Mark Martin Continues to Prove He Still Has a Fire to Race Inside Him

The 52-year-old elder statesman from Rick Hendrick’s stable of veteran’s almost pulled off a victory Sunday at the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover, finishing second to his protégé Matt Kenseth.

It was Kenseth who learned from Martin from their days together at Jack Rousch Racing when Kenseth was just starting out on the then Winston Cup circuit.

The finish also placed Martin in 11^th place in the current point standings. If the season ended today, he would not qualify for the championship chase because Regan Smith and Jeff Gordon each have a victory this season and the new points system takes the top 10 drivers followed by the two drivers with the most victories outside the top 10.

What makes the second-place finish even more improbable is that Martin did not pit on the final caution when others made two and four tire pit stops.

"We just about pulled one off there," Martin said of his eighth career Dover second place. "We would have had to be a little bit faster [to have a shot to win],” Martin told NASCAR.com.

Even with slippery conditions on the Monster Mile, Martin gambled and almost pulled out the victory.

"It was almost dangerous," Martin said.

"Before that last caution came out I felt like it was dangerous. I just didn't feel like I could pass anyone without getting in a wreck, unless they allowed you to clear them. You couldn't run side-by-side [but] it was great -- a great Dover."

Martin, who has never won a points championship but has finished runner-up four times, continues to wow his colleagues with his fight and desire to drive the No. 5 Go Daddy.com Chevrolet.

This is Martin’s “final” full year on the circuit, giving way to Kasey Kahne who will join Hendrick Motorsports for the 2012 season.

It was Martin’s decision to stay on the track while the leaders pitted for the final time. The call, which was agreed upon with crew chief Lance McGrew, proved to the right one with the laps winding down.

"We had a really fast race car and [Sunday] we finally got a finish," Martin said.

"It looked like we were going to get 15th again with a really fast race car. We've had a race car this good a lot this year [but] it seems like for some reason or another we wind up in the back of the pack and we just don't have enough to climb our way back to the front."