Martin wins 7th pole, has Earnhardt Jr. alongside

Friday, Oct. 02, 2009

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Mark Martin beamed a clear signal Friday that he’s not yet ready to concede his lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup to Jimmie Johnson.

Martin, the Chase leader after two races, won the pole for Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 at gusty Kansas Speedway with a speed of 175.758 mph. He’ll start his Chevy alongside Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who went around the 1.5-mile oval in 175.279.

Johnson, another Hendrick driver who created a sense of inevitability about his chances of winning a fourth straight Sprint Cup title when he dominated at Dover last week, starts 11th (174.627).

But Martin knows it’s not over, especially with how his car performed Friday.

“I would think that’s ridiculous,” Martin said. “We’re 20 percent into this Chase. We don’t know who the contenders are. I expect the 48 (Johnson) to be there. But it’s very early in the running.”

Martin, who has won five races and now has a career-high seven poles this season, leads the Chase standings by 10 points over Johnson.

“I’ve been driving really hard this year,” said Martin, who won at Kansas in 2005. “I’ve been pressing my luck.”

Another Hendrick driver, Brad Keselowski (175.205) starts third, with Jamie McMurray (175.200) joining him on the second row. Tony Stewart, who led the points standings heading into the Chase, starts fifth (175.041).

Most drivers qualified for Sunday’s race in windy conditions. Gusts were reported of up to 30 mph around the track. Earnhardt, who didn’t qualify for the Chase, said conditions were fairly calm for his run.

“The wind was pretty good all day long,” he said. “It was pretty rough. But I think I might have caught a window during my lap. I didn’t have any gusts catch my car.”

It was the kind of successful day that’s been rare for Earnhardt this season. He said that as the season nears its end, he’d like to help teammates Martin and Johnson – as well as eighth-place Jeff Gordon – in their respective drives for the title.

“You’d love to be able to go out and be quick and provide them with ideas, because they’re trying to win championships,” said Earnhardt. “And if I could do that, I would. But we’re still searching for speed and we’re leaning on them quite a bit.

“We have yet to improve on anything they’re doing. We’re just trying to get more consistency,” Martin has had that speed all season, and found more Friday.

“Has anybody stepped on a cat’s tail before?” he asked. “Well, I have and it’s pretty funny how fast it takes off and the noise it makes. That’s how it was with my car today. It had that much horsepower.”

Disclaimer