Mark Martin seems to be just like a fine wine. He just keeps getting better with age.
Friday afternoon, Martin drove his No.55 Aaron’s Toyota Camry to the top of the speed charts during qualifying for Sunday’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, his second consecutive pole for this race.
Martin’s lap of 138.074 mph around the one-mile oval is the second fastest qualifying time at the track.
“Rodney Childers (crew chief) and everybody who works on the [car] are just incredible,” said Martin. “They started talking about what they were going to do for qualifying and I just covered my ears and walked off.”
The pole is the first for Martin in 2013, and his fifteenth Sprint Cup pole since 2009, the most of any driver during that stretch.
“After I made my run, I asked them,’What’d ya do? Did you change all that stuff you said you were going to?’
“They just make great decisions, put me in great racecars, and I’m proud to succeed with these guys. They back me up and support me so much.”
By winning his 56th career pole, Martin breaks a tie for seventh on the all-time Sprint Cup pole list with Bill Elliott.
Starting alongside Martin for Sunday’s 312-lap race will be Kasey Kahne in the No.5 Chevrolet, the car Martin used to drive.
Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, and Ryan Newman round out the top-10 qualifiers for Sunday’s race.
With 43 cars competing for 43 starting spots, no drivers were forced to head home following the session.
Subway Fresh Fit 500 Starting Lineup
- Mark Martin
- Kasey Kahne
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kyle Busch
- Jeff Gordon
- Tony Stewart
- Kevin Harvick
- Denny Hamlin
- Matt Kenseth
- Ryan Newman
- Brad Keselowski
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Clint Bowyer
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Carl Edwards
- Paul Menard
- Greg Biffle
- Aric Almirola
- Jamie McMurray
- Jeff Burton
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Marcos Ambrose
- AJ Allmendinger
- David Ragan
- Kurt Busch
- Dave Blaney
- JJ Yeley
- Scott Speed
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Travis Kvapil
- David Gilliland
- Joey Logano
- Bobby Labonte
- David Reutimann
- Mike Bliss
- Josh Wise
- David Stremme
- Landon Cassill
- Scott Riggs
- Danica Patrick
- Joe Nemechek
- Ken Schrader
- Casey Mears
RT @OnPitRoad_: Mark Martin wins Subway Fresh Fit 500 pole #NASCAR http://t.co/Fe11t9cMAV