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In only his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup start for Hendrick Motorsports, ageless--well, it seems that way--Mark Martin won the pole for Sunday afternoon's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
"I feel like a rookie, I really, really do,” the 50-year-old said after the 42nd pole of his career and his second at the 1.5-mile track south of Atlanta.
Making the moment all the more sweet, this is Martin's first Cup pole since May 2001 at Richmond.
“Not only did the lap scare me and I felt like I ran out of talent--up off of turn four, I thought there was no possible way I was gonna hold my foot on the floor and not hit the wall with the back end first," he said. "It was really fun. This is cool. It’s just cool. It’s been a long time. It was a pretty qualifying session. I’m looking forward to working on race setup Saturday.”
Martin, in what may well be his final full season in Cup (he's always non-committal when asked about it), was quickest in afternoon practice, then backed it up in night-time qualifying. Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle briefly held the pole until Martin took it for good. He became the second-oldest pole winner in Cup history, behind only the long-retired Harry Gant, who was 54 when he won his last pole in 1994.
Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, Juan Pablo Montoya and Biffle competed the top five. Neither Todd nor Geoffrey Bodine made the show, nor did Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs. Rookie Joey Logano took the only team-owner points provisional and will start at the rear of the field
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