Martin opens Chase with win

LOUDON, N.H. --- Mark Martin's reputation for being a nice guy was never more important than during the final three laps of the Sylvania 300 Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

He was trying to hold on to the lead in the first race in the Chase for the Championship by using an old short-track maneuver to slowing down in the middle of the corner to make everyone behind him hit the brakes. He then used that moment of indecision -- and the knowledge few would rough him up -- to speed away to a victory.

Juan Pablo Montoya closed in on Martin in the first turn with two laps left, sizing up Martin's No. 5 Chevrolet for a potential race-winning pass. The stop-and-go not only killed Montoya's momentum, it allowed Denny Hamlin to pass him for second place.

"He's the guy I respect the most here," Montoya said of Martin. "He always runs me clean. He stopped on the bottom. He drove very defensively. I would have done the same thing. It's a smart thing to do, but you learn from it."

Martin came into stock car's playoffs with the lead, based on his series-best four wins during the regular season. Now he's got a 35-point cushion over Jimmie Johnson and Hamlin heading into next week's race at Dover.

"Maybe it looked like I stopped compared to him," Martin said. "He had the fastest car today. I fought for that race."

Martin started 14th and gained track position with 106 laps to go by skipping a pit stop. Once he moved up the leaderboard, he stayed there.

Johnson, the three-time defending series champion, wound up fourth. Everyone who finished in the top 10 -- except Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler and Clint Bowyer -- is in the Chase.

Cautions for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s accident and A.J. Allmendinger's spin set up two double-file restarts in the final 17 laps and kept all the leaders bunched up front.

Montoya made the best of the restart after Earnhardt's accident, jumping from fifth to second in one lap. He started beside Martin with three laps to go, but Martin won a lap-long race for position and pulled away.

Reach Don Coble at don.coble@morris.com.