SONOMA, CALIF. — Kyle Busch was 4 years old when Mark Martin won his first race in what is now NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup Series.
Now, at age 50, Martin is trying to surpass Busch, 24, for the most Cup wins this season with a victory Sunday in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.
Martin and Busch each have three wins this year, including Martin's win last weekend in Michigan that extended his revival with Hendrick Motorsports after two years of running a limited schedule.
"It's a dream come true to win three races before halfway" in the series' 36-race season, Martin said Friday before qualifying 14th in the 43-car field for Sunday's race.
Brian Vickers won the pole position with a lap of 93.578 mph in his Red Bull Racing Toyota on the 10-turn, 1.99-mile Infineon road course.
Busch, the defending race winner, qualified second in another Toyota and will start on the outside of the front row. Marcus Ambrose was third and Cup points leader Tony Stewart was fourth.
Martin, with 38 career Cup wins, joined Hendrick for a full season this year in hopes of finally winning his first championship. He won at Phoenix in April, the first 50-year-old to win a Cup race in 16 years, and followed that with a victory at Darlington, S.C.
Martin won his third race last Sunday at Michigan International Speedway when Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle ran out of fuel on the last lap. That lifted Martin to eighth in the point standings from 13th, bolstering his chances of competing in NASCAR's Chase for the Cup championship playoff.
The top 12 drivers in points after 26 races qualify for the Chase in the season's final 10 races.
Martin drives the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick, the car that formerly was driven by Busch before Hendrick released Busch after the 2007 season to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Martin also is teamed with Busch's former crew chief at Hendrick, Alan Gustafson.
"All those guys are very, very smart in what they do and how they set up their cars," said Busch, who now drives for Joe Gibbs Racing. "Mark is a great driver, and it's frustrating to have another Hendrick car you have to beat every week."
Martin didn't race at Infineon the last two years because of his limited schedule, which many thought was a prelude to retirement.
