Martin gets second win at Darlington

There was a time when Mark Martin wondered whether he could still do this.

Racing cars for a living was what he loved to do, and if he could, he wanted to. But he didn’t want to be a burden. He didn’t want to bring down the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team for which he had so much respect.

Those doubts all seem silly now.

Despite late concerns about having enough fuel, Martin, 50, won his second race of the year Saturday night at Darlington Raceway. It was also Martin’s second win at the track. The win came a few days after Martin extended his contract with Hendrick Motorsports to race the full season in 2010.

“We did it, man; we did it!” Martin shouted into his radio.

Jimmie Johnson finished second, Tony Stewart finished third, Ryan Newman fourth and Jeff Gordon fifth.

Hendrick Motorsports engines dominated the race. With 22 laps to go, the entire top five was composed of them. Three Hendrick Motorsports drivers -- Martin, Johnson and Gordon -- and the two Stewart-Haas Racing cars, which also use those engines, battled for the lead.

It hadn’t been that way all night.

Johnson lingered way back in 17th place about midway through the race. He even spun once trying to get into his pit stall.

Crew chief Chad Knaus told him there was plenty of time to work his way back up, and that’s what Johnson did.

“We’ll take second after what we went through tonight,” Johnson said.

Gordon had trouble too. He was even a lap down early on.

But the teammates worked their way back up to the front of the field.

Stewart’s car was so unfamiliar to Martin he didn’t even recognize it as he battled it for the lead. It was red. Who drove a fast red car?

Owners never forget their first win. The drivers who’ve done it, never forget their first win at Darlington Raceway. Stewart was hoping to get both Saturday night by winning the Southern 500. No driver/owner has won a race since Ricky Rudd did it in 1998.

Stewart’s third was his best ever finish in the Southern 500. Martin was just too strong.

He was so strong Johnson told Knaus that he didn’t have anything for Martin as the laps wound down. Knaus told Johnson to just back off and protect his car.

For most of the race Greg Biffle dominated. Biffle’s No. 16 Ford grabbed the lead on Lap 123 and looked dominant for the next 39 laps. Martin Truex Jr. slipped farther and farther back in second place behind him.

Biffle had one of the fastest cars on the track in 2008, but equipment failure thwarted him then.

His success this year didn’t last either. And although Biffle led more laps than any other driver, it wasn’t enough.