Mark Martin surprised Juan Pablo Montoya on restart to win in New Hampshire.

Juan Pablo Montoya had the car, the strategy and better tires, only Mark Martin had the move to take a win the Sylvania 300 in New Hampshire, the first race in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Chase.

Martin was surprised that he finally broke into the win column at this track
“I’m speechless,” he radioed from his car. Then, in Victory Lane, he added “pinch me I’m sleeping; I’m sure I’m dreaming!”

While Martin drove one the best races of his career, it was Montoya, who he mentored, that could have taken his first oval win.

The ex-Formula One and CART pilot won the pole and opened up big leads until he had to make usual pit stops for tires and fuel.

Ageless Martin, 50, who never won at the one-mile track, also had a good strategy and was enroute to an easy win, that was until a spate of cautions bunched the field with less than 30-laps remaining.

The double-file restarts made Martin work harder than he wanted to.

On the last restart Montoya pulled ahead, but Martin moved around him on the outside and pinched him in a turn.

Montoya explained: “He just ran very defensively, and I just got caught by surprise. I think if I would have  been prepared I probably would have jumped to the outside. It's one of those days.”

“I could have pushed him out of the way. Next time, I won’t wreck him, but I will bump him,” he added. Denny Hamlin scored second, Montoya third.