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DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Saturday night's Southern 500 didn't go well for Hendrick Motorsports at the beginning but the finish was something to talk about.

Mark Martin held off Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson to win his second Southern 500 and second NASCAR Sprint Cup race of the season on a night that saw a record number of cautions in this grueling race.

Martin's victory, aided by a gamble on fuel, also marked the first time since 1999 he has won at least two Cup races in a season.

The victory came a few days after Hendrick announced that Martin will drive for him fulltime next season instead of a partial schedule.

Hendrick equipment took the top five spots. Stewart-Haas Racing -- which uses Hendrick chassis and engines and receives technical support -- had Tony Stewart take third and Ryan Newman place fourth. That marked the sixth consecutive race at least one Stewart-Haas car has finished in the top five.

Jeff Gordon completed the top, making the top five all Hendrick equipment.

Martin Truex Jr. placed sixth with Brad Keselowski, in another Hendrick car, crossing the finish line seventh. Greg Biffle was eighth with rookie Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick completing the top 10.

Things didn't go well for Hendrick's teams earlier in the evening.

Jimmie Johnson didn't pit with the leaders after a caution on lap 22, instead taking the track position. He stayed out during another caution and later had to pit under green to avoid running out of fuel.

As he reached pit lane, Michael Waltrip's engine blew, the car hit the wall and fire erupted from under the hood. The caution on lap 76 came as Johnson sat on pit road and lost one lap.

"It's all right,'' crew chief Chad Knaus radioed Johnson. "We've got a great race car, man. Great, great race car. Got a long ways to go, dude.''

Johnson later got his lap back but struggled to get into the top 10 before reaching it in the second half of the race.

Yet, Johnson's troubles continued. On a pit stop on lap 214, contact with Kevin Harvick spun Johnson in his pit stall. He pitted a second time during that caution and restarted 22nd, losing seven spots with the problems.

Gordon's chances took a hit when he pitted just before lap 100 because of a loose wheel vibration. He lost a lap on the green-flag stop, falling to 32nd and it took him more than 100 laps to get it back. He later climbed back into the top five.

Martin even had his problems. He lost 15 spots when he had to pit a second time because of missing lug nuts. The leaders pitted after a caution on lap 162 when David Ragan's tap sent Denny Hamlin spinning. Martin was seventh at the time but after the second stop restarted 22nd.

That caution only made Hamlin's night longer. He suffered minor damage when he was clipped in an earlier incident when Casey Mears crashed. Hamlin would fight back to get into the top 10 later in the night before sliding down the standings.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was never really a threat as his struggles continued this season. A bounce off the wall about 50 laps from the finish beat up his car and then he spun with about 25 laps to go.

Clint Bowyer's streak of running at the finish came one short of the all-time record. Bowyer had been running at the end of 83 races, but his race ended when contact with AJ Allmendinger's sliding car sent Bowyer's car into the inside wall and back up the track into the outside wall. He finished 37th.

Bowyer's problems meant Herman Beam's streak of 84 consecutive races running at the finish from 1961-63 remains the record.

Others also had tough races. Kyle Busch drove to the garage on lap 274 after slamming the wall and later returned several laps behind. Carl Edwards followed him to the garage about 10 laps later after a tap from teammate Greg Biffle sent Edwards car into the wall.

"That was nice of my teammate to wreck me,'' Edwards radioed his crew.

Later, while in the garage, Edwards said: "Greg just got into my left rear and put me in the fence there. I've been trying to give all night and race cautiously and we just got tangled up with him there.''

Kasey Kahne ran among the leaders throughout the first half of the race. He fell outside the top 10 when he took four tires and several cars took two tires during a pit stop just after halfway. Kahne later damaged his car by bumping into a slower car. Kahne had to pit and lost two laps for repairs and never recovered.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com