Martin Snags 5th Pole of Season at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) - Alan Gustafson gambled at Michigan and it
cost driver Mark Martin dearly in his chances to make the Chase for
the championship.
    There was no chance, though, they’d change their strategy at
Bristol Motor Speedway, even though Martin is clinging to a berth
in the 12-driver field.
    Gustafson went with an aggressive setup Friday that won Martin
the pole, his fifth of the season.
    “It feels like I’m carrying a 200-pound gorilla on my
shoulders,“ Martin said after turning a lap at 124.484 mph.
    “I didn’t need to choke today and we got a great lap. It’s a
real big battle, mostly because I want to make the (Chase) for my
team. For me, I’ve had lots of brutal disappointments. I care for
this team, that’s why I want it so bad. They want it so bad, and
they dig so hard.“
    Martin and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team head into
Saturday night’s race with a precarious 12-point lead over Brian
Vickers, the 13th driver in the standings. Despite a series-high
four wins this season, they’re in this position because of early
season bad luck and a disastrous pit call last week.
    Gustafson gambled and didn’t bring Martin in for fuel, a gaffe
that turned a certain top-10 finish into a 31st when the tank ran
dry in the closing laps.
    Gustafson said Friday he immediately regretted the decision, but
learned a valuable lesson.
    “I wasn’t gambling to stretch the gas, I was gambling that
there would be one more caution,“ he said. “At the moment, I was
thinking about racing for a win. I wasn’t thinking about making the
Chase. It was a poor job of considering the big picture, and, knock
on wood, I’ll be better about that in the Chase.“
    Martin has been overwhelmingly supportive of Gustafson and the
team in the days since the fuel mistake because he wants to make
the Chase for his crew. Although he’s considered the best driver to
never win a championship - he finished second an agonizing four
times - he’s insisted winning a title was not his goal this year.
    But now that the team has shown such muscle, he wants to reward
his guys with a chance at a championship. He said earlier Friday
his team would be “devastated” if they miss the Chase.
    “All these guys on this team mean so much to me and they dig so
hard,“ he said. “They give me such great race cars and we’re just
trying to let our performance do our work for us. We can’t worry a
whole lot about the racing Gods, but if we put our performance out
there on the race track, we hope that takes care of us.“
    Martin also won the pole here in March and finished sixth, the
first step in climbing from 34th in the standings to Chase
contention.
    Gustafson believes that barring bad luck - and they had plenty
at the start of the year, a rain-shortened race, two blown motors
and a blown tire in the first four races - Martin will be in the
Chase.
    “I have faith in this team, and I have faith in Mark,“ he
said. “We’re as good as anybody out there. And as long as we’ve
still got hope, and we do, I’ll continue to have faith.“
    Greg Biffle qualified second with a lap of 124.307, and rookie
Scott Speed was third.
    Biffle, who is 10th in the standings, is rooting for his former
teammate to make the Chase even if it puts another title-worthy
team into the field.
    “I’d like to see Mark Martin in the Chase, personally,“ Biffle
said. “We know that they’re good and we know that they’ve won
three or four races, and he’s running well and they’ll be a threat
for the title.“
    Dave Blaney qualified fourth for Prism Motorsports, a
start-and-park team, and was followed by Matt Kenseth and Clint
Bowyer. Casey Mears was seventh, and Joey Logano, Ryan Newman and
Reed Sorenson rounded out the top 10.
    Meanwhile, feuding drivers Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch
qualified 14th and 15th - meaning they’ll start one row apart in
Saturday night’s race. More interesting, they’ll likely have to
share the back of a pickup truck as they make their pre-race ride
during driver introductions.
    It could get interesting considering the former teammates are at
odds over last weekend’s Nationwide Series race at Michigan.
Vickers was running first and Busch was second on the last lap,
when Vickers became so preoccupied with Busch that he was unaware
that Brad Keselowski was coming fast behind them.
    Busch couldn’t get around Vickers, and Keselowski passed them
both for the surprise win.
    Busch was angry at how Vickers finished the race, and Vickers
continued to defend his position Friday.
    “I don’t know if you want to call it strike one or strike two,
but either way, he’s out of strikes,“ Vickers said. “I’m going to
race him the way he races me. In my book, he’s out of rope. I’m
just done. I’m just to my limit.“
    Busch declined several opportunities to speak to reporters
Friday.
    Max Papis, Mike Skinner, Mike Wallace and Aric Almirola failed
to qualify for Saturday night’s race.