(Sports Network) - Fifty-year-old Mark Martin ended a 97-race winless streak in the Sprint Cup Series Saturday night with the victory in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Martin started on the pole and led a race-high 157 laps, but had to drive past Ryan Newman on the final restart with six laps to go and then hold off Tony Stewart to win a Cup race for the first time since October 2005 at Kansas.

"We have had top-10 cars every race, but I couldn't get my fingers out there and get them around a win," Martin said. "I liked this car better than the other places that we've been."

Martin led 102 of the first 103 laps before Kurt Busch moved in front after a round of pit stops. Martin did not take command again until lap 255, when he passed Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was caught in traffic. Stewart moved into second three laps later, while Earnhardt Jr. started to fall back in the field.

Earnhardt Jr. dealt with an ill-handling car and then crashed into the wall on lap 301.

Martin beat Kyle Busch out of the pits by inches, but Busch was penalized for speeding as he exited, and had to restart from the back of the lead lap. Newman elected not to pit and grabbed the lead for the six-lap shootout.

With fresh tires, Martin quickly blew past Newman as Stewart followed him. Newman was slightly shoved up the track and lost valuable track position.

"Tony Stewart, I've seen that dude in action on the restart," Martin said. "He can do stuff. I knew it was my opportunity to lose it, and I also knew that Ryan, he couldn't just quit."

Martin became the third oldest driver to win a race in series history. Harry Gant holds the record at age 52 when he won in August 1992 at Michigan. Morgan Shepherd scored the victory in the spring 1993 race at Atlanta when he was 51. Bobby Allison is the only other driver to win a Cup event at age 50 or over. Allison had turned 50 years old a couple of months before he won the 1988 Daytona 500.

For the past several years, Martin had contemplated retirement. He left Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the 2006 season to run a limited schedule for Ginn Racing/Dale Earnhardt Inc. from 2007-08. Martin joined Hendrick Motorsports this year to drive the No.5 Chevrolet full-time.

Martin recorded his 36th career Sprint Cup victory. His previous 35 wins came with team owner Jack Roush.

Stewart finished second for his third consecutive top-five finish.

"I'm telling you, the last three weeks have just been amazing, Stewart said. "I mean, it's been so much fun. We've been in contention. We have led laps, and we are doing everything right. It's just a matter of time. We are consistent now, and that's what you've got to be. We are just clicking them off one at a time here. We are just a tick off, but there's no shame in losing to a guy like Mark Martin tonight."

Stewart is seeking his first victory as both driver and owner. He left Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of last year to start his Stewart-Haas Racing team. Stewart's most recent win came at Talladega, where the series heads next weekend for the Aaron's 499.

Kurt Busch was third, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle. Johnson was attempting to win his fourth race in a row at Phoenix.

Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., David Reutimann, Sam Hornish Jr. and Carl Edwards completed the top-10.

Jeff Gordon, who also ended a lengthy winless streak two weeks ago at Texas, was running 10th on lap 149, but experienced a major tire rub on the left- front after he made slight contact with Hamlin. When a caution came two laps later for an incident involving AJ Allmendinger, Gordon pitted for new tires and repair to his fender. Gordon never recovered as he ended up finishing 25th.

Earnhardt Jr. finished 31st as a result of his late-race crash.

Gordon now holds an 85-point lead over Johnson. With the victory, Martin moved up five spots to 13th, just nine points behind the coveted 12th-position, currently held by Matt Kenseth. Martin was almost outside the top-35 in points after the first four races this season due to engine failure at California and Las Vegas and a wreck at Atlanta.

"It will be very disappointing if we don't make the Chase," Martin said. "And it looked like that was a very real possibility when we were setting 35th in owners' points."



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