pole on Friday at the track and is in line for his first win since 2009, Martin is racing part-time on the Sprint Cup this season with Michael Waltrip Racing.
"I deeply admire him and his passion for the sport," said Johnson, a five-time Sprint Cup series champion and Martin's former teammate. "He's tried to walk away a few times -- I think we had a farewell tour for him once -- and he came back. He couldn't do it. He just loves driving his car and is an inspiration for any team he works for."
Johnson was all the focus coming out of Daytona after winning his second career 500 and he was featured on a number of late-night shows as well as magazine covers. He also re-signed with his main sponsor Lowe's for two more years, keeping together one of NASCAR's longest sponsorships.
The five-time Sprint Cup champion will have momentum heading into Phoenix, although he just made the cut in qualifying and will be racing in both the Nationwide race on Saturday and the main event on Sunday. Johnson had a strong second lap after dealing with a pre-qualifying inspection and will be behind Kahne on Sunday.
"I was fortunate to get in the car early and buckled in, kind of catch my breath, but my crew guys were winded by the time we got down there," said Johnson, whose chance for a sixth Sprint Cup title derailed with a blown tire during the fall Chase race in Phoenix last year. "But a great lap. I'm very excited about how things have started off this season."
Kahne is looking to have a better race on Sunday than he did at the Daytona 500, where he finished 36th after dealing with a wreck on the track. He started the race sixth and will enter Phoenix looking to repeat his past success in 2011, when he won the event at the track.
Danica Patrick finished the day in 40th after becoming the first woman to win the pole at the Daytona 500 last week. She had trouble around turns three and four on the track and will have some momentum despite the bad day after leading laps at the Daytona 500.
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