Martin Wins His Second Busch Race of Year

LAS VEGAS March 12, 2005; Tom Gardner writing for the AP reported that Mark Martin moved into the lead when seemingly unstoppable Carl Edwards was sidelined by a flat tire, extending his record for Busch Series victories to 47 Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Martin picked up his second Busch win this season, following his victory at California two weeks ago.

Edwards, making just his sixth Busch start, shot away from the field after taking his first series pole and dominated for 125 of the 200 laps in the Sam's Town 300 until the right rear tire went down on lap 186, sending him spinning into the infield.

"I had a little luck today. Carl Edwards was in a position to win that one," Martin said of his Roush Racing teammate. "I was just lucky to get into the front.

"He was just checked out. There wasn't much we could do about it. That one just slipped through his fingers."

Martin seized on Edwards' misfortune when his teammate's right rear tire failed.

"I knew Carl had a problem down the back stretch and I knew at that point the race could be on between (Stremme and me)."

As Martin swept to a 1.412-second victory -- about 14 car lengths -- Kevin Harvick and David Stremme battled for second. Harvick passed on the last turn of the final lap and edged Stremme by the length of his hood.

Joe Nemechek finished fourth and Greg Biffle fifth. Reed Sorenson was sixth, and Edwards worked his way up to seventh, despite the tire problems.

Stremme was handicapped in the late going by a cranky gearshift lever he had to hold while he was trying to steer the car around the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval.

"It's pretty hard driving one-handed around this slippery track," he said.