KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Things just didn’t seem right for Mark Martin coming down the home stretch of the Banquet 400 on Sunday at Kansas Speedway.

He had taken the lead – and held it – for most of the final half of the race.

“That’s the formula for heartbreak in my world,” Martin said, “because more often than not, something goes wrong to spoil that.”

There was no need for concern this time.

The 46-year-old Martin cruised to the victory at the Banquet 400, defeating second-place Greg Biffle by a comfortable .557 seconds.

The checkered flag was Martin’s 35th overall and his first since Dover in June, 2004.

“I don’t want to lose,” Martin said. “I always tell these guys to give me the lead with four fresh tires with the end in sight, and you’ll never get a fight like you’re going to get from me.”

For a while it looked like he might get one, but Biffle was unable to close the deficit down the stretch.

“I was just waiting for Mark to make a mistake,” Biffle said, “but that’s highly unlikely.”

Biffle has finished in the runner-up position three times in his last four races at Kansas Speedway. He placed second in last year’s Busch Series race and also was .03 seconds behind Kasey Kahne in Saturday’s United Way 300.

“I guess if I come back next year and get two seconds,” Biffle said, “I might start to get frustrated.”

Tony Stewart retained his lead in the overall Cup standings, battling through early alternator problems for a fourth-place finish.

“The biggest thing is worrying about making sure that we are focusing on doing the things to keep us in the top five each week,” Stewart said. “With a week to go, then we’ll worry about point standings.”

Stewart extended his lead from 4 to 75 points over second-place Ryan Newman, who finished 23rd after an early accident.

Martin gained 25 points on Stewart with the victory, moving from ninth to seventh in the points standings.

Carl Edwards took third, passing Stewart with 12 laps to go for his best Chase finish of the year.

Still, the Columbia, Mo., native felt slightly disappointed he couldn’t deliver a victory to the close-to-home crowd.

“Winning that race here last year in the Truck Series was the most awesome feeling,” Edwards said, “so until we get to Victory Lane, it’s going to be hard to be too excited about finishes other than that here.”

Matt Kenseth – who started on the pole and led 71 of the first 72 laps – finished fifth. He stands eighth in the points race.

“I just feel like if you can run in the top five and even the top 10 every week,” Kenseth said, “you’re going to be there at the end.”

Jimmie Johnson, Rusty Wallace, Casey Mears, Ricky Rudd and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top 10.

Biffle, who moved from fifth to third in the Cup standings, said he wasn’t as disappointed as he could have been trailing Martin in the final laps.

“Don’t get me wrong – I was going to pass him if I could,” Biffle said, “but I was real excited following him. I don’t know why, but you’ve got a lot of time to think about stuff at this race track, and I’m just picturing him buckled down in that race car just giving it all he’s got every single lap.”

Martin did, crediting his crew for what could be the final victory of his career in this, his last season.

“These guys want to win so bad, and they believe in me,” Martin said. “They made a winner out of an old man today.”