Read his face: Fussy Mark Martin is winning races, chasing the elusive Cup title, and—best of all—he's enjoying the ride

The cool old dude is having a senior moment as he whips his iPhone from a belt clip and squints at its menu of Chiclets-sized apps. Mark Martin slips on his reading glasses. He continues flipping through his music downloads of such very un--Baby Boomer artists as rappers Eminem and Gucci Mane. "The really, really good stuff," he says as his wife of 25 years, Arlene, shakes her head. In her understated style she says, "He does like all types of music; I'll say that for him. But rap, now when he listens to that, we kind of have a problem."

The 50-year-old Martin smiles and adds, "I like it loud," before noticing a mellower entry on his playlist: Al Green. "He's the only love-song guy in the world that I'll listen to," says Martin, as his corrugated, 5'6", 130-pound frame—about the size, weight and body fat of a boxful of lug nuts—sinks into the couch cushions. On a plateau above Batesville, Ark., where a billboard reads HOME OF NASCAR GREAT MARK MARTIN, the object of that Ozark pride was seated last week in his spotless office suite—not a stray paperclip on the desk or tattered magazine on the coffee table—inside an airplane hangar with a shimmering concrete floor that looks as if a cat has licked it clean.

"I'm obsessive compulsive—absolutely," he concedes. "It's a challenge." Martin packs for a two-day trip 48 hours in advance. He turns down his bed at night at least an hour early because, as he explains emphatically in a flustered Southern cadence with echoes of Barney Fife, "I don't want to have to turn the darn thing down to get in it. When I'm ready to go, I like to hit it." He doesn't employ a trainer for his oft-cited fitness regimen due to one simple fact: "If I have a trainer, I have a schedule," he says. "What if I wake up at 6 a.m. and want to work out but the session isn't until 7 a.m.?" He refuses to install trendy landscape lighting to illuminate the palms at his home in Daytona Beach, because he had it once—and once was enough. "I came home from a race at 2:30 a.m. and I saw a bulb burned out," he recalls. "So I went out there in the garage, got a bulb and changed it at 3 a.m. I don't like things not to work. I don't like things that break. It drives me crazy if it does."

But tires blow, engines fail and fenders bend all the time in a NASCAR race. What kind of control freak would choose a profession of high-speed unpredictability for 27 years? And yet Martin, the Mick Jagger of NASCAR—the oldest series driver still rockin' on the asphalt stage, he has three victories this season and was 11th in the points standings after Sunday's Toyota/Savemart 350 in Sonoma, Calif.—has not only managed the chaos with remarkable success, but for the first time in his career, he is enjoying it too.

He remains uncomfortable with unbridled jubilation—he is conditioned to steel himself against disappointment, hard-wired to reserve emotion—but there is a bubble to Mark Martin these days. And it's not gas. He is still the embraceable crank, telling you, "I'm not fun," even if he is, but the stress of expectations that had freighted Martin as the best driver never to win a Cup championship, the career ambivalence he experienced as he grieved his father's death in 1998 without missing a race, and the acute misery as racing became a grind from 2003 through '06 has vanished. "I'm done with the negativity," he promises. He found a fresh perspective while driving only part-time in 2007 and '08. "You just exhale at first," he says, "but by '08, the weekend would roll around and it was like, O.K., what do I love to do? Well, I kind of like racin'—if it's a fast car. If it's not, racin' stinks."

Rick Hendrick delivered sweet nectar in a Chevy. As the owner of NASCAR's dynastic Hendrick Motorsports, he offered Martin a chance to drive the number 5 car on a dream team with Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. There was one catch: Martin had to drive full-time. He had promised Arlene he wouldn't return to the angst that had made him sour company for the past decade. But after much discussion, she consented. A few weeks ago Martin came home from a day at the shop, and Arlene teased him, saying, "Look at you, you're always smiling." Martin had never before experienced driving as a joyride.

Mark was a three-year-old sitting on his father's lap when the charismatic but volatile Julian Martin ordered his son, "Take the wheel or we'll wreck," as they were speeding along a dirt road. That's how Mark learned to drive: white-knuckled. He developed into an expert at handling fear, becoming a teen sensation on the American Speed Association series in the late-1970s. By 1981, Martin had debuted as a NASCAR owner-driver. By '83, he was winless and broke, forced to face what he describes as failure and humiliation when he auctioned off his last hand tool to pay his debts. "Everything I'd driven, I'd won," he recalls. "I thought I was pretty hot. I didn't think I was so hot after I tumbled. And never have since. And still don't today."

Martin's self-protective reflex is to remain relentlessly self-critical about his work—a da Vinci in a fire suit wondering if he got Mona Lisa's smile just right—even when he drives a race universally lauded. He won at Michigan on June 14 after Johnson and Greg Biffle, racing just ahead of him, ran out of gas on the final laps. Martin was also running dry, but with a smart fuel-conserving approach, he had enough fumes to coast across the line to victory. A display of wits, by all accounts. "Think I knew I was going to run out 500 feet before the start-finish line?" he counters. "I could say that. I had no idea." No one else at Hendrick Motorsports would think of dismissing Martin's guile. "He absolutely won that race," says Gordon. "It's so typical of Mark. We all know he's not the most optimistic guy in the world. But it doesn't slow him down." Heat doesn't get under his weathered skin, either. Halfway through the race at Michigan, Martin shut off the cooling system for his suit because of battery trouble. "I've seen guys get out of the car after that and you'd have to wring them out," Hendrick says. "Mark could've run another race. Look around at all the sports. How many guys his age can compete with the best and youngest? He is a phenomenon."

Fitness is Martin's anti-aging method. In 21 years of training, he has never missed a workout day. Holidays? "No, that's ridiculous," he says. Aching days? "Tough stuff," he snaps. His 6% body fat is the product of daily 90-minute workouts, plus a diet only a touch more appetizing than Little Miss Muffet's curds and whey: strictly whole grain and low fat. He can count splurges on one hand. In the past year he has eaten fried food once (a few bites of crispy calamari as a treat); and the night after winning at Michigan, he ate a sliver of pound cake ("Couldn't resist, but I felt it the next day," he says). This health kick is not so much an obsession as it is an alternative to another addiction. "It's better than alcohol," Martin says. "I did that."

There is no one Martin has revered more than his father—"my superhero," he says—but he also understood Julian Martin's flaws. Mark witnessed how alcohol exaggerated his father's naturally hot temper. Julian would pull a phone out of the wall—or rip a watch off his wrist—and smash it with a hammer. Mark thirsted for self-control. He stopped drinking 20 years ago. "I said I would never be like my dad, and I was well on my way," he recalls. Discipline over mind and body is Martin's gift. But steer the conversation to the obvious—old man Martin is outworking all those young guns with soft buns—and Martin grabs the wheel. "I refuse to go where you're trying to take it—that I'm kicking everyone's ass because of my [fitness]," says Martin, who also obsesses over every pre- and postrace detail. "Here's my point: The fact that I am willing to commit to the workouts just might mean I'm willing to do other things that someone else might not too."

Any still photo of Martin is at risk of coming out blurred. He fidgets and jiggles his foot through a two-hour conversation in his Batesville office. He wears dark jeans, blue-suede Adidas sneakers, a polo shirt and his iPhone—a hip look—but he doesn't try to hide his age. He embraces 50. His face is marked by deep lines that seem like a road map of where he has been and where he is going. He has placed second in the championship series four times, including a 26-point loss to Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 1990, an excruciating ending. Martin had been penalized 46 points that season for a minor mechanical violation. He was screwed, racing fans say. "I'm not going there," he says. "It didn't bother me because I thought there would be more [points titles]." It's not over, yet. It may take him an extra split second to react in a race, but his solutions to the situation are keener. He may have difficulty seeing the gauges on his dash without glasses, but he has an answer for that too. "I got a marker where 210 [mph] is, and then I know," he says. "I just make it easy. I'm working with it, you see?"

He is happy. Can't you see that?

A Long, Hard Run:

From Sports Illustrated article above...

In 27 years of Cup racing, Mark Martin has won 38 races – and steered his way through plenty of highs and lows.

1981 – At 22, makes his Cup debut at North Wilkesboro, N.C. placing 27th; in five races, his best finish is third.

1989 – In his third full-time season, driving for owner Jack Roush, he wins his first Cup race - in his 113th start.

1990 – Ends up second in the Cup standings, 26 points behind Dale Earnhardt – the first of four such runner-up finishes.

2003 – At 44, endures his worst points finish (17th) in his 20 full seasons, winding up winless with seven DNF’s.

Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview – Lenox Industrial Tools 301
New Hampshire International Speedway
June 24, 2009

ONE OF SIX: Mark Martin has taken runner-up honors three times at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but has yet to reach Victory Lane there. The 1.058-mile track is one of just six active venues where Martin has not posted a win in his 27-year NASCAR career.

GREAT DEBUT: In his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at NHMS, Martin earned the pole position and led 29 laps before finishing second to long-time racing friend Rusty Wallace. In his 24 Cup starts at the Loudon, N.H., racetrack, Martin has two pole positions, eight top-five finishes and 13 top-10s. He has completed all but 19 laps he's attempted at NHMS in his career.

LOOP STATISTICS: Martin, who hasn't competed at NHMS since 2006, ranks inside the top 10 in two loop statistic categories. Martin has the ninth-highest average running position (12.628) and the 10th-highest driver rating (92.1).

THE NO. 5 TEAM: Crew chief Alan Gustafson led the No. 5 Chevy crew to Hendrick Motorsports' most recent win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 16, 2006. The team qualified fourth and led 107 laps en route to the win. In its eight NHMS starts under Gustafson, the No. 5 Chevrolet has posted 229 laps led, three top-five finishes and four top-10s, including a seventh-place result in this race last year.

NOTHING BUT A NUMBER: Four drivers have earned Sprint Cup victories over the age of 50, however, only two have earned multiples. Martin's three wins this season rank second only to Harry Gant, who earned eight victories after his 50th birthday.

IN THE TOP 12: Martin and the No. 5 team remain in the top 12 in the Sprint Cup standings. Martin is ranked 11th, 12 points ahead of 13th.

CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-538 for Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This is the same car that Martin drove to Victory Lane at Phoenix International Raceway in April.

HENDRICK AT NEW HAMPSHIRE: In 28 Cup events (98 starts) at New Hampshire, Hendrick Motorsports has scored six wins, 26 top-five finishes and 42 top-10s. The organization has recorded at least one top-five finish in 18 of these events and posted a top-10 result in all but two.

MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET (ON WHY HE HASN'T COMPETED AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN TWO YEARS.): "It just wasn't one of the races at the top of my list to do. When I was looking at scaling back (in 2007 and 2008), that was one of the places that was not up there to keep on my schedule. I've had some good runs at New Hampshire. It's just a big short track. Definitely with the way our cars have been at Phoenix and Martinsville (Va.) and Richmond (Va.), we should be good. I wish I was already up there."

MARTIN (ON THE SIMILARITIES, IF ANY, BETWEEN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND PHOENIX.): "I think some of the stuff from Phoenix does transfer. Then, some of the team's knowledge from the last two years at short tracks will definitely transfer, too. We'll use a little of what we know from Martinsville as well. You kinda mix all of that stuff up and put it all together. Add in the past two years with this car at New Hampshire with our performances at Martinsville and Phoenix -- we should start really close off the truck on Friday. New Hampshire is one of the final tracks we go to that we haven't been at yet, but I think we'll be close based on our performances at other short tracks so far this year."

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET (ON HIS 2006 VICTORY AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): "That was a really good day for this race team. We had a very strong Chevrolet. We qualified up front and stayed up front all day long. We led a lot of laps. We made our last stop with about 80 laps to go. We led the entire last run and at the end the caution came out creating a green-white-checkered finish. Instead of red-flagging or going green, NASCAR kept running caution laps. That made us really close on gas, but we had enough to make it."

Mark Martin NASAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Toyota/Save Mart 350
June 17, 2009

ANOTHER WIN: Mark Martin earned his third victory of the 2009 season last Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. Martin conserved fuel throughout the last 43 laps of the race to make it to the finish. It was his 38th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory.

INFINEON VICTOR: Martin, who has competed in 18 Sprint Cup races at Infineon Raceway, earned his sole victory at the Sonoma, Calif., road course in 1997. Martin started from the pole position and led all but five laps before taking the checkered flag.

LAW OF AVERAGES: Martin averages a 9.3 starting and a 10.1 finishing position at Infineon Raceway. He has earned seven top-five finishes and 13 top-10s in 18 starts at the 1.99-mile road course. The only active track where he holds a better average finish is Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, where he has a 6.9 average finish.

TOTAL ROAD COURSE EXPERIENCE: In his 27-year Sprint Cup career, Martin has competed in a total of 41 road course events -- 18 at Infineon, 19 at Watkins Glen and four at now-defunct Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. In those 41 starts, he has earned four victories, scoring each one from the pole position. He also has recorded a combined 20 top-five finishes and 32 top-10s. He has led a total of 365 laps, which is nearly 10 percent of all laps he's completed at road courses in his career.

LOOP STATISTICS: Although Martin hasn't competed at Infineon Raceway since 2006, he still has the 10th-highest score of all Sprint Cup competitors in the past four years at the road course. Martin has the 10th-highest driver rating over the past four years, and he holds an average finish of 12.609 in his past two races, which ranks him sixth overall.

THE NO. 5 TEAM: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the No. 5 team has competed in four Sprint Cup races at Infineon Raceway, earning a best finish of fifth last year. Between Infineon and Watkins Glen, the team has competed in eight road course races with Gustafson at the helm, earning one top-five finish and three top-10s.

HIGH FIVE: From 1990-1992, Ricky Rudd scored three straight pole positions at Infineon Raceway while driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Rudd recorded a total of four poles at the 1.99-mile road course, and he is the only driver to post a pole three-peat at the track. Jeff Gordon, meanwhile, is the only driver to have won Sonoma three times from the pole position (1998, 1999 and 2004). Gordon also owns the track record for total pole positions with five.

IN THE TOP-12: With Sunday's win at Michigan, Martin and the No. 5 team moved from 13th to eighth in the Sprint Cup championship standings. Martin is currently 61 points ahead of 13th place.

CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-512 for Sunday's race at Infineon Raceway. This chassis has not been raced, but was tested earlier this month at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.

HENDRICK AT SONOMA: Gordon has accounted for all five of Hendrick Motorsports' wins at Sonoma. Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, has 22 top-five finishes and 31 top-10s in 20 Cup events (66 starts) at the California road course.

QUOTES

MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET (ON HIS OVERALL FEELINGS OF ROAD COURSE RACING.): "It's another race. I think that race course out there (Infineon Raceway) is difficult for all the traditional oval racers. It's a very demanding course, and it's a very demanding race. I haven't raced out there since 2006, but that's not really an issue. It's a fact, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to the car and talent, not so much practice."

MARTIN (ON HOW DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS WILL WORK AT THE ROAD COURSE.): "Oh, man. If the fans like spins and unexpected twists and turns in these things, I think they're in for it. From a competitor's standpoint, I don't think it's going to work that well (LAUGHS). We generally only do double-file restarts during that race one time, and that's the start of the race when the intensity level is much lower and it's still a challenge to get up the hill side-by-side. Trying to do it with increased intensity as the race wears on is going to make for increased difficulty for all of us to get through there cleanly. I think there will be some winners in that, but I think there's going to be some losers in that, too."

MARTIN (ON WHETHER FUEL WILL PLAY A ROLE AT SONOMA.): "It's almost a given that fuel will be an issue to some degree at Infineon based on the nature of road course racing. You can save, but you also have other obstacles, and some cars just inherently get better gas mileage than others. If you have one that inherently gets better gas mileage and you save, you're going to go farther than the guy who does everything he can but doesn't have the same kind of fuel economy. It's racing. From time to time you have races that go that way. We've had two races in a row where it's been an issue, and then we go to Infineon where everybody expects it to play some kind of factor."

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET (ON WHAT CHANGES THE MOST FROM SETTING A CAR UP FOR AN OVAL TRACK TO A ROAD COURSE TRACK.): "For an oval track race, we maximize our weights, suspensions and springs to turn one direction -- left. On a road course, you can't do that. You've got to turn right and left, so we have to compromise those corners. We adjust our suspension settings and our weight distribution to try to get the best compromise we can for left- and right-hand corners. Brakes are obviously a very big deal. We'll focus on those. Shifting is something that we only do on road courses now, so the transmission and gear ratios are very important. We'll maximize all of those things that we don't normally look into for an oval track race."

GUSTAFSON (ON WHAT THE KEY DIFFERENCES ARE IN AN OVAL CAR VERSUS A ROAD COURSE CAR.): "The biggest difference is in the front camber. The tops of both front tires are leaned in on a road course car. For an oval track, the left side is leaned out and the right side is leaned in because of only turning in one direction. That's about the only major difference than you can visibly see when looking at the car."

GUSTAFSON (ON TESTING AT ROAD ATLANTA WITH MARTIN.): "The test went really well. There's no place like Sonoma, so you can't be that track-specific. But for what we were trying to accomplish -- brakes, driver comfort and transmission feel -- that all went really well."

GUSTAFSON (ON THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INFINEON RACEWAY AND WATKINS GLEN.): "Watkins Glen (N.Y.) is kind of like the superspeedway of road courses. You carry a lot of speed there. There aren't a lot of slow corners. It's very fast. Infineon is not as fast. It has really tight corners. The surface is pretty slick, and it's hard to get a grip on."

GUSTAFSON (ON WINNING AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY LAST SUNDAY.): "We knew we had a really good car Saturday in practice, so we were in a good position to contend for a win. The race was really fast. Very few cautions. Everyone got spread out really quick. We had to drive up through there, which took longer than I would have liked it to. We really didn't get to the front of the pack until the last restart, which is when we had to conserve fuel. We never got to race the leaders like I wanted to. We had a great car, but we had to be conservative. It was a big win for us. The last few weeks we kind of hit a rough patch, so this was very important. We struggled with fuel mileage at Pocono, and we knew we wanted to focus on doing a better job in Michigan. We did that, and it turned out well. I'm really glad that Chevrolets, the fastest cars, got the best fuel mileage."

GUSTAFSON (ON THE TEAM'S POSITION IN THE STANDINGS.): "We're in a better position this week than last week. We still have a long way to go, though. We've got to get in a better position than we are. You have to be able to leave yourself some leeway to have a bad race. We need to continue to run strong and get into the top five before Richmond. I don't want to go into that race having to make the Chase. We've got time to do it; we've just got to be real consistent and solid."

Mark Martin Toyota/Save Mart 350 Teleconference
Infineon Raceway
June 16, 2009

Mark Martin (Driver of the No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Mark Martin took part in a teleconference today with Northern California media members in advance of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, June 19-21 (Father's Day weekend).

You've had a great season thus far, including last weekend's win in Michigan. With your past success at Infineon Raceway, can you talk about coming out to the road course in Sonoma?

MM: Yeah, I've had great runs out there and really good road-course cars, and it's a place that I have a lot of memories. My first time out there (in 1989), we made a pit stop and I think it was for gas only, and when I left, I turned to go up the hill and the right rear tire flew off and I spun and turned over. I didn't know if I did that or what, but we weren't changing tires and it turns out the guy ran out and took off all the nuts off the right-rear tire like he was going to change it. We had some great battles with Dale Earnhardt and some others. Lots of good times out there.

I know you're into physical fitness. How does that play out coming to Infineon Raceway, being that it's such a tough, physical course?

MM: Well, I mean, I don't know. It can be hot out there, and it's a little bit of a physical race, but all of our races are incredibly demanding in one way or another. We're racing every week and I prepare every day, like tomorrow's the big day, and I look forward to it. I've had great race cars this year. I haven't been on a road course in three years, so this is going to be fun.

Can you talk about the double-file restarts and how that might work at Infineon Raceway? Is it going to be a challenge going into Turn 1?

MM: Oh man, yeah. If the fans like spins and unexpected twists and turns in these things, I think they're in for it. From a competitor's standpoint I don't think it's going to work that well. We only do that once a race and that's the start of the race when the intensity level is much lower, and it's still a challenge to get up the hill side-by-side, so trying to do it with increased intensity as the race wears on is going to make for increased difficulty for all of us to get through there cleanly. I think there will be some winners in that, but I think there will be some big losers in that, that's my expectation.

The end of last weekend's race was pretty exciting. Did you save fuel? How come you had enough fuel and others didn't?

MM: It all comes down to the last run. Everybody pitted at the same time and filled up there at the end for the last run, and it was pretty much outside of everyone's practical fuel window, so almost everyone had to try to save some fuel some way. Yes, I saved a lot of fuel because I wasn't in the position to take a chance on running out and I got really lucky. I balanced it just right. I ran out 500 feet before the start/finish line with a two-second lead, so the other guys had gone just a little faster and ran out shorter than that and it didn't work out for them. We had a great car that enabled us to be able to soft pedal it more than you're usually able if you only have an average-handling car.

How does fuel mileage play into a race at Infineon Raceway? Is it more challenging to save fuel on a road course?

MM: No, not really. I think it's almost a given that fuel will be an issue to some degree at Infineon Raceway based on the nature of road-course racing. So, you can save, but you also have other obstacles, which some cars just inherently get better gas mileage than others, so if you have one that inherently gets better gas mileage and you save, than you're going to go a lot farther than the guy who does everything he can but doesn't have the same fuel economy. It's racing, but sometimes you have races that require that. We've had two races in a row, and now we go to Infineon Raceway where everyone expects it to be some type of factor.

Are there any other memories you have from racing in Sonoma? Has the perception of road-course racing changed since 1989?

MM: NASCAR had raced at the Glen for several years by that time, and prior to that ran at Riverside. So, I think today it's just a given that you have to perform. Then, there were certain drivers and teams that didn't figure they were that great at a road course, so they just went out and did their deal, but now today all the drivers and teams have to take it very, very seriously because you can't afford to have an off day anywhere on the circuit. It's a lot more competitive and everyone's much more up on their game -- all the drivers, all the cars, all the teams. Maybe only half of them were back then.

Do you have any recollections of the race in 1995 when Dale Earnhardt passed you in the Carousel for his first road-course win?

MM: It's hard to lose a race in any way, but for some reason when I went into the Carousel turn there, I slipped where there was maybe a little fluid on the race track or if the car just slipped where it hadn't slipped all day, I'm not sure, but at the end of the day getting beat, when you thought you had things under control is a big pill to swallow.

Having been away from road course racing for three years, is it a difficult transition or just another race?

MM: It's another race, but I think that race out there is difficult for all of the traditional oval racers, it's a very demanding course and a demanding race, and my not being out there isn't really an issue. I bring it up because it's a fact, but at the end of the day it all comes down to the car and talent and not so much practice, so I've had a couple races out there and it won't have an impact on our racing on Sunday. It might have a small impact on qualifying on Friday.

Seems when you are out here, there's always talk of retiring. Have you raced longer than you expected to race?

MM: I don't know. The media talked more about the retirement stuff than necessary. I never announced I was going to retire. I did announce that I wasn't going to run the full schedule, and I didn't for two years, and I stepped out of the car when I planned to, leading the points, and I did all that. Where my mind got changed was after a couple years of a refreshing break and a change of pace. I had the opportunity to become a part of Hendrick Motorsports and drive the No. 5 car, and we had been close to winning in the 2001 Daytona 500 and Phoenix and Pocono in the No. 8 car, and I could still taste it and really wanted a chance to try and win. And, now we've won three, so this is just a great opportunity and I feel like I'm the luckiest man in the world to compete on this level on this stage, and have no thoughts other than I want to strap in that car every Sunday.

There's been a lot of talk about changes in NASCAR, decreasing TV ratings and such. Do you see that as a factor of the economy or something else at work? Is this a larger correction?

MM: Oh no, we're in a really difficult time for race fans and that of our population. The core race fan is really experiencing this economy where it is today and it's something we understand that times are going to get better.

Considering how close you came in 1995, how special was the win 1997?

MM: It was more than that. It was that it came in 1997 after a rough season in 1996, and I was afraid that I had experienced my last win in the Cup series. It was sweet because when you've won your final race and it seemed like it wouldn't happen for us there for quite some time, so it snapped that spell. It wasn't that any place owes me or doesn't owe me, but you have to go out and earn it.

Knowing the double-file restarts could be problematic, how do you plan to handle them?

MM: You're a whole lot better off if you stay on the blacktop, and we will deal with the restarts the best that we can, just like all the other drivers will, but it will be quite a fight. It's something we're not used to having to deal with, other than the start of the race. It's going to be interesting and we're going to go out there and do our best, and give our best. We'll hope for a great result and if we don't have one, we'll pick up and go to the next one.

You've been known for much of your career as someone who practices track etiquette more than other drivers. Is that a fair assessment? How would you describe your on-track philosophy?

MM: I think it's maybe a stretched assessment. I don't think I'm the, I think I'm one of what you said there. I just believe that you should treat people on the racetrack the way you want to be treated and if you do that long enough, then it works out in your favor. I feel like I get treated on the track based on my history for the way I've treated other drivers and I think that's a consideration when it comes down to it. I think that they consider it, and I know that I consider the way other drives have raced me when it comes right down to it. Whether I treat them more or less favorable based on how they treat me, and over the long haul I think that's the best way to do it.

BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 14: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 14, 2009 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Mark Martin Post Race Press Conference – LifeLock 400
LifeLock 400 Transcript
NASCAR
June 14, 2009

An interview with:

MARK MARTIN – Winner
ALAN GUSTAFSON - Crew chief
RICK HENDRICK – Owner

KERRY THARP

We're pleased to be joined by today's race winner, Mark Martin. He drives the No. 5 Carquest/Kellogg's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. It is Mark's fifth win here at Michigan International Speedway, and his 38th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. He moves up to I believe it is eighth in the points.

Congratulations. Eighth in points, Mark. We have crew chief Alan Gustafson, and of course car owner Rick Hendrick.

Mark, take us through today's series of events and your thoughts about winning here today at Michigan.

MARK MARTIN

First of all, this is the first time Rick has been with us doing this. This is really extra special. It's the first time Arlene has been at the race, too. This is extra special.

Winning with a surprise, for some reason it's always one of the most fun. The surprise win in the All Star Race in '98 was one that I always remember. This is really cool.

You know, everybody knows that we have had some horrendous luck this year, and it's put us pretty far back. We are on the outside looking in to the Chase. We had a great racecar, but for me, I always, always come up short on the gas mileage thing. I always have. If you look at the stats, you know, I've lost 25 and won two probably on it. You know, I just don't have the luck for it.

I saw the pace they were wanting to run, and I started saving from the third lap. After I got my track position, I started trying to save. And the car worked perfectly to save fuel today. I was in a position that I could. Last week we weren't. We restarted fifth, and if a lap or two we were in 11th. All the guys that had stopped and gotten topped off with gas were on me, and we couldn't save. We weren't in position. The car wasn't good enough.

But today it was. It was important to me to finish this race. If we were in the top five in points, I would have run out today because I would have went after it. But, you know, we just weren't. I just had to let 'em go do their thing. I couldn't save gas and run that pace that they were trying to run both.

When the 48 ran out, I knew the 16 was just right up there. I was just lollygagging. I got past the start/finish line. Came on the radio and said, I've got fuel pressure right now, I'm gonna go for it. I jumped on the gas, ran hard. I couldn't believe how much I was gaining on him through the corner. Then all of a sudden I got on the straightaway, I was really gaining on him. It was like, Whoa! Oh, he's out (laughter). A lot of stuff was happening then.

When we came off four, ours started running out. Our battery had been going dead since lap 75. Been nursing no fans all throughout the race, batteries back and forth, all this different stuff.

After the race was over, I shut it off at the start/finish line, coasted all the way around. I was gonna try to fire it up just to get it in Victory Lane. It wouldn't even spin over. So it ran exactly as far as it was gonna run. We had our hands full if we were going to try to go another lap or another mile. That was cool.

KERRY THARP

Crew chief Alan Gustafson. Alan, how nerve wracking were those last few laps for you up on the pit box?

ALAN GUSTAFSON

That caution was untimely again. Second week in a row. We knew four laps before our window we couldn't go. So we just saved as much gas as we could, tried to just back up to the guys behind us. Mark saved a lot, was fairly confident in that. It's not an exact science. We just do the best job we can. We know what mileage we need to make it, but you don't know. He's out there running and you don't know.

Jimmie ran out here. I could see that happened. Jimmie has about the exact same car we had. We knew if Biffle ran that fast, he would be in the same position. Mark came on the radio, The 16 ran out on the back. Obviously then getting pretty excited. We're trying to go. Mark came on the radio and said, I'm out all four. Next thing I'm looking for the 24. It was two seconds back. We coasted across. It was a great win. Really proud of the guys. We had a really good car. We struggled in qualifying. We didn't get Mark the car he needed to qualify. A lot of green flag runs. It wasn't an easy race. We fought that battery issue all day. But we drove up there, you know. We were in position to win it.

I think if we had gas, we could have raced them. I don't know that we could have beat them. But we definitely could have ran with them. We didn't win it on gas. But the team did a great job getting us a wonderful Carquest/Kellogg's Chevy, with the motor, bodies, chassis. Of course, we got the best driver driving it. We got what we wanted.

KERRY THARP

Rick, as Mark alluded to, he's got three wins this season. This is the first one you've been able to be here in person and actually enjoy. Congratulations. Your thoughts about this victory today?

RICK HENDRICK

Well, I want everyone to take a good look at him. I mean, he had no cooling, fans were off, the batteries were switching. The car had to be terribly hot inside. He gets out like he hasn't run five laps. I mean, that's just a real inspiration to me (laughter).

It was a great win. Alan and Mark just do a phenomenal job. They've had really rough luck this year, and have been able to pull off three wins. Just real proud of 'em.

This race was more important to get in the Chase than it was to win the race. We could not afford to gamble and fall out and not finish up front to get the points to be in the Chase. It would be a shame to have two or three wins and not make that thing.

They did a heck of a job. Really proud of Mark. Alan has been one of the smartest, most loyal guys that ever worked for our organization. Mark has brought an inspiration and motivation to all of us, drivers, crew chiefs, every employee over there. This is a great win for us here in Michigan, with all the manufacturers here. So it's been a great day.

KERRY THARP

We'll start with questions, please.

Q: Mark, as you mentioned, of all these fuel mileage races you've been in, if you could somehow set yourself apart from being the winner of this and think of it as a participant, can you think of any that had this many twists, turns, drama, euphoria, that sort of thing? Can you think of a more complex and interesting finish to a fuel mileage race?

MARK MARTIN

No. Usually, as you know, they're not very exciting, you know, don't wind up making a good show. I think the fans really got a great show here. You got two guys wrestling for the win, which is what everybody wants to see, and then you got a surprise winner coming out of it. A lot of drama.

You know, it's really cool to be a part of it, you know. It's really cool to come out on the good end of it. I asked Alan how many guys behind us stopped for fuel. He said almost nobody. So, you know, it was one of those situations that everybody needed to make it work, the distance that we had. Lucky for us we had the perfect balance between the speed and the savings.

Q: You've been here so many times before. How much did experience play out in what you needed to do over those closing laps?

MARK MARTIN

Well, it started at lap 75. It didn't really start there. You know, like I said, we're on the outside looking in on the points. Like Rick said, it was gonna be a shame to not to be able to use those bonus points, miss the Chase, have those bonus points racked up, not be able to use them.

When our battery problem started, I got sick at my stomach. Here we go, another day. They have a very nice system, and that helped make it last. But the biggest thing was, as bad as I wanted to not have the fans for the brakes and for the front tires and all the different things that are really important, the back blower, my helmet blower and everything else, I tried to leave the helmet blower on with no AC, just a fan, and I ran that till about 75 to go, then it started losing. It wouldn't keep up. I started losing power. For a long time it seemed like it charged enough to maintain a low volts, but still okay. It finally got where it was falling. It was starting to fall at the end with both batteries.

So we started a strategy to make it I started a strategy from the things that I could do before halfway. I got a good start on that last start. Immediately when I got in position, you know, my history is not good on these things, so I started, by lap two or three.

RICK HENDRICK

You got to quit that (laughter).

MARK MARTIN

If I hadn't done it, I wouldn't have made it. I started on the third lap, for sure, if not the second lap already, for sure on the third lap after that restart, I started.

You know, I asked him what we were going to do about it. He said, Run hard for 10, we'll save a bunch at the end. Not me, I'll run out. We could have run out, too.

The car did a lot of the work. I only did some of the work. You can't save when the car doesn't work. And when you don't have track position, you don't have everything else. Last week we got bit by it. We didn't have the car at the end of the race. We had a good car all race long. The last run it was not. We got passed by everybody. I couldn't save gas.

So this all played in my hands today.

Q: Rick, last night Kyle Busch credited how much Joey Logano had learned from Mark in saving his car till the end. Is Mark as much a plus to your organization in addition to his driving ability?

RICK HENDRICK

Absolutely. There's a word in the sport: respect. Alan will tell you this. I've worked with a lot of drivers and been around a lot of drivers. He's probably as good as I've ever seen on a chassis, reading the chassis, knowing what he wants, and then knowing how to run the race. He's very, very focused. He's like a computer. When he sits down with those other drivers, he starts explaining his car, they listen. I mean, that was what Jeff Gordon told me before we ever got him to come over. He said, He'll help us all. You know, Jimmie said that. After about two or three races, Junior said, You need to get him to run a couple more years (laughter).

So it's everything from the way you read the car, from the physical conditioning, the shape he's in and the regimen he has. I mean, he adds so much to the entire organization. You know, it's so many different areas, and you see it. There was not a car in Darlington that didn't have a Darlington stripe on it. His car didn't have a mark on it, not a mark. To be able to run that race and run that hard. The first race Alan and I had him with him was in the Busch car. I had him when he didn't have a crew chief, crew chief got suspended, he called the race from the car in the Busch Series. I've been in awe of him ever since the first race.

I mean, if you list all the different categories that you want to list for a driver, he's at the top on every one of them. It radiates through the organization.

Q: Mark, at this point in the season with three wins under your belt, are you glad you didn't retire, and aren't you glad you hooked up with Hendrick Motorsports?

MARK MARTIN

I'm really glad that Rick was so persistent, yeah (laughter).

RICK HENDRICK

I'm not sure I was that persistent. I think he was dragging the bait a little bit.

MARK MARTIN

That's not true. I know it looks like that.

RICK HENDRICK

There's the boss over there.

MARK MARTIN

She's the one we had to get softened up (laughter).

Yeah, this is incredible. And I didn't have any idea. She and I were both apprehensive about coming back full time because I'd been so happy in '07 and '08 doing what I was doing. I didn't have any idea it could be like this. I'm really, really, really having fun. Alan and I keep getting more comfortable with one another. And I believe that we've still got a ways to go. I think when we have a bad day, we will handle it better later. We're already better, a lot better than we were in California. That was pretty tough on both of us. I think we've come a long way. I think we'll continue to get better in that sense.

Of course, you know, probably communication will get better. I think we'll both get more comfortable. I continue to get more comfortable with Alan. It's great to go to work every day, except for Friday was kind of a tough day.

RICK HENDRICK

Tell them what you called and told me Friday.

MARK MARTIN

You know, he thinks I'm full of it. I didn't think I was going to get fired right now, but if I keep qualifying 32nd every week, he needs to fire me. Everybody can act like that's stupid, but it isn't really stupid. I'm serious. If I can't do better than that in the stuff that they're giving me, they're going to need to get somebody else.

We came back on Saturday, and we won practice. That's the best that I could do. I couldn't make up for Friday, but I was flogging it pretty hard out there on Saturday to make sure that we looked good.

It's great. I love the sport. I don't know what in the world I'll do when I can't do this anymore, but that's a long way out there. I'm not worried about it right now. I'm enjoying it.

Q: As you said about your history, you've been on the other end of some of these. Back in '93 at Michigan, you led 141 laps, were dominant like Jimmie, ran out of gas coming in for your final stop. Were you thinking of anything like that when you started conserving gas early in that final run?

MARK MARTIN

Really what I was thinking about was the hole that we are in in the points standings. Before we started that final run, Alan and I knew what we were going to do. Alan has actually taught me some things about how to do this deal when it comes down to the fuel thing. We had the racecar to do it today. I had to make a choice fairly early in that run that I couldn't race those guys to win and save enough fuel to have the margin that I needed to score the points. I could get an easy, easy, easy top five here, easy, you know, or I could try to win this thing and run out and be 25th. We couldn't afford the 25th at this point in time. I made the conscious choice not to run that kind of pace because I knew that we needed to save quite a bit to get there and couldn't afford to run out.

Q: Mark, in every area other than average finish, the best season of your career was 11 years ago when you won seven races. You are on pace to win seven this year. A lot of people were talking, I bet Martin will make the Chase. A lot of people said you might well have a fine year. Did you have any idea you might be looking at maybe your best year?

MARK MARTIN

Absolutely not. And you know how I look at it? If we don't win another race this year, we still did good. You know, I'm not gonna deal with expectations that cut my legs out from under me again ever in my career. I'm gonna go out and drive the racecar as hard as I can drive every time I get in it. I'm not gonna expect anything other than, you know, a tremendous effort by my team and from myself. I'm really pleased that we are having such a great year.

But the thing that pleases me more than the trophies is just that we've been fast. That's really important. When you're not fast, you know, there's not a whole lot you can do. But when you are fast, you know, if you keep doing that every week, sooner or later you get great results.

So, you know, I just don't feel any pressure. I'd like to see us make the Chase because this race team deserves it and because you never know. It would be awesome. It would be an honor to be a part of that elite group again. We have got the equipment to do it, and we've just encountered so many setbacks.

If we can keep on a roll here going, the car’s plenty fast, we just got to avoid, you know, more disasters.

Q: Mark and Rick, while you've been announced of the driver of the 5, you haven't set up the sponsorship yet. Three wins positions you well for the Chase, but how much does this help in terms of shoring up the financial situation for that car and where are you with finding sponsors for the car?

RICK HENDRICK: We have got a lot of things in the works, and our sponsors are coming back. We don't know to what extent. That's the question. As you go along with this economy, companies are taking longer to get their budgets in line. They're not a year out, or not even eight months like they have been in the past. We're in good shape. We have a lot of sponsors inside our company that we're talking to about, you know, splitting up the car. So I look for the guys that are on it to be back, but there will probably be someone new along there with them.

Q: Alan, not getting you to criticize the other guys, but do you think it was inevitable that with three guys all nursing their fuel that somebody was going to decide to go?

ALAN GUSTAFSON

Yes. You know, there's one winner and somebody's gonna want everybody wants to be that guy, and somebody's gonna fool themselves into thinking they can be him and go fast.

I think the reason that happened, though, is the position the 48 is in points. They're in really good shape in points. They're looking at wins. That's what's gonna put them in a better position to win the championship. If we were in that position in points, we'd have been whipping it, too.

So that was the smart thing for them to do in their position. So if they finish 10th or 2nd, it's not going to matter, it's going to matter how many races they won. That's what they were doing. If they wouldn't have done that, Greg could have probably saved and just paced himself to us, then it would have been up to us how much we want to push him.

Yeah, it's gonna happen. Jimmie and Chad going hard is what allowed us to win the race, like Mark and Mr. Hendrick have said. We're not in a position to go hard. We couldn't push those guys for the win on sheer speed because we have to finish, we have to pad our points. Fortunately for us it was our day so we got both.

Q: Mark, you mentioned your struggles on Friday here. Seems like when you haven't been fast off the truck, that it's taken you a while to get the car sorted out, and you haven't been as strong on Sunday. What was different about it this week that you were able to turn it around so much?

MARK MARTIN

You know, we've been fast on race day about everywhere. Dover was a good example where we didn't qualify well, and we weren't really the heat in practice either, but the car drove good. That's all the speed we had. The car really drove good, drove good like I needed. It was doing the things it had to do for Dover. It was a top five car in the race. It actually was concerning. But, you know, we've had a lot of speed at most places. We were missing a good bit there at Dover, and that concerned us, but it raced really well.

It was funny, the 48 bunch said after practice yesterday, you know, car drives good, but we are 3/10ths or 4/10ths off. I didn't bother to tell them they would probably be all right. If it drives good, it would probably be all right. But it was okay today.

You know, sometimes you just really can't have everything, and so the main thing you've got to have is the car handling, when the racetrack deteriorates because of all the heat, the oil, the sun, everybody running on it, it starts to pay dividends, so…

Q: Mark, the other day you said one of the biggest contributions you can make to the team is preparing yourself physically and mentally. How nerve wracking was that today with the steering shaft problem you had early on as well as the batteries going dead, trying to work through that and be able to run hard, then at the end having to conserve, go after the carrot at the end of the stick? Alan, you said in the past that Mark was one of your childhood heroes. How gratifying has this been for you this year? Even though Mark is not quite ready to start looking too far ahead this year, how gratifying would that be for you if you could close it out this year?

MARK MARTIN

You know, it's funny the things we talked about on Friday really showed today. Mental toughness, you know, is important. I have a lot more of that, obviously, and put that to use today. This weekend, through the disappointment Friday, to the high Saturday, all that.

I think that, like I said, those are the things that I can really, really do. My dedication to physical fitness and nutrition. I don't have a lot of other interests, business or anything else, so I'm able to give them about everything I've got.

ALAN GUSTAFSON

For me, you know, it just doesn't get any better for me to work for Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports and have Mark Martin as a driver, you know, a place I've been for 10 years and I love dearly. It's great. It doesn't get any better.

I'm really fortunate and blessed to have those opportunities to do that. If we were fortunate enough, God willing, to win a championship with Mark, I said it at Darlington, I'll say it again, to me there's nothing more professionally I could accomplish than that. That's probably the biggest thing that I could do. So to have a chance, there's not a lot of people in the world that have a chance to do something like that, and we don't take that for granted. So we'll just do the best we can.

If it happens, it happens. That's one of the things you say, Hey, man, that was incredible. That was what I worked so hard for my whole life. So it's just really special.

Q: Mark, you talk about how this car has been fast all season, which is a sign of a championship contender. The three wins give you good bonus points leading into the Chase. You talked in the past about not wanting to chase the personal glory, the championship, really focus on that. But as you've matured or as you've gotten this extra chance, can you possibly embrace a championship run and the willingness to the questions that will come with this situation because obviously there are signs pointing towards something like that?

MARK MARTIN

Well, it will be an incredible honor to me to be in that Chase. That's a big deal. Everybody should know that, for every reason, but for me personally. At a stage when I might have written myself off, or the competition might have written me off, to be able to do that is pretty cool.

I feel like that we have some time between now and when the Chase starts, and I certainly think that we need to get stronger if we want to be a contender. But, you know, we have time for that. And all you have to do is have 10 great races. You know, you don't have to be the strongest team or the fastest or anything else. You just have to have the 10 best races to pull it off.

So first you got to be in it. That's what I'm going for. I want this team to be in it because they deserve it and because it would be a real privilege for me to be a part of it. Then we'll go out there and we'll race and we'll fight for everything that we can get.

I'll answer the questions and everything else, but I'm not going to lay in bed at night and think about what it will be like to lift that trophy. It just doesn't exist, you know, in my brain. I'll just go out there and race every time. I raced today. I raced to win. I didn't tell anybody I was going to win before the race. I didn't expect to win before the race. I knew we had a great car. I went out and drove it.

We've won some races this year. I don't expect 'em; I just hope that they come. Same thing with the Chase. I just want to make the Chase. We'll worry about how we do in it after we find out we're in it. But we've really been on the outside looking in a lot this year.

Q: Last couple years has been a part time deal so you haven't had that opportunity. You go into every race wanting to win. To not have been a part of that the last two years by choice, how has that felt?

MARK MARTIN

A lot more fun because I could go race for the race. This whole sport has forgot that it's about the race, you know. I could do every race, and I went to every race for the race, not about a bunch of things you couldn't control, flat tire, this and that, just the race. It's about the race. And it's a lot of fun.

I'm using that mental toughness that I was talking about to prevent worrying about scoring points, take away from the fun that I'm having. I'm not going to let that happen. We'll score every point I could score. I was thinking points today, you know, but I'm not gonna mess it up either. If we'd had a devastating outcome today with battery or fuel or anything else, you know, I wasn't going to let the points part of it be the disappointment. It was going to be a disappointment because we didn't reach our full potential today.

Q: Rick and Mark, given the news that came out on Friday about GM, was there special significance with the victory here in Michigan for Chevrolet? Rick, how does this change your next couple of days?

RICK HENDRICK

It's always good to win in Michigan because all the manufacturers are here. It's one I've always wanted to win and run well here.

I think what it's gonna do for us, you know, next week, next month, I don't think it's gonna change our relationship with Chevrolet much.

I can say this. Chevrolet gave me my first chance. I was the youngest Chevrolet dealer, I might still be, was the youngest one to get a franchise in a little town of Bennettsville, South Carolina, and they've supported me ever since. Everybody in the world, in the economy, has had to tighten their belt, everybody. I don't care what kind of business you're in. NASCAR, the teams. We cut out testing. We've done everything we can to cut expenses.

I'm a team player and a supporter of Chevrolet. I know what it does for selling cars 'cause I'm also a big GM dealer. They got the best products they've ever built right now. It's gonna be a leaner, meaner company. I think down the road they're gonna come out of this better than they've ever been, shedding a lot of baggage that they've needed to shed for a lot of years.

I think they're going to be in racing. It might not be what we've had. It won't be what we've had. Everybody's going to have to take an adjustment. But that's no different than everything else I've been involved in.

So, you know, I'm excited about the future for them as a dealer and as a racer. They've been great partners. Until they tell me they're not gonna race anymore, which I don't expect to hear at all, then you'll see a bowtie on the front of our cars.

KERRY THARP

We appreciate it very much. Congratulations to this No. 5 team. Good luck next week at Infineon.

Ryan Newman and Mark Martin Friday Media Visit - Pocono 500
GM Racing
June 5, 2009

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 HAAS AUTOMATION DEMO DAY/U.S. ARMY IMPALA SS AND MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST IMPALA SS met with members of the media at Pocono Raceway and discussed racing at Pocono, double-file restarts, how they feel about their new rides so far this season and more.

WHAT KIND OF RACE DO YOU THINK WE'LL SEE SUNDAY?

NEWMAN: "A dry one. I don't know. I look forward to it. It's one of my favorite race tracks. I just like it because it's different. The front straightaway can be boring when you're out front but that's a good problem to have. As a driver it's challenging because all three corners are different. Because it's challenging that way the crew chief has to compensate and the driver has to compensate. Dover is pretty symmetric and once you get one end right you've got the other end pretty close and here it's a challenge. I look forward to it."

MARTIN: "I've always thought this is one of the best places to race that we go to on the schedule. I've had a number of people disagree with that. I love it and always have loved it. This is one of my better places. I look forward to going to work every day now that I get to strap in that No. 5 car. I can't wait to get on the race track."

IF EVERYBODY SAYS THE RACING IS COMPETITIVE AND GOOD, THEN WHY THE NEED TO TRICK IT UP WITH THE DOUBLE-FILE RESTART?

NEWMAN: "We've tricked it up for the last 50 years. It's just another step to keep delivering to the fans what they want. It's something that I think will make the racing better from an excitement standpoint and that's what we're here for. We're delivering entertainment to the fans. If the fans say they want us to start the third restart in reverse and switch around to laps later and run forward we're probably going to do it. Racing is exciting. Mark (Martin) said it, I've said it. It's exciting. We're putting on pretty fun races that I've seen and I'm not just talking about for the lead. I'm talking about cars running side-by-side in the racing that we've had. You're seeing a good average number of cars on the lead lap. I think it's somewhere around 20 or something like that each race and that's competitive racing. Just delivering the fans what they want is what our job is as a series, as drivers and as sponsors."

MARTIN: "We're in competition with every other form of entertainment and that's more important and been brought to the forefront based on what has happened with the economy and everything. So that's what's it about. It's about trying to step up your game. Everybody has their game. We're competitors. From a competitor's standpoint there's winners and loser in a double-file restart. You just have to hope that balances out equally. What that means is that sometimes a double-file restart will put you in a less desirable lane that you wouldn't have had to maybe deal with. Hopefully it balances out to 50/50 over the long haul and you gain some and you lose some and the fans gain every time."

NEWMAN: "Five years ago we were talking about lucky dogs and a big change in the sport was a guy getting a free pass and now we are talking about just different restarts. It's just progression and evolution on NASCAR."

YOU BOTH WENT INTO THIS SEASON WITH NEW DEALS THAT WERE A LITTLE RISKY, WE'RE HALFWAY THROUGH THE REGULAR SEASON HOW HAVE YOUR NEW JOBS MET WITH YOUR EXPECTATIONS GOING INTO THIS SEASON AND WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR?

NEWMAN: "Mark's (Martin) high risk was retiring. What kind of risk is that? (laughter)"

MARTIN: "The high risk was watching it from the couch instead of getting to stand in victory lane a couple of times."

NEWMAN: "Obviously we're sitting here saying we're happy in our position but I've said several times now for me there was as much risk in staying as there was in moving and it's just a matter of the making the best of your options and your opportunities. I've been very fortunate to work with Tony Stewart and the people at Stewart-Haas Racing. We've been running well. Trying to get to victory lane but running well. We've moved up in the points and at this point we're fifth. That's gratifying to know that you put a lot of things on the line to do that but you do that regardless. I would have done the same thing if I would have stayed at Penske racing. Still putting a lot on the line. You're on the line every week and you're on that edge. I'm happy where I'm at."

MARTIN: "Same here. I do get more comfortable every week. There was a lot of different emotions coming into the thing. I hoped that we might get a chance to win a race but I didn't expect to I just hoped. You've heard that. You've heard about all the stuff. Really the only thing that's really new that I could add to that is that I get more comfortable every weekend. We had our worst day at the race track last Friday where we were not fast and qualified 28th. I know those days are coming and sooner or later those days are going to come on a Sunday but certainly didn't have it last Sunday. I get more and more comfortable with my team and laughing more and having fun and feeling a little bit less pressure. I really feel like that they have my back and I've got their back. We've proved to each other that we can do this stuff. The day that we have a bad day we're all going to hold hands and say we're going to do better tomorrow. So that feels good. You know it could carry a lot of pressure to try to step in there and do the job. Everyone's expectations of Hendrick Motorsports are very, very high. I'm really happy so far that I've been able to do the job."

WITH THE RAIN IT LOOKS LIKE IT WILL PROBABLY WASH THINGS OUT TODAY, HOW DOES THAT EFFECT YOUR PREPARATION WITH THIS UNIQUE CONFIGURATION? IS IT AN ADVANTAGE, DISADVANTAGE OR ARE ALL OF YOU IN THE SAME BOAT?

NEWMAN: "I think we just lose practice time. It's just like testing. The more testing you get the strong get stronger and the guys that aren't as strong they get stronger too. It's just a sliding scale so the more time we have on the track the more time we have to work with the race cars to idealize all three corners. Losing a day is just that. We'll still have a competitive race. Maybe all 43 cars won't be quite as fast and that doesn't change the racing."

MARTIN: "I view it as the less time on the track the better. I feel like for our team, for us we usually hit the track running and the longer we run the more the competition has a chance to catch up. I'm really comfortable if we get rained out completely today then that means we'll start 12th. I feel certain we would have qualified better than that but there's nothing wrong with that starting position. We'll have practice tomorrow. Like Ryan (Newman) said it doesn't really impact the race or the competition because everyone is on the same footing. I think both of us would enjoy the opportunity to qualify. Ryan is really good at it and my car has been really fast. We'll take it. You've got to work with the weather."

THE NEXT TIME WE COME BACK TO THE NORTHEAST IS OBVIUOSLY NEW HAMPSHIRE, FOR BOTH OF YOU HOW MUCH IS YOUR PERCEPTION OF LOUDON CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?

NEWMAN: "My perception hasn't changed. I think they've done a really good job with the race track and the facility. They made it more fan-friendly and raised the bar like any other place like Darlington has. I enjoy the race track. I enjoy the area. Obviously there's some good fishing up there just like there is here. If qualifying got rained out there too it wouldn't be that big of a deal."

MARTIN: "This is one of those tracks that I haven't been to in three years. No worries. Martinsville and Bristol were a couple of those as well. It's like going anywhere else, it's all about going through the corners. So we'll go up there and do there what we've done everywhere else. For me I feel no anxiety going anywhere, even to my least favorite race track. I actually looked forward to going to Martinsville even though it's my least favorite race track because the Hendrick cars run so well there and we did. My team is learning and I'm learning about the tuning tools, the Hendrick tuning tools. I feel like our cars are getting better with every race. We're learning how to make them better for me and more comfortable. We're learning how to get the car to do what I want them to do more and more all the time. With each and every week I feel that we make a little progress as far as communication and them knowing the things that I like to feel in the car and how to get to that."

A LOT OF DRIVERS DON'T LIKE COMING HERE FOR WHATEVER REASON, TO YOU WHAT MAKES THIS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES ON THE SCHEDULE?

MARTIN: "You're just talking to old stupid racer. I don't know. I love racing here. I've always run good here. This thing has huge, long corners but it's still about getting through the turns. It has huge, long corners and they're a challenge. Like Ryan (Newman) said they're three completely different deals and it requires a different mind-set and different skill-set than some other race tracks from a team standpoint and tuning tools and everything. I don't know. I mean you ask a guy that runs good every time he goes to a certain race track what his favorite raced track is and he'll say that one. This is one of the ones even though we haven't piled up a lot of wins. If you look at my average finish its probably better here than almost anywhere so we've always run good here. I like it. It's not any fun though if your car doesn't work well. I have had some poor working cars on very few occasions and gosh it's as miserable here as it is anywhere when they're like that."

JEFF BURTON CAME IN AND SAID HE WAS SHOCKED TO SEE NASCAR MADE THE DECISION ON THE DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS SO FAST, DO YOU GUYS SHARE THAT OPINION THERE AND DO YOU FEEL LIKE IF THE DRIVERS HAD A VOTE WE WOULD HAVE DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS NOW?

NEWMAN: "As I stated before I think it's all for the fans. I think the drivers have an input and I think we as drivers have had the opportunity to give input based on the time we spent together at our town hall meeting and in between from then until now. Timing wise to me it doesn't matter whether they do it now which they have or if they waited until the beginning of next season. That doesn't matter. It's about what we do for the fans and if the fans want to see it. You're not going to make everybody happy, we've already seen that in several things. But if you can make at least the majority happy then those people might have an influence on the other ones that don't understand it or like it."

MARTIN: "From a fans standpoint I think it's timely because we're competing and that's an entertainment factor. From a competitors standpoint I would have rather mulled it over for a while. From a competitors standpoint purely I wasn't sure about it. I wasn't sure we had thought about it from that standpoint. How it impacts a restart at Indy for example. From a fans standpoint I think it's kind of good sometimes when you put somebody that's in an advantageous position and you put them in a disadvantaged position, that's what the All-Star race is all about. It's about a million bucks. I get a chance to race for a million dollars to win. I'll restart any way they want me to. You know the Cup thing with the points thing and all that stuff you tend to be a little bit more conservative."

NEWMAN: "What's it pay, five million now? Six million?"

MARTIN: "Yeah but it takes a year to get there. It's pretty serious. From my standpoint I was little bit on the conservative side of that because I personally don't want to have the day where I was running third or fourth at Indy with a great car for example and have to restart on the outside and wind up getting in line in 10th on a green-white-checker. It's going to be disappointing. So that's what I meant by hopefully it balances itself out from a competitor side. From a fans standpoint it's a win-win. It's what the All-Star race is about. It just makes it more like that. It's going to be better for the fans. It's what it's about. A lot of the rules that are made are not about the competitors you know. So from my standpoint I look at it from both sides and I understand why they brought it this weekend. It's time to go. Let's go get them. Let's go put on a show. Let's make sure that our race fans are getting, that's what we're all doing. We're trying to make sure that our fans and our sponsors get more value right now in a tough time. We're trying to give them more."

NEWMAN: "One of the things we have to keep in mind with the double-file restart is just as in the initial start the No. 2 starter must not beat the No. 1 starter to the line so you get down to a green-white-checker like Mark (Martin) says and I'm going for it. What if the No. 2 starter beats the No. 1 starter by three inches to the line, there's a judgment call that has to be made there. We just have to be careful and consider all things. That's why from a competitor standpoint we haven't talked through these things. We're potentially talking about going from running first or second to 40th all because of three inches so we have to make sure we have that communication with NASCAR. It's our responsibility as competitors as well."

HOW BIG OF A DEAL IS IT GOING TO BE WHEN HISTORICALLY AT POCONO YOU USUALLY HAVE A YELLOW IN THE LAST 25 LAPS?

NEWMAN: "That's almost a quarter of the race here."

I UNDERSTAND THAT BUT IN THE LAST 25 LAPS THERE'S USUALLY A YELLOW, WHAT TURN ARE YOU GOING TO SET UP FOR THE THIRD OR THE SECOND COMING DOWN THAT LONG STRAIGHTAWAY?

NEWMAN: "All of them."

MARTIN: "I set up for all of them myself."

NEWMAN: "People ask me if I like a loose or tight race car and I say just make it perfect."

MARTIN: "I don't set up for one corner. I set up for all them. I work hard on all of them. I take what I can get but I work on all of them."

NEWMAN: "You make the car as good as you can and then as a driver you manipulate it the way you need to so if you've got to run the bottom of three or the top of one or the way you enter turn two that's what you do as a driver. That's why they put the steering wheel in there."

YOU TALKED ABOUT IT BEING BORING SOMETIMES OUT FRONT.

NEWMAN: "No just the front straightaway."

DO YOU PREPARE MENTALLY DIFFERENT BECAUSE IT'S A LONG DAY OUT ON THE RACE TRACK?

NEWMAN: "No, not at all. You're still as a driver doing the same thing. You have to have your strategy. In your team meeting you talk about the things you need to do that day. Where you're starting and obviously where you want to finish goes without saying. Pocono is no different than Indy. It's no different from Bristol. It's no different than Infineon. You still have your challenges. Save your brakes, save your tires, two tires or four tires, all those types of things. From a driver's standpoint it's just beat the competition. It's the same as every other weekend."

Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Pocono 500
Hendrick Motorsports
June 2, 2009

EVERYTHING BUT A WIN: In 44 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Pocono Raceway, Mark Martin has scored 19 top-five finishes, 31 top-10s and three pole positions, but has yet to win a Sprint Cup Series race there. Pocono is one of only six active tracks where Martin has yet to visit Victory Lane.

SO CLOSE: Martin has finished in the runner-up position at Pocono six times -- a stat that ties his personal best at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

LAPS LED: Martin has led at least one lap in 27 of his 44 races at Pocono, second only to Dover where he has led 29 races. In 1996, he started from the pole at Pocono and led a career-best 121 laps at the track before settling for a ninth-place finish.

MORE POCONO BESTS: Martin's 31 top-10 finishes and 36 lead-lap finishes at Pocono are the most for the NASCAR veteran at any active racetrack. Meanwhile, his 19 top-fives rank second for Martin, just behind the 21 he has recorded at Dover. His average start of 8.6 and average finish of 10.7 at the Long Pond, Pa., triangle make Pocono the only non-road course track where both stats are in the top 10.

LOOP STATISTICS: Martin has spent a little more than 77 percent of the last eight races at Pocono Raceway inside the top 15, which ranks him second overall. Martin also ranks fifth overall with a driver rating of 98.2.

THE NO. 5 TEAM: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the Kellogg's/CARQUEST team has competed in eight races at Pocono, earning one top-five finish and two top-10s. In the team's first race together with Gustafson at the helm – June 12, 2005 -- it rebounded from a 38th starting spot to finish fourth -- the team's best finish to date with Gustafson.

IN THE TOP 12: Martin and the Kellogg's/CARQUEST team currently sit 12th in the Sprint Cup standings, 31 points ahead of 13th and just 20 points behind 10th.

CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-538 for Sunday's race at Pocono Raceway. This is the same chassis that Martin drove to victory at Phoenix International Raceway in April.

HENDRICK AT POCONO: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has tallied 11 wins, 47 top-five finishes, 80 top-10s and 11 pole positions in 50 events (157 starts) at Pocono.

MILESTONE WIN: Jimmie Johnson's performance Sunday at Dover marked the 180th Sprint Cup victory for Hendrick Motorsports. Rick Hendrick ranks first in wins among car owners in the modern era and second all-time.

HENDRICK ON TWITTER: Hendrick Motorsports has launched its official Twitter page: www.twitter.com/HendrickInfo. Fans are invited to check out the page for daily updates about Martin, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the rest of Hendrick Motorsports.

QUOTES

MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON NOT HAVING WON AT POCONO.): "I've had close ones, but I've never been close to winning it at the end of the race. I've had a lot of races when I had a really good car there. Last year, in the second race, we were awesome. I thought we had a shot at it last year, but we had a mistake in the pits after leading about 55 laps, so that one didn't happen either. Been close. I've had a lot of second-place finishes, but I've never gotten to a point where I thought, 'I have this one.'"

MARTIN (ON POTENTIALLY MOVING TO DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS IN THE SPRINT CUP SERIES.): "There will be winners and losers with the decision. The fans will definitely be winners."

MARTIN (ON DEALING WITH THE HEAT DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS.): "The heat can definitely be hard to take. I'm not much of an ice-pack guy. I've tried it a few times and couldn't really get them in the right places and couldn't get comfortable using them. The fan that connects to the helmet is a definite necessity. That's all I really use, though."

MARTIN (ON IF HE ADJUSTS HIS PHYSICAL TRAINING TO HELP COMBAT THE HEAT.): "No. I don't really change my workout at all. I know the pit crew will do some things to fight the heat a little bit. I don't think there's anything you can really do to prepare for the heat and humidity that we feel in there (the car). The best way is probably just going through the races and dealing it with it every weekend. I think that Darlington was tough for a lot of people because it was the first really hot race we had this year. It's just something that as you go through it, you get a little more used to it."

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON POTENTIALLY MOVING TO DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS IN THE SPRINT CUP SERIES.): "I think that the way it turns out will depend on each situation. I don't think the leader of the race will like it necessarily. The new restart policy will get the lapped cars out of the way of those guys fighting for the lead. It may change the way we set up the car a bit now. You'll definitely want a race car that's really good on restarts, just to make sure you don't get jumped by a lot of guys on the restarts. Overall, I think it will bring better racing by keeping the leaders tight and racing each other."

GUSTAFSON (ON IF HE PAYS ATTENTION TO MARTIN'S HISTORY AT UPCOMING TRACKS.): "I wouldn't say that I go looking for the information, but I know how Mark does at nearly every track we go to. Not because of stats, but just from watching him race for so many years out here. One thing I've learned, though, is that at tracks you expect to be good at, you usually struggle the most. Dover last weekend was a perfect example. That's Mark's best track statistically, but we really struggled with the handling of the car. If it's a track you expect to struggle at, then I think you've prepared yourself a little more for it. You're harder on yourself and you evaluate things a little more intensely going into it. So, I try not to pay attention to how Mark's done on each track, just so we don't set ourselves up for those things to happen. I try to go into every racetrack treating it the same as the last, which is nearly impossible. But I try."

GUSTAFSON (ON IF HE HAS CERTAIN TRACKS WHERE HE'D LIKE TO WIN.): "We, as a team, don't try to win any one race more than another. Every race is just as important as the next. Now, if someone said, 'Choose a race to win,' then, yes, I'd pick the Daytona 500. And having Mark in the car makes that even more important. For example, winning the Daytona 500 anytime would be cool, but winning it with Mark Martin, and knowing that is his first 500 win, would be really, really cool. But in the overall scheme of things, Mark has won four times at Dover, and I wanted to win that race last weekend just as bad as I want to win this Sunday at Pocono, where he's never won."

GUSTAFSON (ON WHAT TURN AT POCONO IS THE MOST IMPORTANT.): "Turn 3, definitely. But you can't completely give up a corner. You can give up certain characteristics of one to help another, but you can't be 'bad' in any corner. Getting off of Turn 3 just stands out in my mind because you need the most speed possible going down that long frontstretch. But if you're losing ground on the entrance of Turn 1, then everything you gained off of Turn 3 means nothing. So I'd say you've got to be good in all three corners, but great in at least one of them to win the race. And Turn 3 would be the one I'd want to be great in."