Waiting game pays off for savvy Martin

In the process, Martin finally found success at a racetrack that for so many years had provided only frustration.

Trusting his crew chief’s call to give up the lead and pit a final time with 57 laps to go - which dropped him to 29th - Martin waited patiently for the cars in front of him to pit, knowing that his position would improve every time they did. When he finally retook the lead on Lap 272 - capping a seven-lap stretch that featured six leaders - he held on for dear life, surviving three late restarts and winning the Sylvania 300 yesterday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Martin’s victory produced a couple of milestones: His 40th career win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series and first in 26 tries at this track. It added to what’s quickly become his best and most magical season; a series-best fifth win that padded his lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, something he’s never won. Yesterday was the first of 10 playoff races to determine the champion.

The enormity of the accomplishment made Martin’s head spin.

“Pinch me, I’m sure I’m dreaming,’’ Martin said. “This is my hardest place, it’s such a frustrating racetrack. [Crew chief] Alan [Gustafson] won that race. He took a driver that can’t drive Loudon, and put a set-up in it that we could run. I said if we could stumble around and get in the front, then I might be able to stay with it.’’

Martin did - barely. Forced to restart after the 10th caution with only three laps to go, Martin chose the outside lane, with pole-sitter Juan Pablo Montoya on the inside, ready to fight him for the lead. Martin stayed in front, but still had Montoya and Denny Hamlin right behind him on the final lap. Entering Turn 3, the three leaders were informed by their spotters that A.J. Allmendinger had spun his car out between them and the finish line, which produced the final caution, seconds before Martin reached the stripe, just ahead of his two pursuers. Officially, by mere seconds, the race ended under caution, with Martin first, Hamlin second, Montoya third.

Call it a veteran’s savvy, a leader’s instinct, or a sly fox’s stunt. Martin, right in front of Montoya after the last restart, slowed a bit coming into the bottom lane of Turn 1, giving the Colombian two options: Slow down, or bump into Martin’s car. Montoya slowed as well, giving Martin the slightest extra space and preventing a late-lap pass. It left Montoya equal parts steamed and impressed.

“I could have wrecked him, but I respect him. I was expecting him to run pretty hard. He ran very defensively, just stopped on the bottom, and I got caught by surprise,’’ said Montoya, who was seeking his first win of the season. “Did I get screwed? Yeah. But with two laps to go, I would have done the same thing. It’s frustrating when they do it to you, but when you do it to somebody else, it feels good.’’

Despite being on different teams, Martin and Montoya have developed quite a bond, with Montoya - three years into a move from Formula One - admitting that he frequently asks Martin for advice. Informed of Montoya’s postrace comments, Martin laughed.

“To be honest, ‘stopped’ is a strong word,’’ he said. “I made sure that I didn’t go into [Turn 1] and lose it once I got in front of him. Maybe it looked to him like I stopped based on how fast he had been.’’

Montoya and Tony Stewart dominated the early part of the race, trading the lead four times over the first 123 laps, which featured mostly uninterrupted green-flag racing. Cautions and pit strategies began shaking up the order with slightly more than 50 laps to go, with Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Stewart, Marcos Ambrose, and Bobby Labonte all in front at one point.

Martin, once the musical chairs ended, led the final 29 laps of the race. Slightly more than halfway through the race he was 12th, and didn’t appear to have a car fast enough to contend. But he never fell too far behind, and when he finally passed Busch for the lead on Lap 204, Gustafson gambled, opting to pit one final time, though not absolutely convinced they’d be able to make the track deficit up.

“We had to flip the track position on them, and when we took that opportunity to do it, we knew everybody had to stop again,’’ said Gustafson. “I knew we were going to be close to the leader or pretty near the front [after the others pitted], and we have a good car and obviously have a good enough driver. That’s how it all played out.’’

Martin had finished second three previous times here, but nine of his last 11 efforts were 11th or worse. Finally landing in Victory Lane couldn’t have come at a better time for Martin, who had to drive his way into the Chase field the past few weeks.

“It’s pretty incredible the way the fans have rallied behind our effort and our success this year,’’ Martin said. “It makes it even more special.’’