Martin Takes Sprint Cup Pole At Daytona

Mark Martin picked up his 50th career Coors Light pole by taking the top spot for Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

In winning the Coors Light Pole Award at Daytona International Speedway, Mark Martin became the eighth driver with 50 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series poles.

With a speed of 182.065 mph (49.433 seconds), Martin won his third Daytona pole, and joined an exclusive list that features some of the sport’s all-time greats.

Here is the exclusive “50 Poles Club”:

All-Time NSCS Poles
Driver                      Wins
Richard Petty             123
David Pearson           113
Jeff Gordon                70
Cale Yarborough         69
Darrell Waltrip             59
Bobby Allison              58
Bill Elliott                    55
Mark Martin                 50

Martin’s 49th pole came last season, for the 2010 Daytona 500, when he became the oldest pole winner in the race’s history at age 51.

Of his previous 49 poles, Martin has won the corresponding race eight times, with 26 top fives and 37 top 10s.

Martin’s first pole came in the third start of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career, at Nashville Speedway in July of 1981, at the age of 22. Martin won two poles in just five starts that season.

Pole number 50 comes in his 811th start, at the age of 52.

Martin has won at least one pole at 19 different tracks, the most coming at Bristol Motor Speedway (nine).