Martin breaks mark for age for Indy pole

McClatchy Newspapers

INDIANAPOLIS — There are not many times in Mark Martin’s success-filled NASCAR career when he has been willing to make bold predictions.

Yet after winning the pole for today’s Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway he was certain of this:

“I can promise you one thing. There is nobody in NASCAR having more fun than me. I’m sure about that,” said Martin, 50, who became the oldest pole winner of a major racing event in the 100-year history of the track with a lap at 182.054 mph.

The previous record was set by Cliff Bergere, who was 49 years, 175 days old when he won the pole for the 1946 Indianapolis 500.

Why shouldn’t Martin be having fun?

He leads the Sprint Cup Series with four wins this season, is on pace to contend for his first series championship and is looking forward to being “in the fray” to win his first Allstate 400.

“I like making history,” Martin said Saturday before final practice. “The very most fun of the whole thing that we’re doing here is to see [my team’s] faces.

“I love those guys and I’m a pretty tough unit and I’ve had a lot of disappointment. But I feel toward them like you do toward your children. I don’t want them to suffer through disappointment.

“So, I put a lot of pressure on myself to get a good lap so I wouldn’t let them down.”

The pole didn’t come easily. First, NASCAR had to wait through a four-hour rain delay before it could begin qualifying, then with Martin among the first three cars to take the track, he had to wait nearly 11‚Ñ2 hours more before his position was secure.

This is Martin’s fourth pole of the season . He is 10th with 45 career Cup poles .

Martin’s success Saturday and that of 53-year-old Bill Elliott, who qualified fourth fastest, fueled a round of questions related to age.

Martin was asked about whether he had watched any of Tom Watson’s charge last week when he was trying to become the oldest player at age 59 to win a golf major.

“I did hear about it and do watch the news and check the news. I knew a little bit about what’s going on,” Martin said. “But if it doesn’t have wheels on it, I don’t know much.”

“I’m going to give it my best shot,” Elliott said of his chance to win today . “If a 50-year old can win, I think a few more years ain’t going to hurt a thing.”

Juan Pablo Montoya, who like Martin is trying to secure a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, qualified second fastest with a speed of 180.803, just ahead of Martin’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt has battled flu symptoms all weekend but is desperately trying to take advantage of a fast car — the first built from the ground up by Earnhardt’s new crew chief, Lance McGrew.

“I feel a lot better,” Earnhardt said after qualifying. Friday “... was just really a frustrating, miserable day for me physically. You know, though, it didn’t really seem to bother us, how we ran, what we needed to get done or accomplished.”