Monticello — Mark Martin is disproving the theory that older drivers can't win in the

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. His win Saturday night in the Lifelock.com 400 at

Chicago was his fourth victory of the 2009 season, more than any other

driver.

And all four wins have come after he turned 50.

"That was fun," Martin said. "That's what life's all about right there.

These guys (Martin's No. 5 Chevrolet crew) deserved to win. We could have

parked the car (Friday) with an hour left in practice. I knew it was

awesome.

"But the best car doesn't usually win. The double-file restarts are to

mess the best car up so he doesn't win, to make it good for the fans‹and it

did‹but luckily we pulled it off anyway."

Martin pulled away after a double-file restart with two laps left in the

race. He gained two positions to 11th in the standings and will have at

least 40 bonus points for the Chase, if he can hold a position in the

top-12.

His four wins are the most of any one season since 1998, when he was

driving for Jack Roush.

Martin took the checkered flag .415 seconds ahead of Hendrick

Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon. Kasey Kahne ran third, followed by series

points leader Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin.

Jeff Gordon did not lead a lap in the race, but rallied late after

taking four tires on a pit stop on lap 248 of the 267-lap race.

"Our performance overall was so-so," Gordon said. "We definitely had a

challenging night. We started off, our car was really good the first few

laps, but then it got really tight. So we had to make some adjustments. Had

a close call there with Carl (Edwards). We lost a bunch of positions. It was

basically just fighting back from that point on.

"We got ourselves inside the top-10, which is still a great effort.

Then, you know, the caution came out at the right time for (crew chief)

Steve Letarte to make an excellent call to come and get four tires. The pit

crew did its job getting us off basically first. At that point it was just

trying to maneuver through the traffic."

Kasey Kahne battled Gordon during the closing laps but had to settle for

third.

"Well it's still good, said Kahne. "We've been on a roll I would say for

a while now. I'd say this is eight or nine weeks straight where we've been

capable of running in the top-five or top-10 and we finished it off tonight

solid. We just have to keep it up."

Tony Stewart dodged one accident and rallied back from a pit miscue and

a flat tire to finish fourth.

"You always need strong nights like we had tonight," said Stewart "When

you're trying to put yourself in a position to win a championship,

consistency is the biggest thing. To be able to knock off top-fives like we

did tonight, that's what it's going to take to win a championship. That's

what makes nights like tonight so crucial, being able to battle back from

some adversity."

Ryan Newman, pole sitter Brian Vickers, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer and

Juan Montoya completed the top-10.

Note: Martin is within one victory of Harry Gant's 1991 record of five

wins in a season by a driver 50 or older. Š By picking Martin and Jeff

Gordon to finish first and second in the LifeLock 400 at Michigan in June

and seeing them finish in the same order at Chicagoland, sweepstakes winners

Donna and Richard Musgrave of Newcastle, Colo., won a $1-million prize.

Top-20 Chase contenders after 19 of 26: 1. Stewart-2884, 2. J.

Gordon-2709, 3. Johnson-2672, 4. Kurt Busch-2526, 5. Hamlin-2457, 6.

Edwards-2438, 7. Newman-2385, 8. Kahne-2336, 9. Montoya-2321, 10. Kyle

Busch-2298, 11. Martin-2296, 12. Kenseth-2295, 13. Biffle-2285, 14.

Reutimann-2219, 15. Bowyer-2169, 16. Vickers-2149, 17. Burton-2113, 18.

Ambrose-2078, 19. McMurray-1960, 20. Logano-1956

Only the top-12 drivers will be in the Chase for the Championship, which

begins with race 27.