CONCORD, N.C. — Mark Martin felt like one of NASCAR's young hotshots. He celebrated like an old-timer.
Martin took advantage of Jimmie Johnson's rookie mistakes to win the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night, ending his 73-race winless streak that lasted two years. The victory gave Roush Racing its fourth straight win in NASCAR's longest race of the year.
Martin marked the occasion by sliding his car through the grass at Lowe's Motor Speedway, an old-school celebration that's grown outdated by the burnouts and smoking tires NASCAR's new stars have made popular.
"Those kids know how to do it, tear up the track like that, and I don't. I wasn't going to make a fool of myself," said the 43-year-old Martin.
NASCAR, however, said his car was an eighth of an inch below the minimum height requirement and that any penalties would be handed out Tuesday.
Precedent has been that the win and points will stand, with a heavy fine the most likely punishment.
So long as Martin gets to keep the trophy — and the $1 million bonus he earned from the series sponsor — he won't care.
"I don't know if I'm going to win another one, so you better believe I'm going to party all night," he said.
Martin, the anchor of Jack Roush's four Winston Cup teams, held off teammate Matt Kenseth over the final laps for his 33rd career victory.
Roush, recovering from serious injuries sustained last month in a plane crash in Alabama, also fielded winning cars in the spring race at Lowe's Motor Speedway for Jeff Burton in 1999 and 2001 and Kenseth in 2000.
Martin started 25th and worked his way into the lead pack of cars early. He ran mistake-free laps while Johnson raced away from the field, waiting for any slip up from the rookie.