Recapping the Sam's Town 300 - Bloggity, Bloggity, Bloggity

Recapping the Sam’s Town 300

By Brian Hilderbrand · March 1, 2008 · 6:28 PM

By winning Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300, Mark Martin gave Dale Earnhardt Jr. his first victory as a car owner with JR Motorsports.

“I’ve known Mark forever and he’s taught me a lot – whether it be on or off the racetrack,” Earnhardt said. “He’s such a talented driver and we’re really fortunate to have that kind of talent behind the wheel of our car.”

Rick Hendrick, who is partnering with Earnhardt on the No. 5 and No. 88 Nationwide Series cars, said he was equally thrilled with the victory.

“This is a special day for me,” Hendrick said. “It’s a really neat deal and I told Junior in victory lane, ‘this is neat – I enjoy this. I don’t drive, so I get to go to victory lane. That’s the fun part.”

Las Vegas resident Patrick Carpentier finished eighth as a relief driver for Kasey Kahne in the No. 9 Wisk Dodge. Kahne was suffering from a sinus infection and sat out Saturday’s race. Kahne is expected to race in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series event.

Another former open-wheel driver, Dario Franchitti, was sixth and was the highest finishing rookie in the race.

Kyle Busch, a Las Vegas native, finished 31st after blowing a tire midway through the race while running second. He led18 laps after starting last because he switched to a backup car after crashing on his second qualifying lap.

Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300 featured a race-record 13 caution periods for 55 laps.