NASCAR's Mark Martin
2009 Season Articles - March
NASCAR Teleconference - Mark Martin
An Interview With: MARK MARTIN
THE MODERATOR: Joining us from the NASCAR headquarters in Daytona Beach Florida, Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Mark comes into Martinsville and has some serious momentum going. He has been the pole setter at the last two Sprint Cup events, Atlanta and Bristol and he also finished sixth at Bristol, and Mark is also a two-time NASCAR Sprint all-star race winner and is making his 20th start in the All-Star Race this May tying with Terry Labonte for the all tie time most career race starts.
This year with the 25th running of the All-Star event, they are bringing back the ten-lap shootout for the final segment. You won the '98 All-Star Race when the shootout was part of the format. What makes that format so unique or exciting or tough for a driver?
MARK MARTIN: Well, I think that decision is all about the fans. From a competitor standpoint, I think we need a little bit more time and it gives you a chance to do the things that you might like to do when you're not in such a big hurry.
From a fan standpoint, it really drives the race. A ten-lap shootout is a huge, huge deal. It puts a lot of excitement in it, a sense of urgency, and right to the point of being able to -- needing to make a desperate move. So I think it's a good move. I think it will be -- sparks will fly once again at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
THE MODERATOR: Switching back to this weekend, you're on a good roll, and Rick was on with us on an earlier call, very optimistic about this week and the rest of the season. From your perspective, what's your outlook on Martinsville? You've won there twice before.
MARK MARTIN: I'm excited about going every week, no matter where it is. I get distracted with that 5 car. I'm excited working with the team and Alan Gustafson and all of these guys, and my teammates, as well. I just can't tell you what a thrill it is to be working with and treated with such respect with all of the teammates and not just the drivers, but even the crews and the crew chiefs and being a part of Hendrick Motorsports, it's something really, really special to me.
Obviously going into Martinsville, Rick's 5 car winning the first race 25 years ago, and I know that Hendrick Motorsports is looking to win on that anniversary. But I would like to see it be the 5 car.
Q: I'm here with a group of people who are at the press conference earlier today at the track. I was curious if you remember Rick Hendrick and their team's debut in those early years and do you remember anything about that win at all 25 years ago?
MARK MARTIN: I certainly remember Rick Hendrick as he was starting to get his team together and the beginnings of the 5-car in '84. I was not at the race he won in Martinsville, but definitely huge fans of racing. At the time I was not racing in the Cup Series, but I was really aware of their win there at Martinsville and knew Jeff Bodine was really -- had a special touch for Martinsville, and certainly, I remember it.
Q: Did you know anything about Rick at that time, and what do you think of a guy that was a car dealer coming into this sport trying to make a name for himself, and also, you've watched that organization grow over the years from afar; are you amazed at where it's come from to now?
MARK MARTIN: I am. I live here in Charlotte and I moved here in November of 1981, and so you know, I knew of Petty Chevrolet, and as I was around, you would hear about Rick Hendrick and his other experiences in motorsports, affiliations with boat racing and some of the other things that he was into. And I was very aware of him starting a race team when he was getting it together, and of course I knew Harry Hyde fairly well. And I was envious that I wasn't the one that was going to get that car, but I knew Jeff was definitely in a position to have a leg up on me. At the time I was still trying to get started and get my feet up under me and Jeff had had quite a bit of success already.
MARK MARTIN: Without a doubt, the way he treats people, the way he motivates people is unbelievable. Every time I get a chance to be around Rick, I just want to sit there and soak it up like a sponge and try to learn from him.
It's incredible how he makes people feel and how he inspires them to do, you know, more than you could ever think that you could. I think that everyone that works for him wants to succeed for him, even more than they do for themselves, and it's just a really special quality.
Q: Coming from a short track like Bristol to the one this week in Martinsville, very different kinds of trace tracks; how do you get around there and what do you have to do to be there in victory lane at the end of 500 laps?
MARK MARTIN: Well, the special thing about Martinsville, I think the thing that you really have to think about more than most racetracks, are the brakes. You know, it is brutal on brakes. And some of the other places we go also are brutal on brakes, but Martinsville is the king of brake-killers.
You have to have a brake-handling car, so that you don't have to use so much brake so that you don't -- if nothing else, the brakes are so good today, a lot of times the brakes will live, but the tire beam melts and you lose a beam off the right front tires. So handling is key everywhere we go, except for maybe Talladega. But Martinsville, you really have to put the brakes into the mix and make the brakes and the handling work together.
It's a tough racetrack and very much like Bristol in the way that 500 laps is just, you know, it is an incredible feat for these teams to be able to do and do flawlessly and execute and avoid all problems or whatever it might be on pit row or out on the racetrack, have a fast race car, have the brakes that the car needs, and be in a position to make a run for it.
It's a pretty complex formula to have right there at the end. But if you do all of those things right, you can be there and be a contender at the end.
Q: Can you talk about your big event and how it's evolved into 2009?
MARK MARTIN: Yeah. It's a really exciting event. This is our fifth-annual, we call it our Mark Martin Fan Days. It's our fifth annual event. We always have it around Easter weekend. This year we are having it the 9th and 10th of April, which is right before the Easter weekend.
We have a huge, huge plan for this event. The fans are really, really excited. We have our old buddy Tony Stewart coming back for the third career straight. He's just such an incredible guy. He's really gone the extra mile when he comes. He volunteered himself back this year because I think he has a good time with it. We also have Rick Hendrick coming in, and we've got Dale Earnhardt, Junior coming in, as well.
So we have brought in Cup champions and just numbers of them, I could not name them all, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, I don't know who all else, through the years. But what I have tried to do is just bring a little bit of the NASCAR to hometown Arkansas, and for me, what I really enjoy about it is I don't come in and do a two-hour appearance. I come in in the morning, I stay all day and I try to sign everybody's autograph that wants an autograph, answer questions, take pictures and really, really hang out and talk to the fans.
This year it may be huge, I don't know if it can be as personal or not. We have Q&A's, we have all kinds of events, fun things for kids to do and everything, and it's just my way of giving back to the fans and all of my stuff is there at the museum and they can take a tour of that. It's just a big time.
Q: I'd like to ask you about qualifying. You just jammed it up and did a great job last weekend. How do you look at qualifying at Martinsville now following that?
MARK MARTIN: Well, you know, it's been really good the last two or three weeks. Actually it was really good in Vegas, as well. You know, we were the fastest in practice before qualifying. We drew the No. 1 till which was the worst possible draw for Vegas and we still qualified eighth.
So far, it's been really good. We were disappointed out in California. I think we qualified something like 16th. You know, not every day is going to be your best day. Gosh, I've laid down two really special laps the last two weeks, and so you know, I'm prepared for one of these days to flub it up. Hoping not at Martinsville.
I'm excited about driving the car. It ran great there. All of the Hendricks stuff has run good there in the past. The promise was made that I'm going to have a really special race car there, and I believe it. We'll hope for the best.
I don't know how we are going to prepare for it exactly, because we are going to be watching the weather and we may not -- we may do race trim instead of qualifying trim, and things can get all mixed up under that scenario. Like I say, you can't expect every week to go like the last two weeks, because both those laps were really special and really breathtaking.
I'm looking for good things. We have had really good speed in the Chevy this year and we were on the pole at Daytona, as well. I'm just loving this thing.
Q: Rick Hendrick was on a bit earlier and he was talking about Dale Earnhardt Junior and having a very long meeting today and snapping into solutions for them. Do you have advice for Dale Junior? Do you chat with him? Do you help him along? Because you had your own struggles basically based on luck.
MARK MARTIN: Well, you know, I have talked to Junior some this year. You know, the biggest thing that Junior needs is I think support, a pat on the back. The guy is doing an incredible job. He is carrying a heavier load than any human being could be expected to. And you know what, he's fast. He was fast at Bristol.
You can't just look at the black-and-white of the finish at Bristol and really comprehend how good he ran there really all weekend. He just had a race that he didn't get the results that his car was capable of based on circumstances.
I think right now he needs to just keep focused and not listen to all of the mania there's going on around him. He's got it going on. That team is going to be strong. They were strong at Bristol and didn't get a chance to show it, and over a period of time, they will.
Q: Does this ten-lap shootout at the end of the All-Star Race, do you like that, or does the gentleman racer in you kind of cringe at a ten-lap shootout?
MARK MARTIN: That's a great question. I'll answer it with sort of a fork -- give you a forked answer. I think it's the best thing for the fans without question.
Do I like sparks flying? If I come out on the winning side of it, I love It. From a competitor's side, I would rather have a little settled, may-the-best-man-win kind of showdown there at the end.
When you do a ten-lap shootout, it really sets yourself up for maybe not the best-man-wins winning circumstances; a daring move or two if two guys touch each other, maybe the guy in third place winds up being the guy in the right place. That's what racing is all about.
This is the All-Star Race. Even though it has rendered frustration for me from time to time, the format has also rendered me great rewards at other times.
I am really thrilled and excited about it and I hope that ten-lap shootout turns out to be something that works in our favor and not something that works against us.
Q: Rick talked about not every driver can take what every driver has setup-wise these days with new teams with the new cars. How much have you been able to get from Jeff or Jimmie or Dale Junior are doing with the Car of Tomorrow?
MARK MARTIN: What we did in California was based around Jimmie's setup from there last year, when he dominated the race. That was probably our weakest performance of the year. I struggled with that. We didn't get the car where I really wanted it, although the car was good. It was a tenth place -- it was a tenth-place car, but we have had a better car than that everywhere else. And basically, to be real honest with you, as surprising as it may be, Jeff and I have been really working well together, and Jeff ran in California, what I kind of felt like I kind of liked and sort of developed at the Vegas tire test. Now, he had great results with it. Of course both of us ran similar stuff in Vegas and we have been more similar ever since.
It's seems like that we are sort of gravitating toward the same kind of things in the car, and I think it's been really, really good for us, and I think that Alan and Steve are working more together than they have in the past based on the driver feels correlating. It's just really cool.
It's so surprising to me because Jeff Gordon, you never see Jeff Gordon's car out of shape. You see mine sideways fairly often, and I never would have thought our driving styles would not be so similar and maybe they aren't but they feel similar. So that's where we have been. We have been very close to the 24 ever since California.
Q: We've talked in the past about your passion for flying. Never asked you before, what fueled that? What got you started?
MARK MARTIN: I got on an airplane in '92 and was in the back all the time sleeping. And in '94 I moved to Florida and my pilot lived in North Carolina. So my pilot commuted back and forth, taking me to the races. And I started wanting and needing to go to the race shop in Carolina on Tuesdays and that didn't work for my pilot because he would never get to go home. So I decided I had to fly to take care of that weekly trip.
And like I do everything else, I go overboard on anything I get into. That's why I'm very careful to not get into very much. I really got on the fast track through my ratings, pilot ratings, and became a jet pilot in a very short period of time.
I don't fly that much to be real honest with you, certainly don't fly -- we are not flying as much today as we have in years past, because -- largely because of the testing that we are not doing so much testing and all. But I still get to fly to the races and it is really the only thing outside of driving the race car that I have that kind of passion for. A lot of guys maybe have a passion for golf or fishing or whatever it is. I really don't have a passion for anything else. I have a major passion for business aviation. I'm not a sport flyer, not aerobatic, nothing like that. I'm just a big fan of business aircraft. I love the feeling of being able to fly it, especially in inclement conditions and doing a really nice job of it and not needing a baby-sitter to do it with me.
It's kind of the feeling to me, it's kind of the feeling when you were kind of 16 and your daddy handed you the keys to the car. That's kind of how I feel. Sometimes when I'm in the airplane and got to great altitude, say up at 45,000 feet, I kind of look around in the back of the plane and every once in awhile, I'm the only person in the airplane. It's phenomenal to think that you can be eight miles above the earth, by yourself. You know, it's an incredible feat that we have achieved in such a short period of time, a hundred years or so, or whatever it's been since the Wright brothers made their first flight. It's an amazing thing.
Q: And if you don't mind my asking, what are you flying these days?
MARK MARTIN: I fly a Citation CJ3.
Q: Going back to Martinsville, the race can bring up lots of talk of trophies and thinking about your 1998 season when you won all of those races. Did you collect a favorite trophy or maybe do you have a story?
MARK MARTIN: You know, I'm a real goof when it comes to stuff and memory and remembering things. But I will say this. The trophies back invisible when you see them very often. You get used to them and they don't -- you don't really see them anymore. So really I don't have a -- I don't even see the trophies that much to be honest with you. They are in the museum in Arkansas.
To answer your question, the weirdest thing, the thing that I remember about 1998 and all of those wins, I remember two things about that. One, I remember winning Vegas, which was I think the third race on the schedule that year. And I had a completely brand new race team. Jim Finny was my crew chief and it was my second year as my crew chief but my whole race team was brand new. When I won that race, it was such a huge relief to me because I had left such a successful group behind. Even though I was still in the six car, we moved our shop from Liberty North Carolina down to Morrisville and then in the 99 with Jeff Burton and all of the new people and everything, and I was scared that I had made a mistake by allowing that to happen. So it was a big relief to win that race, No. 1.
No. 2, I never thought much about when I won races back then. I never thought that much about some day, I won't ever win another race. I was always in a big hurry, get this one over with so we can hurry up and get working on the next one. And when I took off at night in the helicopter, it was dark. But you could still see out on a moonlit night. When I looked down and saw the racetrack, it dawned on me that I had won that race. A lot of times when you are doing it and caught up in the moment -- it had not sunk into me before. But it sunk into me as I helicoptered out that night going to the airport. And I remember that vividly.
The other thing I remember about that year, we were having an awesome year, winning races and everything else and Jeff Gordon was still killing me in the points by almost 400 points. I do remember that, too.
Q: You recently said that you were focused mostly on the here and now, of course, but I would like for you to talk about what it would take for you to decide to potentially come back to Hendrick Motorsports for another full season in 2010.
MARK MARTIN: Well, here is what kind of got this started, got it going and I'll kind of explain this to you.
In conversation with David Newton over last weekend, he asked me this horrendous luck that I had had this year, did that change the way I felt about racing. I said, no, it's neither made me want to quit, nor has it wanted me to keep going more. The bad luck has not affected the way I feel about racing. I said, "I love what I'm doing. I love driving this car and I love what I'm doing. I can't imagine what else I would rather do. There is nothing else I would rather do."
So that's kind of got the question way too soon to really talk about. It but there's no convincing, none of that. We just don't need to discuss it right now. We have got really important things at hand.
I'll say again just what I told David Newton. I love what I'm doing and I just can't imagine quitting. There's nothing else in the world like this. If I was running 20th every week, I would say, there's no way I could do that, come back and do it again, but I love what I'm doing and I'm still pretty good at it. And I have a chance to drive for one of the -- we have one of the best race teams on the circuit and I am just soaking it up right now. I'm just happy.
I don't think right now anybody wants to hear about what I might or might not do in 2010. I expect to race in 2010. My deal with Rick Hendrick was through 2010. The number of races, we will worry about when the time comes. This is not the time to be talking about it. It's way premature and I really hate that it even got started, because what I really want to do is drive this car and try to win a race or some races. It's all I've ever done since I was 15 years old and I have not found anything else in life that gives me the same satisfaction or even close to the same satisfaction that I have experienced the last few weeks strapping into that 5 car.
So for right now, I don't even want to talk about 2010. I just want to keep doing what I'm doing.
Q: Sort of unrelated; how confident are you based on the speed that you have shown early in the season that you can fully bounce back from this and into contention?
MARK MARTIN: Most of the people around me are very optimistic and confident. I know a lot about this business and I just really would rather stay focused ongoing out here ask doing what we can continue to do, continue to try to race, be competitive, hopefully be contenders and maybe have a crack to win here and there. Let it go a little further.
There's five races under our belt and finally our first piece of forward momentum after Bristol. We have 20 races to go before the Chase starts. I would rather just, before I really -- we do have good speed. We are very far behind on one hand. On the other hand, if a number of other people have below-average or average luck and we have below average luck going forward, certainly we have a shot at it.
It just all comes down to, I don't know. I don't watch other people. I don't know how many other people are going to have as many, you know, 40th place finishes as we have. All things equal, I feel real confident as far as all things equal; if everybody has as much trouble as we ever, then I feel very confident. We have good speed and a great race team. My focus really is not as much on points as it is going out and doing a good job for Hendrick Motorsports. I believe that even though we had two DNFs and a blown tire in the first five races, that we have done a great job and I feel like I have made a contribution not only to the five, but to the whole group together. And I think going forward, we can maybe even hopefully have even more of an impact and more of a positive influence on everyone.
Every time I strap in that race car, I'm putting everything I've got on the line. That's fair to say. Not to say that I didn't always do that, but certainly you can believe one thing, you know, we are not strapping that thing. I am very aware that this is the opportunity of a lifetime for me to be driving the 5 car.
THE MODERATOR: Mark Martin, thank you, sir, for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us, and best of luck this weekend.
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500
MARTIN'S VILLE: Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet, is a two-time winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The veteran driver started 12th and led 33 laps en route to his first Martinsville win on April 26, 1992. Eight years later -- on April 9, 2000 -- Martin returned to Victory Lane after starting 21st and leading 64 laps.
TRACK STATS: In 42 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville, Martin has recorded two victories, 11 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s. The NASCAR veteran also earned three consecutive pole positions at the short track from September 1990 through September 1991.
STILL MORE TO LEARN: Martin, who will make his 728th Cup start on Sunday, will drive the Impala SS for the first time at Martinsville during Friday's practice session. This weekend also will mark his first laps on the short track since October 2006.
THE NO. 5 TEAM AT MARTINSVILLE: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson (2005-present), the Kellogg's/CARQUEST team has earned three top-five finishes and six top-10s at the paperclip-shaped track. The team has led a total of 116 laps, including 106 in October 2007.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-515 for Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway. The chassis finished sixth at Martinsville last October and was tested at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway in January.
POLE MAN: Martin earned his second consecutive pole of the season last Friday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Martin, who hadn't earned a pole since 2001, claimed his 42nd career pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway and his 43rd at Bristol.
TO THE POINT: Martin improved to 31st in the Sprint Cup standings after finishing sixth last weekend at Bristol. The team used the top-10 run -- its first of the season -- to inch 46 points closer to making the cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The No. 5 team improved from a 189-point deficit to 143 with 21 races remaining until the cutoff.
HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARY: Sunday's race marks the 25th anniversary of the first Sprint Cup Series victory for team owner Rick Hendrick. On April 29, 1984, Geoff Bodine drove the No. 5 Chevrolet to the team's first win in eight starts. Since that time, Hendrick has earned 175 Cup wins, which ranks him first among owners in the modern era and second all-time.
HENDRICK AT MARTINSVILLE: Hendrick, who grew up in nearby Palmer Springs, Va., has watched his teams have more success at Martinsville Speedway than any other active track on the Cup circuit. At Martinsville, Hendrick Motorsports has achieved team bests in wins (17), top-five finishes (51), top-10 finishes (82) and laps led (6,134 laps). Hendrick's 14 pole positions at Martinsville ties a company best with Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.
FOR THE FANS: Martin will host his fifth annual Fan Appreciation Days at his car dealerships and museum in Batesville, Ark., on April 9-10. Martin, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, will be in attendance both days. Two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart will be on hand April 9 at 3 p.m. local time, while Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick will make an appearance April 10 at 10 a.m. Martin's teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be there April 10 at 2 p.m. All guests will participate in a question-and-answer forum as well as an autograph session. The museum will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Visit www.MarkMartinMerchandise.com for more information.
QUOTES:
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON WHY HE HASN'T COMPETED AT MARTINSVILLE SINCE 2006.): "Martinsville was certainly not my favorite track. I have had a good bit of success there, but it's a very frustrating and challenging little racetrack. Even though I've gotten pretty good results there, it can be brutal physically as well as hardware-wise."
MARTIN (ON HOW CHALLENGING MARTINSVILLE IS.): "For me, it's one of the more challenging racetracks that we run physically and mechanically both. I've had so many people tell me that I run good at Martinsville, but it always feels like I'm struggling even when we're doing good."
MARTIN (ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF RICK HENDRICK'S FIRST WIN IN THE NO. 5 CHEVROLET.): "Just to be in the No. 5 car for the 25th year anniversary means a lot to me because I was around to see it in the beginning, and a lot of folks who follow the sport weren't there then. It means a lot to me. The history of Hendrick Motorsports, the history of the No. 5 car -- it means a lot. Wouldn't it be cool to win it with the No. 5 car? That'd be really good for everyone -- for the team, for Hendrick Motorsports, for everyone. And Alan (Gustafson, crew chief), every time we talk about Martinsville, he talks about how good a setup he has for that place. All the Hendrick cars run good there."
MARTIN (ON HIS HEALTH HABITS AND THE FAMED MARTINSVILLE HOT DOG.): "I may eat one, if I was really hungry. When I'm starving I don't discriminate, I'll eat anything. But I try not to let myself get in that situation. Oddly enough, I was never crazy about their hot dogs even back in the day when I ate not so good. I liked their barbecue so I'd have their barbecue. I never thought much about their hot dogs, but I sure did like their barbecue."
MARTIN (ON THE SUPPORT OF HIS FANS.): "I really feel like I attribute my job right now, the job that I have right now, to their support. I've had enormous support from the fans over the years, and it's really been special to have these fan appreciation days there in Batesville (Ark.) because I'm not on such a limited amount of time, and I'm able to spend more time with the fans. It's been a lot different than the experience we have when we go in and try to have a two-hour experience. I'm there all day, and we're able to do some neat things and talk about old times, and I actually get to know the people better. So it's a real special event for me. I don't feel like I'd have the job I have if it wasn't for the incredible support I've had from the fans over the years."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON THE TEAM'S SUCCESS AT MARTINSVILLE.): "As a company, Hendrick Motorsports has experienced great success at Martinsville. It started with Geoff Bodine winning the first time they went there. Jeff Gordon's performance at the track is phenomenal and has provided a lot of insight to the track for the rest of us. I feel Jeff deserves a lot of the credit for why this company is so good there. His insight has helped us develop our cars so much better. He provided the starting ground for all of us. If you look back through history at this track, Hendrick has had a handle on the place for a long time."
GUSTAFSON (ON WORKING ON THE NO. 5 TEAM.): "I've basically spent my whole adult life thus far working on the Kellogg's/CARQUEST car. This team is a group of great guys who work hard and work hard for the right reasons. They're unselfish, and they deserve to win races and championships. Hendrick is a special place to work at and a fun atmosphere to be a part of. There's no other team I would want to work for. This is Mr. Hendrick's first car. This is what started Hendrick Motorsports. For that reason, I have made it my focus to return this car to the flagship car of Hendrick. It needs to be his pride and joy. That's its rightful place in the company."
GUSTAFSON (ON THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS' FIRST WIN.): "I am so competitive. When I get to the racetrack, I want to win for a lot of reasons. For Mark Martin, for our sponsors, for these crew guys. But above all of that, Mr. Hendrick is the biggest reason I want to win races. He is a great person and is without a doubt the best boss and leader in this business. If a race is special to him, which it's obvious that this one is for good reason, then it means that much more to me and every guy on this team for us to be able to win that race for him."
GUSTAFSON (ON WHAT THE TEAM CAN DO TO HELP ACCLIMATE MARTIN TO THE IMPALA SS AT THIS TRACK.): "With Mark not racing here since 2006, we're actually in the same position we were at Bristol last week. But to be honest, it didn't affect him at all. Mark is the best. Nothing is an issue to him. He didn't struggle there last week, and he won't struggle at Martinsville either. We may deal with a setup issue or chase the handling a bit, but I assure you it won't be Mark that has an issue. Every track we've been to this year, he's been fast his very first lap on the track. He doesn't need time to acclimate to anything. Mark Martin at 80 percent is better than 90 percent of the field."
Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes – Food City 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG'S IMPALA SS, Finished 6th
"I had fun today. I just wasn't happy with the car yesterday and I didn't think we were going to be very good today. We started the race and we really weren't very good. And one little change and on the long run, that car was on fire. I had a blast all the rest of the one. We made one last adjustment trying to get good enough to win and we stepped over the edge and wasn't so good that last run. It is just great for this team to get some forward momentum. But it was pretty awesome, that car was rolling on those long greens.
"I think all the tracks coming up will be great in that Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevy."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Post Qualifying Press Interview
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S / CARQUEST IMPALA SS -- POLE WINNER:
OUTSTANDING TO GET BACK TO BACK POLES, LAST WEEK IN ATLANTA AND TODAY AT BRISTOL
"It really feels good. The car felt so good today and the team is just learning. It's such a pleasure to drive that car. They're hitting the race track with great, great set-ups based on learning about what I like in the race car and everything. And it's no secret that we have not had the best of luck this year. And it's really nice to come back this week and display speed once again. We've got speed and the other part is going to turn around sooner or later, the luck part. But it's nice. We've got a great race team."
WHEN EVERYTHING IS GOING WELL, YOU WANT TO RACE ALL THE TIME. WITH A TOUGH START TO THE SEASON, DID THE WEEK OFF MAKE IT WORSE? DOES WINNING THIS POLE HELP?
"It does lift it a lot. The break that I had was two-sided. As soon as we have one good finish, we're going to start feeling better. But we've been a little bit nauseous. So if we would have raced last weekend, that was always that chance to turn the luck around. We don't have to turn other things around. Our stuff is rolling. This is a great race team. Eventually it'll come around. But the other side was that physically, I think for me, physically and mentally it was very, very good. I went to the shop on Tuesday after Atlanta and I went and saw those guys. And between that Tuesday and today seemed like a month. But it was a good month. I spent the time with Arlene and the family and didn't do anything or go anywhere. And for me, somehow or another, it eventually cleansed my disappointment and I came up here today with optimism. We're going to keep pounding until we get some great, great results. This is fun."
TALK ABOUT HOW GOOD YOUR CAR CAN BE ON RACE DAY AND COULD IT FAVOR YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO DRIVE CLEANER THAN YOU USED TO BEFORE IT WAS RESURFACED?
"It's way too early to make any kind of predictions. I look forward to tomorrow and running in race trim and comparing our times and our car to the competition. What I do like about the configuration of the race track is that there are much fewer wrecks than in the old configuration. But it's still a great challenging and very frustrating for the drivers. It's still really hard to pass. The technique for passing is different than the old track. But it's a challenge. So, these things are really hard to win. I look forward to it being our turn. We've got to continue to put the work in and the effort in and wait until things turn in our favor."
ON A RECENT HEADLINE THAT YOU WANTED TO COME BACK NEXT YEAR AND HAVE A FULL SEASON WHERE YOU START OFF BETTER THAN YOU DID THIS YEAR?
"That's way to premature. Sometimes when you dig for a scoop, really, really hard, you come up with something that just isn't ready yet."
IS THE HEADLINE INACCURATE?
"I'm not going to say that. It just isn't ready yet and that wasn't ready yet. There were a lot of words that went into that and I thought I painted a pretty clear picture."
WERE YOU MISQUOTED?
"I'm not saying that either. I'm just saying that most of the time when I deal with you guys, if I say one or two words that are out there a little bit, but I paint a very clear picture, you write the very clear picture. And I don't feel like that particular headline that you're talking about paints a completely clear picture. I'm not saying I didn't say it. I didn't mean that to be what it is. But I will tell you what I did say. I did say that I love what I'm doing and I'm not ready to quit. I did say that. I could be anywhere in the world today on a beach. Anywhere. This is where I want to be. I'm very happy to be here. I'm really happy to be driving the No. 5 car. I have not talked to one human being about 2010, not one person, about 2010 or any plans about that. Because I've had a horrible run of luck, that has not changed how I feel about what I'm doing. It doesn't make me want to quit and it doesn't make me want to drive worse. I'm the same as I was before I had the run of bad luck. You guys were the ones that said I wanted to win a championship. I told y'all that I wanted to drive a race car that could win a race. And I'm doing that. I'm very proud to say that I believe this race team, if all the stars line up, and I've sat on two poles and I'm really, really grateful for all those things. And I'm not in any shape ready to talk about 2010 and haven't discussed it with any person in my family or in my business circles. The word had not been uttered. I hope that's fairly clear."
WHEN YOU'RE AT A TRACK AND HAVE BAD LUCK, ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS?
"Well, this particular hat I'm wearing is the same hat that I wore at the other races. I had another one at Atlanta on Sunday, I think. That was the one I was wearing today and this is my favorite hat and I wanted this hat back. And when I put it on, (PR Rep) Kendra mentioned to me that maybe that's the bad luck. It really made me want to not wear it. But it's my favorite hat. And so, how I feel about lucky charms is I don't know about good lucky charms. But bad lucky charms, I don't want a four-leaf clover, I can tell that. I know you've heard this story. In 1989 or '90 or whenever it was, somebody at North Wilkesboro gave me four-leaf clover before the race and I got totaled before the green flag came out. It was one of those brake-check starts, and I got hit in the back so bad that we were ruined. We rode around but we were destroyed and the flag wasn't out yet. So I haven't ever been too big on lucky charms and I believe it will all come out in the wash.
"Unfortunately we've had three right out of the gate. But like I said, we would feel a lot worse if we were running 25th when all that stuff had happened. We're rolling and I'm very proud of that. I don't want to judge my season or what I'm doing based on the black and white result. I going to judge it on whether I'm making a contribution to Hendrick Motorsports and to my teammates and sponsors and my race team.
"And by the way, I kind of dig it that the fans have hollered a few times when I've had a good qualifying lap or led a lap or something. I think that's all pretty cool. Now results don't look very good. But if you look deeper, it has been a success even though it stinks, you know."
YOU DON'T STRIKE ME AS A BEACH GUY
"That's why I'm here (laughter). This beats any beach in the world."
IT HAD BEEN SEVEN YEARS SINCE YOU'D WON A POLE AND NOW YOU'VE WON TWO IN A ROW. IT WAS 20 YEARS SINCE YOU WON BACK-TO-BACK. HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT?
"Well, it's the No. 5 car. It really is starting to really showcase our engineer, Alan Gustafson and the people that back him up. He has some great backing on this stuff. We're figuring out, and every race is not going to be our best race, but we have definitely made progress. Alan and I were not very pleased with the way we ran in California, which we should have been because we were a 10th place car, but that's the worse we've been all year. Daytona was different, so that was our first real outing of the year. We have learned so much through each individual event, that I man, I feel good. We unloaded here, rolling. And we unloaded at Atlanta well, but this was even better. We still did our share of chasing some stuff around at Atlanta. That's a long-winded questions but it starts with Alan and his support."
ON THE SATURDAY NIGHT LEGENDS RACE, FOR YOU TO BE THE FASTEST GUY AT YOUR AGE TWO RACES IN A ROW, IS THAT ESPECIALLY GRATIFYING?
"It is especially gratifying and I have probably a keener interest in that race tomorrow night than a lot of guys. I'm sure everyone is interested. But I'm more interested. I raced with Rusty Wallace when we were teenagers. And I've known him and raced with him ever since, since 1977. I met him in 1976. So that's pretty cool. And also, I can really identify with the sentimental favorite that I get from a lot of fans and media because I understand that completely because to me, Junior Johnson is kind of that guy for me, here. And he's my sentimental favorite. Stick him up against Rusty at this stage of the game. It might be a little bit like stacking me up against Jimmie Johnson at this stage in the game, but you never know. He might surprise you. I'm working real hard to try to surprise some folks myself."
REGARDING BRISTOL, DID YOU HAVE A TIRE ISSUE OR SOMETHING HAPPEN ON THE CAR AND THEN THE TIRE WENT AWAY?
"No, I cut a tire. Now whether that tire was going down on the backstretch and then went flat going into Turn 1 is still debatable. But as I look back on it, we hadn't done an enormous amount of restarts with me back in the traffic. Like the one restart, I was in the front and drove away. The clean air was really important. I was a few cars back because I was like fourth, and there were lapped cars too.
"There were a couple of lapped cars that passed me. So I was driving the car really hard in dirty air and our car got better on the longer run and I think I was over-analyzing and over-judging the race car at the time and I think we just cut a tire all at once going into Turn 1. It's possible it could have been a slower leak down and that could have been part of the trouble I was having. But I really think it was just what I said, restarting a few cars back in dirty air and not doing that very many times during the race and not expecting it. I expected the car to be as fast as it was when I restarted on the front."
Martin makes it 2 poles in a row at Bristol
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — A week away from the racetrack gave Mark Martin the break he needed from his disastrous start to the season. It certainly didn't slow him down.
Martin won his second straight pole Friday with a lap of 125.773 mph around Bristol Motor Speedway, giving him the top starting spot in consecutive races for the first time in 20 years.
Two weeks ago in Atlanta, the 50-year-old Martin became the second oldest driver in NASCAR history to win the pole. That pole had been Martin's first since May 5, 2001, at Richmond.
"It's the (No.) 5 car," Martin said in giving all the credit to his Hendrick Motorsports crew. "We have learned so much through each individual event that man, I feel good. We unloaded here rolling."
It's the lift Martin and his team need after falling far short of their early season goals. His motor blew up at California and Las Vegas, leading to consecutive 40th-place finishes, and then he cut a tire at Atlanta while running fourth. That caused him to finish 31st and he heads into Sunday's race 34th in the Sprint Cup Series standings.
"As soon as we have one good run, one good finish, we're going to start feeling better," he said. "We've been a little bit nauseous."
Ryan Newman, who qualified second, can relate to that feeling.
He's also had a rough start to his first year with Stewart-Haas Racing — his best finish so far was 22nd at Atlanta — and he's 32nd in the standings. But he unloaded quick, was second fastest in practice, and posted a lap at 125.740 to just miss knocking Martin from the pole.
Three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson was third with a lap at 125.453. Bristol is one of just six tracks where Johnson has yet to visit Victory Lane, and his 17.4 average finish is only better than his marks at Indianapolis (where he's a two-time winner but has three DNFs), Infineon and Richmond.
"I've studied video, I have worked with engineers, I've driven many laps in my head and I started the whole process of convincing myself I love this track so my outlook is I love this place and cannot wait to get on track," he said before practice.
Greg Biffle qualified fourth and Kasey Kahne was fifth. He was followed by David Reutimann, Reed Sorenson and Dave Blaney. Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top 10.
With only 45 cars entered, only two were sent home. But the two who failed to make the field were Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs — the same two who started the season with such optimism after racing their way into the Daytona
Mark Martin Race Preview – Food City 500
WINNING DRIVER: Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, is a two-time winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The veteran driver earned his first victory at the track on Aug. 28, 1993, after he started from the pole position and led 67 laps. His second win happened on Aug. 22, 1998, when Martin started fourth and led 190 laps.
NO. 5 IN VICTORY LANE: The No. 5 team won the Cup race at Bristol on March 25, 2007, which marked the first race with NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow. The win with the Impala SS also marked the 600th victory for Chevrolet and the 200th NASCAR win for Hendrick Motorsports.
MARTIN AT BRISTOL: Martin has earned seven poles at Bristol, the most at any venue for the NASCAR veteran. In his 40 Cup starts at the short track, he has posted two wins, 15 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s.
TWO YEARS AGO: It's been more than two years since Martin competed at Bristol, which means he has yet to race there in an Impala SS or since the short track's reconfiguration in 2007. However, Martin got a taste of the speedway that year when he tested a Car of Tomorrow.
DOWN, BUT NOT OUT: Although 34th in the Sprint Cup standings, Martin is ranked 13th in driver rating at 86.4 and sits just 189 points outside of the coveted top 12. Alan Kulwicki famously overcame a 278-point deficit in the final six events to win the 1992 Cup championship, and Jimmie Johnson more recently made up a 156-point margin in five late-season races en route to the 2006 title. Although is has more competitors to pass than Kulwicki or Johnson, the No. 5 team has 22 races remaining before the cutoff for the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup.
FOR THE FANS: Mark Martin will host his fifth annual Fan Appreciation Days at his car dealerships and museum in Batesville, Ark., on April 9-10. Martin, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, will be in attendance both days. Two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart will be on hand April 9 at 3 p.m. local time, while Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick will make an appearance April 10 at 10 a.m. Martin's teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be there April 10 at 2 p.m. All guests will participate in a question-and-answer forum as well as an autograph session. The museum will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Visit www.MarkMartinMerchandise.com for more information.
CHASSIS 500: The 500th chassis built by Hendrick Motorsports will return to the track this weekend at Bristol with Martin behind the wheel. The chassis -- Hendrick Motorsports No. 5-500 -- was raced four times last season: at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May, Michigan International Speedway in June, Chicagoland Speedway in July and Kansas Speedway in September.
HENDRICK AT BRISTOL: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, has gone 16 straight races with at least one top-10 finish at Bristol, a streak that dates back to Aug. 26, 2000. At the time, the organization was a three-car team with Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Jerry Nadeau. Since 1986, when Hendrick became a multi-car team, the organization has recorded a top-10 finish in all but five of the 46 Bristol races. Hendrick Motorsports drivers have accounted for eight wins, 37 top-five finishes and 67 top-10s there.
TRACKSIDE: Martin will be a guest on SPEED's "Trackside" on Friday evening. The show airs live at 7 p.m. ET.
QUOTES:
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET (ON NOT RACING AT BRISTOL IN TWO YEARS.): "I have tested there, and I raced the truck on the new configuration once. I don't mean to be overly confident, but it's just a racetrack. I'm not concerned at all about neither having raced a COT there or not having a ton of experience. It's just a racetrack. I don't think it will be any problem for us."
MARTIN (ON HIS APPROACH IN HIS FIRST BRISTOL RACE IN AN IMPALA SS.): "Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and I have talked about it, and Alan's won there with the COT. He has a really good understanding of what we need for setup stuff, and he's been on the money everywhere else. It's just another track to us. I'm certainly not concerned. Everywhere I've ever raced, I went there for the first time sometime. This is not like my first time there anyway."
MARTIN (ON WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN AT BRISTOL.): "Bristol is a tough one to win because there are so many factors that come into it. Track position is major there, as it is everywhere anymore. Pit strategy is additionally important there. I used to always answer that question saying a good-handling race car, but, boy, I tell you it takes a lot more than that any more to pull one of these things off, and Bristol is a little bit more complex than some other places because it takes awhile to move your way through the field or pass cars."
MARTIN (ON IF BRISTOL IS LIKE TALLADEGA (ALA.) SUPERSPEDWAY, WHERE 'ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN.'): "I feel you have a lot more control over your destiny at Bristol than you do at Talladega. The problem is, the unpredictability of it is you don't know when the cautions are going to be. You can do a strategy that on one hand can turn out to be brilliant and then the cautions change that to not being such a good strategy. That makes it really tough. There's a lot that plays into it. Some of the factors you can't control and you have to make the best of the situation. The good thing about what I've seen the last several races as a spectator is it seems like they've stopped wrecking so much. Before they reconfigured the racetrack, the wrecks were getting out of hand so it seems a lot better now."
MARTIN (ON HIS GOALS FOR THE NEXT THREE RACES.): "The first goal is to finish a race -- the complete distance on the lead lap. That's the first one. No matter where we finish. Instead of trying to shoot the lights out, we really just need to complete the distance and continue to build our communications with Alan. Hopefully we'll start getting consistent finishes and results."
MARTIN (ON 'START AND PARK' SPRINT CUP TEAMS.): "I don't have any problem with it. When I came up into this sport, there were a lot of race teams that were not necessarily start and parks, but raced on a real tight budget; didn't buy many tires; would take the takeoffs from (another driver's) car. A couple of top teams, when they would take their tires off they'd roll them down to those guys, and they would load 'em up and they'd put them on in their pit stops. They never had fresh tires. Or they might buy a set or two for qualifying. I guess what I'm saying is when I started there weren't full fields of teams that raced like the full fields do today so I don't really have a problem with start and park guys. It's necessary to some degree when you don't have an excess of cars."
MARTIN (ON THE ECONOMY AND CHEVROLET.): "I'm optimistic, and I think everyone is. I'm optimistic that they're working to make a better company, stronger company for the long haul, and I know they're working on new products. Being a car dealer, I'm actually excited about the future and the new products that they're working on. I feel confident and comfortable that everything is going to be good."
MARTIN (ON THE SUPPORT OF HIS FANS.): "I really feel like I attribute the job that I have right now to their support. I've had enormous support from the fans over the years, and it's really been special to have these fan appreciation days there in Batesville (Ark.) because I'm not on such a limited amount of time, and I'm able to spend more time with the fans. It's been a lot different than the experience we have when we go in and try to have a two-hour experience. I'm there all day, and we're able to do some neat things and talk about old times, and I actually get to know the people better. So it's a real special event for me. I don't feel like I'd have the job I have if it wasn't for the incredible support I've had from the fans over the years."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET (ON HIS ROLE IN KEEPING THE TEAM MOTIVATED.): "The main goal is just keeping the guys positive and focused, including Mark. Things have definitely not gone the way we envisioned this year, but we can't afford to lose any of our intensity or our drive. We don't have the time to sit back and feel sorry for ourselves. What's done is done. If we keep working hard and pushing towards that first win, things will go our way. The best personal way I can lead and motivate this team is by example, so that's what I'm focusing on in the upcoming weeks."
GUSTAFSON (ON WHAT IT TOOK FOR HIS TEAM TO WIN AT BRISTOL IN 2007.): "It is a huge accomplishment to win at Bristol. Everyone in the sport knows how tough of a racetrack that is. We, as a team, have been fortunate to have a lot of success there. The key at Bristol is to have a good-handling race car, but also to be patient. You have to race your own race instead of focusing on the competition. The driver, the team, the pit crew -- no one can get distracted by their surroundings, which is easy to do there."
GUSTAFSON (ON HIS GOALS FOR THE NEXT THREE RACES.): "The main goal is to get back up on our feet. I feel that we've been kicked down a lot in the beginning of this season and we have to turn that around. We need to have solid finishes. Well, first we need to finish. Nothing we're doing -- as far as setup, speed, pit stops -- has been wrong. We've been doing everything right. We just haven't finished a race due to the two engines and the tire at Atlanta. So it's hard to say that we need to change what we're doing, because I don't believe that's the truth. We just need to start getting the finishes we deserve."
JR Motorsports Announces Plans For No. 5 Nationwide Program; Newman, Stewart, and Wimmer to join strong driver line-up in 2009.
JR Motorsports
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 16, 2009) - JR Motorsports today announced additional plans for its No. 5 NASCAR Nationwide Series team for 2009, with veteran drivers Ryan Newman, Scott Wimmer and Tony Stewart joining team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and all-time series wins leader Mark Martin for the 21-race schedule. Together the five drivers account for 91 Nationwide Series victories in 636 starts.
Wimmer will compete in six events in the No. 5 Chevrolet and Newman in four, with America's largest fastener distributor, Fastenal, as the primary sponsor. Stewart's one race for JR Motorsports will be in a Delphi-sponsored Chevrolet at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Oct. 16. He is already a race-winner in 2009, driving a Hendrick Motorsports entry to victory in the season-opening Camping World 300 at Daytona International Speedway. He has eight overall victories in 87 starts.
"This No. 5 team carries a strong tradition and a lot of expectations, and we are fortunate to attract such quality talent to help carry on that tradition," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We had a similar set-up with this team last year, and we were able to go to Victory Lane twice. Obviously with this driver line-up, there's no reason we can't exceed last year's win total."
The driver additions leave only two races on the No. 5 team's 21-race schedule unfulfilled - the road-course events at Watkins Glen on Aug. 8 and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Aug. 30. Driver plans for those races will be announced at a later date.
Newman is a seven-time winner in the Nationwide Series. Six of his victories came during a stellar 2005 season, in which he scored eight top-fives in nine starts and led nearly half of his completed laps (800 of 1,658 laps). He will join the JR Motorsports campaign for the following races in the No. 5 Fastenal Chevrolet Dover International Speedway on May 30, Chicagoland Speedway on July 10, Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 15, and Kansas Speedway on Oct. 3.
Wimmer is slated for six races in the Fastenal Chevy: Darlington Raceway on May 8, The Milwaukee Mile on June 20, O'Reilly Raceway Park on July 25, Iowa Speedway on Aug. 1, Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 21, and Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 11. He is a six-time winner with 29 top-fives and 68 top-10s in 171 starts. He captured four wins in 2002 en route to a career-best third-place finish in the championship point standings. His most recent victory came last season at Nashville Superspeedway for Richard Childress Racing.
"I am really excited to be associated with JR Motorsports and a great sponsor like Fastenal," Wimmer said. "I will be running at tracks that have been good for me in the past and look forward to my first event with JR Motorsports at Darlington in May. Hopefully, we can get the Fastenal car in the Winners Circle."
Earnhardt Jr., has already driven the No. 5 Chevy in two events this year, finishing seventh at Daytona and fifth at Las Vegas. He is scheduled for five more, starting with the April 4 race at Texas Motor Speedway. His is a 22-time race winner and a two-time series champion.
Martin, whose 48 victories make up the all-time career benchmark in the Nationwide Series, will drive the No. 5 Lipton Chevy on May 1 at Richmond International Raceway. He earned JR Motorsports its first-ever Nationwide Series victory at Las Vegas last March.
Fastenal is the latest of new sponsorship partners to join the JR Motorsports fold in 2009. Its 14-race deal with the No. 5 team was announced in January. Earlier in the year GoDaddy.com extended its partnership with Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports and included a 20-race sponsorship package with JRM's Nationwide Series teams. Unilever was introduced as a new partner last October, with its brands Hellmann's, Lipton, Klondike, and Degree splitting races throughout the 2009 season. Delphi returns for seven races, six of which will be for the No. 88 Chevrolet driven by Brad Keselowski.
JR Motorsports Announces Plans For No. 5 Nationwide Program
JR Motorsports today announced additional plans for its No. 5 NASCAR Nationwide Series team for 2009, with veteran drivers Ryan Newman, Scott Wimmer and Tony Stewart joining team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and all-time series wins leader Mark Martin for the 21-race schedule. Together the five drivers account for 91 Nationwide Series victories in 636 starts.
Wimmer will compete in six events in the No. 5 Chevrolet and Newman in four, with America’s largest fastener distributor, Fastenal, as the primary sponsor. Stewart’s one race for JR Motorsports will be in a Delphi-sponsored Chevrolet at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Oct. 16. He is already a race-winner in 2009, driving a Hendrick Motorsports entry to victory in the season-opening Camping World 300 at Daytona International Speedway. He has eight overall victories in 87 starts.
“This No. 5 team carries a strong tradition and a lot of expectations, and we are fortunate to attract such quality talent to help carry on that tradition,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We had a similar set-up with this team last year, and we were able to go to Victory Lane twice. Obviously with this driver line-up, there’s no reason we can’t exceed last year’s win total.”
The driver additions leave only two races on the No. 5 team’s 21-race schedule unfulfilled – the road-course events at Watkins Glen on Aug. 8 and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Aug. 30. Driver plans for those races will be announced at a later date.
Newman is a seven-time winner in the Nationwide Series. Six of his victories came during a stellar 2005 season, in which he scored eight top-fives in nine starts and led nearly half of his completed laps (800 of 1,658 laps). He will join the JR Motorsports campaign for the following races in the No. 5 Fastenal Chevrolet: Dover International Speedway on May 30, Chicagoland Speedway on July 10, Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 15, and Kansas Speedway on Oct. 3.
Wimmer is slated for six races in the Fastenal Chevy: Darlington Raceway on May 8, The Milwaukee Mile on June 20, O’Reilly Raceway Park on July 25, Iowa Speedway on Aug. 1, Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 21, and Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 11. He is a six-time winner with 29 top-fives and 68 top-10s in 171 starts. He captured four wins in 2002 en route to a career-best third-place finish in the championship point standings. His most recent victory came last season at Nashville Superspeedway for Richard Childress Racing.
"I am really excited to be associated with JR Motorsports and a great sponsor like Fastenal,” Wimmer said. “I will be running at tracks that have been good for me in the past and look forward to my first event with JR Motorsports at Darlington in May. Hopefully, we can get the Fastenal car in the Winners Circle.”
Earnhardt Jr., has already driven the No. 5 Chevy in two events this year, finishing seventh at Daytona and fifth at Las Vegas. He is scheduled for five more, starting with the April 4 race at Texas Motor Speedway. His is a 22-time race winner and a two-time series champion.
Martin, whose 48 victories make up the all-time career benchmark in the Nationwide Series, will drive the No. 5 Lipton Chevy on May 1 at Richmond International Raceway. He earned JR Motorsports its first-ever Nationwide Series victory at Las Vegas last March.
Martin looking to shrug off early-season misfortunes
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Five weeks ago, Mark Martin was the talk in NASCAR as the 50-year-old driver secured the outside pole position for the season-opening Daytona 500 in his first start for Hendrick Motorsports.
After hooking up with owner Rick Hendrick and teaming with superstars Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin was gearing up for perhaps his biggest championship campaign. In a preseason poll, the media picked Martin to finish eighth in the Sprint Cup Series point standings.
However, the early season has not been exactly what Martin and his No.5 Hendrick team had anticipated.
Martin finished 16th in the rain-shortened Daytona 500, but has placed outside the top-30 in the last three races. He suffered engine failure at California and Las Vegas and ended up with a pair of 40th-place finishes. Martin won the pole for last week's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta - his first pole victory since May 2001 at Richmond - and ran among the leaders for the first half of the race. But Martin cut his right-rear tire and spun, with the back end of his car smacking the wall on lap 216. He spent 10 laps behind the wall and ended up with a 31st-place run.
"This kind of luck cannot continue; it just can't," Martin told his team on the radio after the incident at Atlanta.
Martin is now 35th in owner points. He is just nine points ahead of 36th-place and former teammate Aric Almirola from Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.
This weekend's Food City 500 at Bristol is the final race before the current car owner points determine the top-35 guaranteed starting positions. The top-35 guarantees for the first five races in 2009 have been determined by last year's final owner points.
With 22 races to go before the start of this year's "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship, Martin has a lot of catching up to do if he wants to acquire a top-12 spot in points and make the "playoffs" for the fourth time in his career. He qualified for the Chase in each of the format's first three years (2004-06).
Martin has run a limited Sprint Cup schedule the past two seasons, sharing driving duties with Almirola in the No.8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet in 2008 and with Regan Smith and Almirola in the No.01 Ginn Racing/DEI car in 2007.
Last year, Martin was named driver of the No.5 Chevrolet for Hendrick, replacing Casey Mears, who moved over to Richard Childress Racing. Martin's crew chief, Alan Gustafson, helped Kyle Busch qualify twice for the "Chase" (2006 and '07) before Busch left Hendrick to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing.
As a 27-year veteran in the Cup Series, Martin has yet to win a championship but has finished runner-up in points four times, most recently in 2002 when he ended the season 38 markers behind champion Tony Stewart.
Martin is hoping his season's misfortunes will end at Bristol, where he won in 1993 and '98. He also has seven poles there, which is the most among active drivers. His No.5 team won at Bristol two years ago, with Busch taking the checkered flag for the first Car of Tomorrow race. Martin has not competed at the half-mile Tennessee track since the 2006 season when he drove the No.6 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing.
A disappointing finish at Bristol could possibly force Martin to qualify on speed next week at Martinsville and perhaps put him behind the eight ball as far as making the field for this year's Chase.
It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility for Martin to make a comeback, but Martin's team will have to step up to the plate even more to help him return to his once competitive form.
Martin Has Short-Track History
Mark Martin’s first pole in eight years at Atlanta last weekend may offer some further optimism, as he attempts to get an initially promising season back on course.
Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway, sites of the Food City 500 on March 22 and the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 on March 29, are places where Martin has also won poles. The Atlanta pole was the 42nd pole of his career.
Martin’s 1989 pole at Bristol led to a sixth- place result; his 1993 Bristol pole resulted with a win; his 1995 pole brought a fifth-place finish; his 1996 pole there resulted in a third-place finish; and his 2001 pole resulted in an unusual 34th- place finish.
At Martinsville, Martin has two poles, both in 1991 that resulted in finishes of 29th and fifth.
In all, Martin has two wins at Martinsville and one at Bristol and two at Atlanta.
Martin has 35 career wins, the first in 1989 at Rockingham, N.C., and the most recent at Richmond in 2001.
Martin’s best year in pole qualifying was 1989 when he won four poles.
Mark Martin's dream season turning into a nightmare as new team struggles early
This season wasn't supposed to turn out this way.
This was supposed to be Mark Martin's year.
The 50-year-old hooked up with Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports - the power-house home of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. - and the well-liked veteran was finally going all the way.
But with four races in the books, Martin is sitting 34th, 348 points out of first place, and in that danger zone of being outside of the top-35 in points.
Yeah, it's early, but a dream season has turned into a nightmare for Martin fans.
Martin qualified on the pole for last week's race in Atlanta. He was in the top-10 for the early part of the race, but ran over debris and into the wall on lap 216. He finished 31st.
"This kind of luck cannot continue. It just can't," Martin radioed his crew after the race.
A week before he had engine trouble at Las Vegas.
The guy just can't catch a break.
This was supposed to be Martin's year.
Martin has been around the sport for a long time, and, though he's been very close, he has never won a championship.
He was on track to be in the title mix a couple of seasons ago at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Yet, while leading the points, he refused to go back on his word of racing just a partial season, to chase the title.
With Hendrick Motorsports it seemed all of the parts would come together for Martin to first win races and then a title.
Hasn't happened.
Even though he's a veteran, Martin is with a new team and is being hurt by the testing ban NASCAR instituted to help cut costs.
"Mark is one of the unfortunate ones [hurt]," teammate Jimmie Johnson told reporters recently, also noting rookie drivers were likely to be hurt by the ban. "There's so little time to develop the cars, learn the tracks, to learn each other, it makes it difficult."
Johnson said Martin was an "amazing asset" for the team, but admitted that they're "learning at a slower rate" than anticipated because of the lack of testing.
Martin said winning the pole for Atlanta was the first step in changing the team's luck. He said the team had fast cars at Daytona (starting on the outside pole), California and Las Vegas. He had a fast one, too, in Atlanta.
Engine problems cost him two bad finishes, which is something he can't control. But, fast cars aside, he's sitting 34th in points, and now has to worry just as much about those behind him as he does those in front.
It's still early in the season, but there's no doubt loads can change between now and then. Martin and his team now have to fight to stay in the top-35, and then worry about getting into the top-12 in time for the chase.
Maybe the expectations were a bit too high going in for Martin and the new team.
He's always been a tough competitor, so no one should be surprised if the team turns around in the coming weeks and gets back into the top of the charts.
Bringing home a championship this year, after this start, however, may require Martin to pick up skills as a magician, too.
Mark Martin can't shake typical bad luck
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If Mark Martin didn't have bad luck, he probably wouldn't have any luck at all.
He's learned that the hard way over his 27 years at NASCAR's top level. There have been four runner-up championship finishes and a myriad of small disasters on a resume that most likely will still go down as one of the greatest in series history. So is it really any surprise Martin's start to the season has been hit by misfortune?
It's not to Martin, who can't seem to catch a break.
"I do have a history of not being the luckiest guy out there," he said Monday, softly chuckling a day after yet another malfunction ruined what was on pace to be a top-five run.
He was fourth at Atlanta on Sunday when he apparently ran over something on the track, causing his right rear tire to fail. But despite a severely damaged Chevrolet, crew chief Alan Gustafson was able to get the car back on the track so Martin could limp it home to a 31st-place finish.
That followed a pair of engine failures in California and Las Vegas. Now, Martin is 34th in the standings and fighting hard not to get all negative again.
His unbridled optimism at the start of the season was so out of character for the 50-year-old pessimist, who was lured back to a full Sprint Cup schedule by Hendrick Motorsports. The equipment was supposed to give him his best shot at a championship. Instead, it's failed him so far, and Martin feels obligated to put on a brave face for his new team.
"I've been so bad over the years at judging my self-worth off of the results," he said. "I told everyone that I am mentally tougher now than I've ever been in my life, and I am working at living up to that. I could run off behind the house and slash my wrists, but I've got some good things to focus on. I am disappointed, but I am not down in the dumps and I don't feel worthless. I feel like I have helped make a contribution to the (No.) 5 team and I will continue to work as hard."
But there's not much more Martin can actually do.
Gustafson wants to meet Tuesday at Hendrick headquarters, hoping Martin will tell him what the crew chief can do to save their season. It's a laughable suggestion because unless they can find a four-leaf clover between now and the next race, the duo is doing everything right.
Martin won the outside pole for the season-opening Daytona 500, and had the race not been called for rain 48 laps short of the end, he's certain he would have finished higher than 16th. He didn't have a winning car in California, but might have eked out somewhere around a 10th-place finish. He was even better at Las Vegas. But the back-to-back engine failures relegated him to a pair of 40th-place finishes that were out of his control.
"I hate it," car owner Rick Hendrick said Monday. "I'm embarrassed by the fact he's had mechanical failures. But he's a trooper and he's had rotten luck before. We did have a lot of high expectations, and we're not going to give up."
Hendrick has statistics and history on his side.
Hendrick equipment is typically sound, and rare failures are usually isolated incidents because the organization buckles down and doesn't make the same mistakes twice. So Hendrick is convinced Martin's bad luck will soon run its course.
And at just 189 points out of 12th-place - the final qualifying spot for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship - Hendrick knows Martin can make up the difference over the next 22 races. After all, Jimmie Johnson made up 165 points over five races during his 2007 title run.
"The man can get it done, I tell ya," Hendrick said. "I am more confident of that than ever. And I am more dedicated than ever to getting him what he needs to do that."
Alas, Martin's pessimism prevents him from being convinced. He figures the last three weeks have cost him roughly 300 points in the standings, and if he'd finished where his car was running before the failures, he'd be fourth in the standings.
He knows a comeback is mathematically possible, but he's not certain the competition will allow him back into contention.
"All they've got to do to keep us out of it is not wreck or blow up," he said. "We've spottted most guys 300 points. It's easy to make up 200 on one person, but it's hard to make up 200 on 20 people. But I'm not going to sweat it. For right now, it's out of our control."
See, Martin is done dealing with expectations. If he and Gustafson had not started the season on such a high, their crash would not have been so hard. So certain this was going to be a magical year, it wasn't the engine failure that so devastated them in California - it was the fact they were only a 10th-place car that set them on a downward spiral.
So Martin is resetting his goals. The Chase, and a championship, is no longer high on his radar. Instead, he'll focus on what lured him to Hendrick in the first place: the chance to win his first Cup race since 2005.
One victory could lead to two, and those are the small steps Martin wants to focus on now.
"I have to move my priorities around in my head a little bit," he said. "Expectations, they are tough. That's why I try to be real careful about them because I certainly expected to be sitting better in the points standings right now. But I couldn't have expected to be any more competitive, and that's what we'll work on from here on out."
Martin turns back clock to capture Atlanta pole
It's been more than eight years since he last won a NASCAR Sprint Cup pole, but that didn't stop Mark Martin from turning back the clock and grabbing the top time in Atlanta today.
Martin turned in a fast lap time of 187.045 miles per hour to score the pole for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday with the green flag start time of 2:00 p.m. (ET).
Martin's last pole was at Richmond in 2001 when he was still driving for Jack Roush.
"It's pretty cool for (crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) and the guys to pull this off," said Martin, who will pace the field to the green flag for the first time in 257 races." They're a real special group and I'm just so happy for them. We need to win this race."
Martin admitted that his qualifying lap was a hairy ride and despite having 46 Sprint Cup starts under his belt at AMS, the speed at the 1.54 mile circuit still gets his attention.
"From Turn 1 to Turn 4 you are holding on for dear life," said Martin, who won here in 1991 and 1994 and also won the pole here in 1992. "With the sun out, for this speed of race track - I don't know what words to use - under the best conditions it's very treacherous. I think the thing you've got to do is have the best race car on the track and then you don't have to drive it as hard. If you have to drive it as hard as it can go, it will be all over the race track. The only way you can make it comfortable is if you can drive it at 90 per cent."
Martin started the season on the outside pole for the Daytona 500 but slipped back for a 16th place finish. He dropped out the past two events with engine troubles and said that it's important for the confidence of his team to have a good weekend in Atlanta.
"I've thought more about the race team than I did about me - I have pretty tough skin," Martin said. "I have a real soft spot in my heart for the people that are digging so hard. This is awesome for them. It's good for me and all that, but it's awesome for them it's the first real solid step of turning around our luck and what has happened."
Martin was also fastest in practice on Friday but said that they still have some work to do to get the car ready for Sunday.
"We've got to make this thing drive good," Martin said. "It was a handful in practice. Just because we got the pole doesn't give us a leg up in the race."
Kurt Busch will also start on the front row after checking in at 186.365 MPH. He said that he was surprised that he was able to put in the second fastest lap of the session.
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"It felt like coming to the green that we were going to have our hands full and it was going to be a busy thirty seconds," Busch said. "As the lap progressed I felt like the car was sticking well. I was a little tentative and I'm a little surprised we are sitting here right now. We changed everything but the kitchen sink to get to where we are right now."
Busch said that when he saw Martin put up the only 187-plus MPH lap that he instantly knew it would take the pole.
"It's amazing when you hit a lap as good as Mark did tonight," Busch said. "I think everyone saw that lap get posted and thought 'man I can't touch that.' If you hit it just right, you don't know if you are tight or loose. You just hope that the lap ends. I think that's the feeling everyone had tonight. I'm surprised we qualified that well. We ran a different groove and maybe that came into play."
Jamie McMurray qualified third while Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle round out the top five. Kyle Busch, who won last Sunday in Las Vegas, qualified ninth while points leader Jeff Gordon will start 16th.
Todd Bodine, Scott Riggs, Jeremy Mayfield and Geoffrey Bodine had to qualify on time and missed the cut.
Mark Martin Pole Winner Interview - KOBALT Tools 500
5 KELLOGG'S / CARQUEST IMPALA SS -- POLE WINNER
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR 42ND CAREER POLE, YOUR LAST ON WAS IN MAY, 2001 AT RICHMOND, HOW DOES IT FEEL?
"I feel like a rookie, I really, really do. Not only did the lap scare me and I felt like I ran out of talent up off of turn four, there was no possible way I could hold my foot on the floor and not hit the wall with the back end first up off of turn four. It was really fun, I live to scare myself like that, that is part of it. But, I continued to be nervous all the way through the rest of qualifying much like I used back in the early '90s when we lucky enough to get poles back then. Has been a long time. I do want to commend the No. 8 car bunch for putting me the outside pole six times last year, which was pretty incredible. But I wouldn't come out of the trailer until (Travis) Kvapil (final qualifier) ran. I would not budge because that would just be my luck. So, I feel like a rookie right now. It was a previous strenuous qualifying session I'm looking forward to working on race setup tomorrow."
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW THE TIRE IS OUT THERE?
"With the sun out, it is for this speed of race track and everything, it is, I don't know what words to use, under the conditions I think it is very treacherous. I think the think you have to do is have the best race car on the track and then you don't have to drive it as hard so then it feels like it is handling good because if you drive it as hard as it will go, it is going to be all over the race track and feel horrible. Our challenge tomorrow for Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and I will be to find, you aren't going to make the car comfortable. The only way it is going to be comfortable is if you are able to run it at 90% so we are going to have to find the greatest speed that we can so that we can do this thing and keep it under us and hopefully we can finish a race which is really...I don't know we finished Daytona, but we didn't really finish Daytona. So Alan and I don't really feel like we have got to work together completely yet. We are making great progress there, but it is going to be a challenge as far as getting the car setup comfortable."
DOES THIS FEEL LIKE A REDEMPTION AFTER YOUR BAD LUCK THE PAST TWO WEEKS?
“To be real honest with you, I thought more about the race team than I did about me. I have pretty tough skin. I have a real soft spot in my heart for the people that are diggin' so hard. This is awesome for them. It is good for me and all that, but it is awesome for them. It is the first real solid step of turning around our luck in what has happened. Now you can always find a silver lining if you look hard enough and I am getting pretty good at that. The silver lining is we had fast race car at Daytona and a top-10 car at California and a top-five car in Vegas in the race. I think that all of guys kept their chins up because of that. This is cool, it is just cool. All it is, we won a competition tonight. Doesn't really have any implications about what will happen Sunday, but we won a competition tonight."
HAS THERE BEEN A TIME PRIOR THAT THE CAR AND TIRE JUST DIDN'T SEEM TO WORK TOGETHER ON THE RACE TRACK?
"We have had different occasions but it hasn't been exactly like this. In as confined as Darlington is, it still for me, still easier to drive. This thing is so big and so sweeping that when you are sliding for life from turn one to turn four, you are sliding for life for a long time. The guys with the best handling cars, if they are able to run their cars at 90%, their cars are going to feel good to them. But if somebody were to push them out to that 100%, they are going to be a handful. Just to give you an example, I have quite a bit of experience driving these cars and I said most of the time, I told Alan, I don't know what to do. Just let me run again, just let me practice and we were in qualifying trim. But I didn't know how to tell them to make the car better, we tightened it up after the first run and that made it worse. So then we loosened it up, and from there, I practiced driving which is kind of unusual. From there we made almost no changes on each of our runs. It is ok. It is what it is. But it just is a challenge.
"Darlington was a challenge and Rockingham was a challenge but the speeds were lower and the corners were sharper. It seemed like you didn't slide as long as far. A lot of it has to do with the fact the race track is getting wore out, which is how you really want them. I mean, that is how every driver really wants a race track. But for some reason, we have gotten in to a situations where it hard to make the tire grip to start with. It would be ok if they were real slippery at the end, but you put new tires on and they were really really good. But they don't feel good when they are new and then go down hill from there. It is not the tires fault, it is the combination of the super high speeds and those long corners. Like you have those short corners at those other tracks."
ARE THE RECENT ENGINE ISSUES JUST A RESULT OF PUSHING THE CARS SO HARD?
"No, our deal in California was a valve spring. A new batch of valve springs that weren't as durable in hindsight as the old batch. Our failure in Vegas is more unexplained. We burned a rod bearing and broke a rod and that just doesn't happen and we don't have a total explanation for that, but that is not related to RPMs or anything like that. If it was valve train trouble, it would be related to RPMs, but this was something that I'm not sure that the engine department are having to look at all kinds of things now. Beefing up areas that they thought they were good in. Ours was the only one that had a failure or showed any distress. It only showed distress I guess on that one journal. That is Mark Martin luck. (LAUGHS)."
YOU SAID YOU RAN OUT OF TALENT, BUT YOU SAT ON THE POLE. ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT ANOTHER DRIVER COULD HAVE DONE BETTER BECAUSE YOU ARE PRETTY GOOD?
"I've watched a number of these guys in action and they may not have thought they were even in trouble at that point. But it's obvious now looking back that we had enough speed across the center of the corner that lifting some off the corner, actually we continued to maintain our speed according to the tracker. It's pretty hard to match yourself up against some of these cats out there and obviously I'm happy to have won a competition tonight because it's pretty tough going out there now. We're going to keep going and try to do this kind of thing on one of these Sundays too."
Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes - KOBALT Tools 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST IMPALA SS, QUALIFIED 1st:
HOW CLOSE TO THE WALL DID YOU COME TO THE WALL? "I don't know, but I ran out of talent, that is for sure. I am still shaking so I don't know how good I can talk in this interview. I ran out of talent from the center off of four there, there was not way I could leave my foot on the floor and bring it back. Awfully, awfully proud to be driving for CARQUEST and Kellogg's and these guys. We don't have anything to show for what the effort that has been put in but we have had some fast race cars and we are going to keep getting faster. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) is doing a real good job of second guessing me. I think he learns how to second guess me, the better we are doing to do because if we had left it the way I wanted to, I would definitely would have hit the wall coming off of four. I think experience is just going to keep building for us as we go forward. He needs to because I am trying so hard that I will go right over the edge on some of these setup calls. We are making progress working together.
"I was pushing it pretty hard there even at half throttle up off of four there, I just about cleaned the wall out there. Real proud of these guys and this car that I am getting to drive."
YOU SAID YOU WERE A LITTLE WORRIED BECAUSE YOUR FASTEST LAP WAS SO EARLY IN PRACTICE, YOU HAD NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT: "Oh, I wish I would have believed you because I wouldn't be sick now. I will tell you what, I am still shaking, I feel like a rookie to be real honest with you. That is really, really, really cool. In the No. 8 car last year, those guys gave me six outside poles so it is pretty cool for Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) CARQUEST and Kellogg's and this entire bunch, especially after all we have gone through the first three races. The car has been fast. You know I did run out of talent on that lap at least we made it to the line sooner than anybody else so I am really proud for this team."
IT HAS BEEN ALMOST EIGHT YEARS SINCE YOUR LAST POLE: "I was nervous and sick at my stomach about the whole thing just to be honest with you. This is a real special group and I am just so happy for them. We need to go win us a race but this will give us a good starting spot."
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BE LOOKING AT IN FINAL PRACTICE? "We have to make this thing drive good. It was a handful in practice. Just because we sat on the pole doesn't give us a leg up on the competition for the race. It is all about getting that thing setup right and that is all in front of us tomorrow. We didn't do any race trim today."
Mark Martin Sprint Cup Race Preview – KOBALT Tools 500
ATLANTA WINNER: Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet, has scored two Atlanta Motor Speedway victories. On Nov. 17, 1991, Martin started fourth and led 190 laps en route to Victory Lane there. Martin also won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finale at the track after starting fifth and leading 119 laps on Nov. 13, 1994.
MARTIN AT ATLANTA: Martin will make his 47th career Sprint Cup start at Atlanta Motor Speedway this Sunday. He has earned two victories, 13 top-five finishes and 22 top-10s at AMS. He also has earned one pole position (March 1992) and has led a total of 924 laps at the 1.54-mile track.
THE NO. 5 AT ATLANTA: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the No. 5 team has posted a 12th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway four times, most recently during last October's race. The No. 5 team also scored 12th-place finishes twice in 2005 and in March 2006.
HOMECOMING: Rear-tire carrier Dion Williams hails from Stone Mountain, Ga., and attended Atlanta's Lakeside High School, where he was an all-state linebacker. After graduating from Wake Forest University in 2003, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings before taking a different career path. He attended a NASCAR pit crew tryout with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2004 and was later hired by Hendrick Motorsports (in 2007) as the backup jackman and tire career for the No. 24 Chevrolet. This is Williams' first season with the No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST team.
HENDRICK AT ATLANTA: In 50 events at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has tallied 10 wins, 45 top-five finishes, 69 top-10s and three pole positions at the 1.54-mile quad-oval.
HOT AT ATLANTA: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has recorded a top-10 finish in the last 18 Cup events that have been held at Atlanta Motor Speedway. You have to go back to last century to find the last time Hendrick Motorsports failed to record a top-10 finish at Atlanta. It was Nov. 21, 1999, and Hendrick was then a three-car team with drivers Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Wally Dallenbach Jr.
QUICK TURNAROUND: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-523 for Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This is the same chassis that Martin raced last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he was running fourth when his engine expired on Lap 122.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON HIS FIRST IMPRESSION OF ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): "I love Atlanta. The track drives just like the short tracks I raced on back in Arkansas. The track is like a monster, but it's really like a short track. I've always liked this track since the first time I raced it in 1982. I've been fortunate to run well there. I've never not been comfortable at Atlanta. I've never felt like we had a bad car. It's just one of those tracks that I instantly enjoyed racing on."
MARTIN (ON HIS FAVORITE MEMORY AT ATLANTA.): "I've won at Atlanta twice, so I should probably say one of those wins. But my favorite memory hasn't happened yet. It's going to be when I win there again! Hopefully this weekend."
MARTIN (ON HIS PLANS FOR THE OFF-WEEKEND.): "It's hard for me to think that far ahead. I know what I want to do. I want to just spend some time with (wife) Arlene and (son) Matt. We'll probably do something with family and just enjoy the down time."
MARTIN (ON RETURNING TO EAST COAST RACING.): "It does make a little bit of a difference to be back on the East Coast. Mostly, it's to be back in the time zone that you normally live in. It will be good to be in that same zone for a few weeks in a row. I like racing on the West Coast. I have fun out there. I like the locations and the tracks. But, yeah, it feels good to be back on this coast."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON HOW THE TEAM FARES AT ATLANTA.): "We've run really well at Atlanta, but we just don't have the statistics to back that statement up. Stats are stats, so it's hard to argue them, but I know that we've had good race cars here. It's a rough, slip-and-slide track that I really like to watch these guys race on. Mark (Martin) will do well for us. It's his kind of track and his statistics definitely show that. We're excited to get there with him."
GUSTAFSON (ON RECENT ENGINE ISSUES.): "I have always believed, and still do, that Hendrick Motorsports has the best engine builders in the business. I know that they'll fix the problems that we've had, and it won't continue. Adversity is what builds strong teams. We've definitely had our share already this season. It's in adversity that you really see how people are and how they react to situations. While unfortunate for sure, these issues will make us a stronger team throughout the season."
GUSTAFSON (ON THE SEASON OUTLOOK.): "I feel horrible for Mark that we haven't been able to give him a piece that has made it through a whole race, but I'm positive that we'll get that fixed. We've had great race cars. We've been strong in every race so far, we just haven't been able to get to the finish. We can't let this situation let other teams get ahead of us. They have more pit stop experience than us now, and more laps than we do. We just have to keep our performance up to the level it has been, and we'll be fine."
Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes – Shelby 427
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S / CARQUEST IMPALA SS Sidelined with engine failure
"I hate it. I sure would have liked to kept racing today. We had a good race car. And we were getting better. And we're learning each week. We'll have to get 'em next week.
DID YOU HAVE A SHOT TO WIN? "Well, not yet; maybe with some adjustments and maybe with some track changes. We were within striking distance. We weren't quite good enough yet. But we were within striking distance."
WITH ALL YOUR EXPERIENCE, DOES IT GET ANY EASIER TO LOSE A RACE LIKE THIS WHEN YOU HAVE A CAR THAT COULD WIN? "Well, it was a great run. I really feel bad for (crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) and all the guys on the No. 5 car. They're doing such a great job. And we're learning. We're getting better. It was a great run and I just wanted to give Kellogg's and Pop-Tarts and all our CARQUEST teammates something to cheer about today. It was a very encouraging run but also very disappointing."
ON THE RECENT ENGINE WOES HITTING EVERYBODY "I know we probably knocked our bearings out. We broke a rod. They'll figure it out. They're already all over it. Last week was pretty explainable. It was a different batch of valve springs. I've seen that movie before in my career. I know how that works. So, this one is a little bit more puzzling. The oil pump belt is still on it. I can't understand what happened. This stuff is usually bulletproof. But I feel bad for Alan and the whole race team. They're getting it done. They're doing a great job. We're getting better. We were better today. I think we were making progress also throughout the race. And we'll get better. But it's a pretty devastating result for us today."
ARE THESE ISOLATED INCIDENTS? "Yeah, these are separate. They are definitely separate incidents. Completely. The first one, that happens. It's happened more than once, probably, at Roush's with us. You know, you go into a new lot of valve springs. That was pretty explainable. This one doesn't make much sense."
NASCAR
March 25, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Home - Martinsville Speedway
Hendrick Motorsports
March 24, 2009
GM Racing
March 22, 2009
BRISTOL, TN - MARCH 20: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet poses for a photo after winning the Pole Position during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 20, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR
Bristol Motor Speedway
GM Racing
March 20, 2009
BRISTOL, TN - MARCH 20: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, talks about his qualifying lap during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 20, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Jenna Fryer – AP Auto Racing Writer
March 21, 2009
Bristol Motor Speedway
Hendrick Motorsports
March 18, 2009
PaddockTalk Perspective
March 16, 2009
By Chris Symeon, Motorsports Editor
The Sports Network - NASCAR Sprint Cup
March 16, 2009
PaddockTalk Perspective
March 12, 2009
By Richard Huff
New York Daily News
March 12, 2009
The Associated Press
March 9, 2009
Pole winner Mark Martin, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
NASCAR-CUP > Atlanta, 2009-03-06 (Atlanta Motor Speedway): Friday qualifying
Image by Action Sports Photography
By Aaron Bell – Motorsport.com
March 6, 2009
GM Racing
March 6, 2009
GM Racing
March 6, 2009
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Hendrick Motorsports
March 3, 2009
GM Racing
March 1, 2009
Finished 40th
