Giving them something to cheer about

Mark Martin says there's no shame in finishing second when it comes to the championship in NASCAR's top series.

A reflective Martin seemed resigned last weekend at Texas to counting 2009 among the Cup seasons he's finished second in great championship battles – in 1990 and 1994 with Dale Earnhardt, with Jeff Gordon in 1998, and Tony Stewart in 2002.

"I think its pretty awesome to hold my own against guys like that in the sport," Martin said. "I gave them something to shoot at in the race from time to time. I gave their fans something to be concerned about and I gave mine something to cheer about.

"Those are the three guys that I have run second to, and most of those guys have finished behind me on any given year."

But Martin may have been a bit premature.

Just when it appeared Jimmie Johnson was ready to hand Martin another runner-up points finish, a wreck on Lap 3 sent the points leader to the garage and an eventual finish of 38th.

A seemingly insurmountable 184-lead over Martin has been sliced to 73 with two races remaining, including Sunday's Checker 500 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz.

That doesn't mean Johnson won't win his NASCAR-record fourth consecutive championship, but Martin remains a viable roadblock on the way there.

And while Johnson has taken three of the past four races at Phoenix, Martin is the driver who snapped Johnson's streak in April, scoring the first of his five wins this season.

"Obviously, the performance of (Johnson) has been phenomenal. And we have given it a good fight, but we haven't quite matched their performance – although we gave him a pretty good run until Martinsville and Charlotte," Martin said.

"That is all we can do. Certainly, I wasn't BS-ing you guys; I didn't take this job to go try and get a championship trophy. I took this job – you know why – and doggone, it has worked out pretty good.

"We have been in a position; it still could happen. The race is still on for the top-six positions. We are going to race. I can't wait!"

Martin's crew chief, Alan Gustafson, certainly has a better perspective now.

"I feel a lot better about our chances, for sure," he said. "I hate to see (Johnson) have problems. That's not what we were looking for; that's not what I wanted to see happen. But Mark had another good run and we are back in striking distance."

It's been a long and successful season for Martin, who returned to full-time competition this year in joining Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 team. The win at Phoenix got Martin back on track after he started the year with three finishes of 31st or worse in the first four races.

"Phoenix seems like 10 years ago. It's nice to go back to that track. It's a track that Mark has been great at throughout his career," said Gustafson. "Phoenix is kind of a welcome sign for us."

And the key to winning the championship?

"We have to win," Gustafson said. "We have to win Phoenix and then Homestead."