NASCAR Sprint Cup Tickets- Mark Martin Wins at 50

At the young age of 50, three months and nine days; Mark Martin became the third-oldest winner in NASCAR history, snapping a 97-race winless streak by capturing a victory at Phoenix International Raceway. The NASCAR driver poked fun of himself after the race by telling the media he had no problems keeping up with the 25-year-olds. The Phoenix International Raceway champion started from the pole and led 157 of 312 laps. However, the 50-year-old did run into some trouble when officials erased his four-second lead over Tony Stewart with only 11 laps to go in the race. Mark headed for a pit stop and was worried about his lead. Get NASCAR Sprint Cup tickets and see Martin burning some rubber as he cruises to victory lane.

He emerged out of pit road in second place. Ryan Newman had been in the lead while his teammate, Stewart was just behind Martin, with only six laps left in the race. The 50-year-old driver felt the need for speed as he shot past Newman on the restart, heading towards victory lane. It was his first win since Kansas in 2005. The last 50-year-old to win a Cup race was Morgan Shepherd in 1993 at Atlanta, but who was the oldest driver to ever win a Cup race? Harry Gant holds the record as the oldest driver to win a Cup race. He was 52 when he won at Michigan in 1992.

Before Martin headed towards victory lane in Phoenix and secured a win, only three drivers at the ripe age of 50 or older won Cup races: Gant, Shepherd and Bobby Allison. Mark was greeted by NASCAR president Mike Hilton and several of his competitors after the race. His former boss, Jack Roush, came to congratulate him. So did former teammates Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, and Jeff Burton. It was Mark's 36th career victory, but his first victory without Roush by his side. He spent 18 years driving for Roush and decided to retire in 2006. The driver had a change of heart and wanted to come back and work for Roush, but his former boss had already secured his seat with another driver.

Stewart, who came in second place, told the media there's no shame in losing to a guy like Mark. The second place driver also added that the 50-year-old man works harder than any driver he knew. The praise continued in the garage for Martin, who is considered by many to be the greatest NASCAR driver to never win a championship. But that all changed at the Phoenix International Raceway. The Cup winner came back to the sport he dearly loved to see if he could claim glory on the tracks he driven around so many times. This is his first full season in three years; he spent the last two years in a part-time ride for Dale Earnhardt Inc., which prepared him for a long and demanding 10-month season. Rick Hendrick offered Martin a spot on his team and the key to the No. 5 Chevrolet after the man finished second four times in Phoenix. It looks like the fifth time was the charm.

This article was sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells NASCAR Sprint Cup tickets, as well as many other kinds of sports tickets, concert tickets, special events tickets and theater tickets.

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