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LOUDON, N.H. — Juan Pablo Montoya mastered Monaco, conquered Indianapolis and challenged Michael Schumacher before coming to NASCAR.

None of that prepared him for Mark Martin with a victory at stake.

Martin's humility — "You're not calling me Gomer Pyle, are you?'' he said after the race — masks a bull doggedness. While Martin won't wreck a competitor to win a race, he also won't let someone by.

Montoya learned that Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when Martin defended his position in the final laps, won the opening Chase race and extended his points lead.

A restart with three laps left bunched the pack. Martin's defensive move with two laps to go secured the victory. With Montoya nipping at Martin on the inside line, Martin dived down and cut Montoya's charge. Montoya's momentum lost, he slowed and Denny Hamlin caught him. Hamlin finished second with Montoya third.

"What he did, not cool at all," Montoya said on his radio about Martin after the race.

Standing on pit road moments after exiting his car, Montoya called Martin's move "a pretty dirty trick." A few minutes later, Montoya's tone softened.

"He always runs very clean, so I was kind or surprised when he did that," Montoya said. "I would have done the same thing.

"I think you've got to do it to somebody that you trust is not going to knock you out. I think somebody else would have been a little bit more aggressive. But you learn from it."

Montoya, competing for his first Sprint Cup title, saw what it might take to win this crown — aggressiveness.

Three-wide racing arrived early in this race, much like the changing leaves have to this area. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon apologized on his radio for racing so hard less than a third of the way through.

Even Marcos Ambrose, known for his positive demeanor, was called to the NASCAR hauler to meet with series officials after the race. They wanted to discuss his contact with AJ Allmendinger in the final lap. Still, Ambrose exited the hauler smiling.

He might have been the only driver other than Martin to leave the track that way.

"I fought for that race," Martin said after his fifth victory of the season and 40th of his career.

Martin's win gives him a 35-point lead on Jimmie Johnson (finished fourth) and Hamlin heading into Dover this week. Nine drivers remain within 100 points of the lead.

With no consensus on a favorite for this Chase, every position matters.

"When you see at the beginning of the race the top 10 and they're all Chase guys, you're like, "Man, I've got to fight for every position I can,'" Hamlin said of the tight racing.

"Track position means so much that I think every hole that you see on the race track, you immediately go for. A lot of it has to do with the excitement of the start of the Chase.

"Five races in, not sure if you'll see that."

Then again five races into the Chase, they all could be chasing Martin, who has had one of the best cars most of the season. He likely would have led the points this year except for some early-season engine problems, a mid-season accident and running out of fuel at the end of the Michigan race last month.

Martin, who has finished second four times but has never won a Cup title, understands how special this can be, saying "there will never be anything else that's quite like (it)."

Johnson can relate, having won three consecutive titles. Martin, though, could block Johnson's bid for a record fourth crown.

"Mark winning wasn't good for us," Johnson said. "He's going to be so (darn) tough."

Now Montoya knows.

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

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SYLVANIA 300 RESULTS

Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H.
Lap length: 1.058 miles
(Start position in parentheses; Chase drivers in bold)

1. (14) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 300 laps, 190 points, $232,750.
2. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 300, 175, $179,275.
3. (1) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 300, 175, $195,998.
4. (16) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 300, 165, $168,526.
5. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 300, 155, $149,523.
6. (3) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 300, 155, $114,750.
7. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 300, 151, $131,679.
8. (35) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 300, 142, $103,500.
9. (22) Greg Biffle, Ford, 300, 138, $104,300.
10. (17) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 300, 134, $96,700.
11. (26) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 300, 130, $113,723.
12. (13) David Reutimann, Toyota, 300, 127, $110,973.
13. (19) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 300, 124, $97,950.
14. (2) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 300, 126, $100,973.
15. (10) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 300, 118, $119,301.
16. (32) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 300, 115, $123,406.
17. (5) Carl Edwards, Ford, 300, 117, $125,931.
18. (29) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 300, 109, $88,375.
19. (7) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 300, 106, $114,515.
20. (31) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 300, 108, $95,548.
21. (33) Joey Logano, Toyota, 300, 100, $124,326.
22. (8) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 300, 102, $78,650.
23. (38) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 300, 94, $122,590.
24. (28) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 300, 91, $96,910.
25. (34) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 299, 88, $78,350.
26. (41) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 299, 85, $85,900.
27. (21) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 298, 82, $85,225.
28. (6) David Stremme, Dodge, 298, 79, $109,515.
29. (39) Aric Almirola, Dodge, 297, 76, $76,250.
30. (37) Erik Darnell, Ford, 297, 73, $101,629.
31. (27) Scott Speed, Toyota, 297, 70, $85,373.
32. (12) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 295, 67, $110,403.
33. (42) David Ragan, Ford, 287, 64, $81,800.
34. (40) Paul Menard, Ford, 287, 61, $103,056.
35. (23) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, accident, 283, 58, $90,450.
36. (25) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 263, 55, $109,576.
37. (24) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, engine, 162, 52, $91,785.
38. (11) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, engine, 66, 49, $114,273.
39. (30) Mike Wallace, Toyota, brakes, 48, 46, $71,700.
40. (20) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, transmission, 41, 43, $71,550.
41. (43) Michael McDowell, Toyota, brakes, 36, 40, $71,375.
42. (15) Dave Blaney, Toyota, electrical, 23, 37, $71,250.
43. (36) Tony Raines, Dodge, overheating, 8, 34, $71,618.

RACE STATISTICS
Average speed of race winner: 100.753 mph.
Time of race: 3 hours, 9 minutes, 1 second.
Margin of victory: Under Caution.
Caution flags: 11 for 48 laps.
Lead vhanges: 20 among 10 drivers.

Lap leaders: T.Stewart 1; J.Montoya 2-36; T.Stewart 37-68; J.Montoya 69-123; Ku.Busch 124-142; J.Montoya 143-147; D.Hamlin 148-152; J.Montoya 153-162; T.Stewart 163-180; J.Johnson 181-194; Ku.Busch 195-203; M.Martin 204-242; Ku.Busch 243-247; D.Hamlin 248-264; R.Newman 265; C.Edwards 266-267; T.Stewart 268; M.Ambrose 269-270; B.Labonte 271; M.Martin 272-300.

Leaders summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): J.Montoya, 4 times for 105 laps; M.Martin, 2 times for 68 laps; T.Stewart, 4 times for 52 laps; Ku.Busch, 3 times for 33 laps; D.Hamlin, 2 times for 22 laps; J.Johnson, 1 time for 14 laps; C.Edwards, 1 time for 2 laps; M.Ambrose, 1 time for 2 laps; R.Newman, 1 time for 1 lap; B.Labonte, 1 time for 1 lap.