Added December 16, 2010
Mark Martin was one of those who tested and, due to the newly paved track's infield being closed to the public, was part of a four-man consensus of opinion due to drivers' limited availability.
Martin, who has 131 career Daytona starts in stock cars, trucks, sports cars and IROC stretching back to 1982, had one surprising observation.
"There are a couple of places they had to come back and patch that I'm sure they're disappointed with, but I've never known this place when it wasn't rough -- but it's not now," Martin said during the lunch break. "I think they've done a nice job with it -- it's really smooth. So I'd give them a high grade."
Daytona spokesman Lenny Santiago explained what Martin actually saw were two areas that had been "ground" to bring them into the surface tolerances the track, its engineers and paving contractors had established.
"There were several areas, during the paving process, that we had to tear up and repave as we did our standard tolerance tests for smoothness," Santiago said. "There were a couple spots -- one in particular between Turns 3 and 4 that was ground a little more than the other area -- and because it became a different color than the surrounding asphalt, we coated it with a surface coating to match the colors.
"It visually does look different but it's all within the same tolerances for smoothness."
"I wish that they didn't have to repave it at all, but there really wasn't a great alternative after what happened last year -- sort of one of those unfortunate set of circumstances," Martin said. "From a spectator's point, it will be a more exciting, more intense race than before. But from a competitor's point, your hands are going to be more tied than before."
Martin's No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team used a car with a 2011 body configuration and also had the new-for-2011 engine package, which uses E-15 ethanol.
"This is the first time I've even thought of it," Martin said of the fuel change. "From my standpoint, I didn't notice any difference."
But the highlight change for Martin was that he was working for the first time on a Cup car with crew chief Lance McGrew and the HMS crew that tended Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car in 2010.
Martin relished working with McGrew, with whom he won the 2008 Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for JR Motorsports.
"I love the guys so far -- everything is really smooth," Martin said. "I had worked with Lance before and won with him before. That went really well. I kinda knew what to expect. I've known Lance and been a fan of his since then. It feels like business as usual."
Martin did admit to doing sort of a double take as his garage stall was next to Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon's No. 24 squad. Gordon picked up crew chief Alan Gustafson and his crew, which Martin had worked with for his two previous seasons.
"Just kind of strange to look over and see 'my guys' working on the car next door, you know?" Martin said. "But I like these guys a lot -- everyone is enthused and energized and excited. It's a strong team and now it's just a matter of going out there and performing at the top of our game."
Added December 16, 2010
Mark Martin comments regarding Daytona International Speedway:
News-Journal Online.com
"Wow, it's real different," veteran driver Mark Martin said after morning laps. "I'd say not even similar to drive on. It's incredibly easy to be wide open the entire way around the track.
"It's real smooth with an obscene amount of grip. In all the years I've ever come to Daytona it's always been a really, really rough track. It's definitely not that way anymore."
"The racing is going to be crazy intense," Martin said. "A lot of tight, side-by-side, big-pack racing. The fans are going to love it."
Added December 13, 2010
M6M comment: Should Mark Martin fans sing "Hang On Loopie"?
The "You're Going The Wrong Way" Award: This one is given to the driver who had an unfortunately poor year. This award goes to Mark Martin, who had the largest drop in Driver Rating from 2009 -- 17.5 points. His struggles were surprising, his Loopie is not. He was the odds-on favorite to take home this not-so-coveted award. This year, Martin had no wins, 11 top-10s, a Driver Rating of 82.8 and a final points position of 13th. In 2009, he had five wins, 21 top-10s, a Driver Rating of 100.3 and a final points position of second.
Added December 6, 2010
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS MAKES PERSONNEL ADJUSTMENTS FOR 2011
MARK MARTIN, JEFF GORDON & DALE EARNHARDT JR. TO RACE WITH NEW CREW CHIEFS
CONCORD, N.C. (Nov. 23, 2010) – Hendrick Motorsports has made personnel adjustments in preparation for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, with drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. being teamed with new crew chiefs.
Below are the driver-crew chief pairings for each Hendrick Motorsports car, effective immediately:
No. 5 Chevrolet
No. 24 Chevrolet
No. 48 Chevrolet
No. 88 Chevrolet
The cars of Martin and four-time Sprint Cup champion Gordon will be fielded out of the same facility, now known as the 5/24 shop. Earnhardt Jr.'s Chevrolets will be prepared out of the renamed 48/88 shop alongside those of five-time and defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.
"This will improve us as an organization, across the board," said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. "We had a championship season (in 2010), but we weren't where we wanted and needed to be with all four teams. We've made the right adjustments, and I'm excited to go racing with this lineup."
Mark Martin Post Qualifying Quotes - Ford 400
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 8TH
ON HIS LAP: "Good run. Good run. Within a half of a tenth of the pole so far. Mighta coulda just got that if I had been a little less conservative in three and four. I really thought because the sun was out down there, I anticipated it to be a little slicker than what it was. I'm real happy to be this close."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Ford 400
MARTIN AT HOMESTEAD: Homestead-Miami Speedway is one of just four active tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit where Mark Martin has not yet earned a win. In 10 Cup starts at the 1.5-mile oval, Martin has posted four top-five finishes, including the runner-up spot in the 2005 Sprint Cup finale. In Martin's last four events at Homestead, he has averaged a finish of 10.3 and raced inside the top 15 during 774 of a possible 1,069 laps (72.4 percent).
MOST RECENTLY AT HOMESTEAD: In his previous Homestead-Miami Speedway start, Martin was battling for his first career Sprint Cup championship. The veteran driver started fourth and finished 12th, resulting in his fifth runner-up position in the final Cup standings.
ONE OF HIS BEST: Martin's average finish of 12th at Homestead is his fourth-best average finish on an oval track. He has an 8.6 average result at Phoenix International Raceway, an 11.1 average finish at Pocono Raceway and an 11.7 average finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Martin has won at both New Hampshire and Phoenix, but never at Homestead or Pocono.
LOOP STATISTICS: Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, owns the fifth-best average running position (12.4) in the last five races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Martin competed in four of those because he did not race in the 2008 Sprint Cup finale.
POLE SITTER: Martin's next Sprint Cup Series pole position will be the 50th of his career and will place him eighth on the all-time pole winner's list. Homestead-Miami Speedway is one of only six active tracks where Martin has not yet started from the pole.
THE NO. 5 AT HOMESTEAD: Since 2005 and under the leadership of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the GoDaddy.com team has earned one top-10 finish in five Homestead starts. The No. 5 team scored that result -- an eighth-place finish -- in 2008.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-595 for Sunday's race in Miami. This is the same chassis that Martin drove to a sixth-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in October after leading 41 laps.
2010 RECAP: In 35 races this season, Martin has earned seven top-five finishes and 11 top-10s. He has started from the pole position one time, for the season-opening Daytona 500. The GoDaddy.com team rebounded after a slight summer-time slump to finish no worse than 14th in the last eight Sprint Cup races. Martin has earned an average finish of 8.75 during that time and has advanced to 13th in the standings.
HENDRICK AT HOMESTEAD: While Hendrick Motorsports has yet to go to Victory Lane at Homestead, the organization has scored at least one top-five finish in six of the last 10 events held at the 1.5-mile speedway. Overall, Hendrick has scored nine top-five finishes, 18 top-10s and led 286 laps in 10 events (43 starts) at Homestead.
NEXT SEASON: Martin will return to drive the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, which will mark his 29th year of Cup competition and his final with Hendrick Motorsports. In 71 Cup events with Hendrick, Martin has scored five wins, 21 top-five finishes, 32 top-10s and eight pole positions.
2011 MILESTONES: Martin will make his 1,048th career NASCAR start this weekend at Homestead and will become tied with Michael Waltrip for the second-most sanctioned starts all-time in the sport's history. When the 2011 season opens, Martin could take over second position and trail all-time leader Richard Petty, who owns 1,184 starts. Martin also will reach a milestone in April 2011, when he makes his 800th career Sprint Cup start. He will be the eighth driver in Cup history to accomplish that feat.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON THE 2010 SEASON.): "I don't think this season is what anyone expected - the media, the fans, anybody. With the way 2009 went, I believe we all thought we'd be fighting for a championship this weekend in 2010. But that's not the way it worked. The summer months were brutal, and there was a time that we all got so frustrated and really didn't know what was going wrong. Then after New Hampshire in September, we just seemed to really figure it out. We've gotten it back, and we're definitely on the right track. We've had good consistent finishes, and we're running up front and leading laps again. That's the way this team should be performing. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) is one of the smartest people I've ever met, and I've never doubted his abilities. He has a great team here, and this is exactly how we wanted to be finishing the season. It gives us a lot to look forward to in 2011."
MARTIN (ON HOMESTEAD.): "My only goal this weekend is to win the race. That's what I want to do for this race team. And it will make the offseason feel so much better. (LAUGHS). It's going to be one heck of a race, that's for sure. These fans are going to get their money's worth. There will be no lack of excitement and no lack of drama. It will be fun watching my teammate out there trying to win his fifth championship. I really hope for him and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports that he brings another one home."
Team Chevy From The Driver's Seat - Ford 400
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET – 13TH IN STANDINGS
”My only goal this weekend is to win the race. That’s what I want to do for this race team. And it will make the offseason feel so much better (laughs). It’s going to be one heck of a race, that’s for sure. These fans are going to get their money’s worth. There will be no lack of excitement and no lack of drama. It will be fun watching my teammate out there trying to win his fifth championship. I really hope for him and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports that he brings another one home. I don’t think this season is what anyone expected – the media, the fans, anybody. With the way 2009 went, I believe we all thought we’d be fighting for a championship this weekend in 2010. But that’s not the way it worked. The summer months were brutal, and there was a time that we all got so frustrated and really didn’t know what was going wrong. Then after New Hampshire in September, we just seemed to really figure it out. We’ve gotten it back, and we’re definitely on the right track. We’ve had good consistent finishes, and we’re running up front and leading laps again. That’s the way this team should be performing. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and I’ve never doubted his abilities. He has a great team here, and this is exactly how we wanted to be finishing the season. It gives us a lot to look forward to in 2011.”
Mark Martin mystified by team's struggles and success in 2010
AVONDALE, Ariz. – Just eight weeks ago after the September race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Mark Martin says he sat in the next week's competition meeting and held up his hands when asked what the team could do to make the car better.
“I don’t even know,” he recalled saying.
Now that Martin has had three top-10s and no finish worse than 14th in the seven races since that race, he doesn’t really have an answer as to what has changed.
“I don’t know what we’ve done different,” Martin said Thursday in Phoenix.
What Martin does know? He is having a little more fun now during the Chase For The Sprint Cup – even though he’s not in the Chase.
Martin had only one top-10 finish and seven finishes of 20th or worse in the 13 races leading into the Chase. The performance had both Martin and crew chief Alan Gustafson scratching their heads.
“It was a real challenging summer for all of us because we all know how much talent is there and we just couldn’t get on it,” Martin said. “It really started at Dover. We ran considerably better at Dover than we had been running all summer, even though we finished 12th.”
Since that 12th-place finish at Dover, Martin was 14th at Kansas and then sixth at Auto Club Speedway followed by a 14th at Charlotte. In his last three races, he has a runnerup finish at Martinsville, 11th at Talladega and a third at Texas.
Martin is 13th in the standings, the highest he can be since he’s not in the Chase.
“It’s coming and now we’re really building upon the success and the performance that we get - our meetings are much better on Tuesday when we discuss what we can do to make the car better,” Martin said. “After New Hampshire, I just threw my hands up and said, ‘I don’t even know.’ Alan was the same way.
“It feels good. It feels really good.”
Martin said he has not lost confidence in Gustafson, and the recent performance shows the strength of the team.
“It’s such a great race team and Alan, I think the next 10 years Alan will really make a mark on this sport,” Martin said. “I really believe in my heart that he is the sharpest guy out there.
“It’s just amazing the decisions he makes, even when we were running bad, I felt like all the decisions he was making were awesome. We just weren’t running good for some reason.”
Starting 28th today, Martin has no finish worse than fourth in his three Phoenix starts with Hendrick Motorsports.
“This has been traditionally a very good race track for me, especially the last several times I’ve been out here. … We got a win here last year [in April],” Martin said. “We finished fourth here earlier this year and [we’ve] been fast the last six weeks and we feel like this could be a chance for us to get a win.”
Rotoworld.com:
Alan Gustafson, crew chief on the No. 5 driven by Mark Martin in the Sprint Cup Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix Int’l Raceway wins the Moog Problem Solver of the Race award.
The award is presented to the crew chief whose team finishes in the top 10 and posts the largest increase in average lap speed from the first half to second half of a race (0.134 secs). Martin started the race in 28th and finished in 8th. He is 13th in the 2010 Sprint Cup point standings.
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Kobalt Tools 500
POINT STANDINGS: With his third-place finish last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, Mark Martin advanced to 13th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, the highest the team can finish in the postseason. If Martin had qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, he currently would be fourth in the standings.
MARTIN AT PHOENIX: Martin, driver of the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, is a two-time Sprint Cup Series race winner at Phoenix International Raceway. Martin earned his first career win with Hendrick Motorsports at the one-mile oval in April 2009 when he started from the pole position and led 157 laps at PIR. Martin also went to Victory Lane there in October 1993 after leading all but 100 laps. Martin has earned 12 top-five finishes and 18 top-10s in 27 Cup starts there.
BEST AVERAGE FINISH: Martin's average finish of 8.7 at Phoenix is his best average finish at any oval track on the Sprint Cup schedule. Only Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International has been kinder to the driver, where he owns an 8.3 average finish on the road course. The NASCAR veteran never has finished worse than fourth when driving for Hendrick Motorsports at Phoenix.
LOOP STATS: According to NASCAR's loop statistics, Martin holds the second-best average finish (8.7) at Phoenix in the last 11 races and the fifth-best average running position (11.208). His 102.3 driver rating is the second-best and his 362 laps led are the third-most among all drivers in that timeframe. Martin competed in 10 of those 11 races.
MOST RECENTLY AT PHOENIX: Martin started 23rd and raced into the top-10 in April at Phoenix International Raceway. A two-tire pit call late in the race helped Martin secure a fourth-place finish.
NO. 5 TEAM AT PHOENIX: Since 2005 and under the leadership of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the GoDaddy.com team has earned two wins, two pole positions, four top-five finishes and six top-10s at the one-mile track. The team has led 235 laps in the last 10 Phoenix races.
PIT CREW AWARD: The GoDaddy.com pit crew earned the Tissot Pit Road Precision award for its performance last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The No. 5 pit crew spent the least amount of time on pit road -- a total of 305.658 seconds -- throughout the 334-lap race.
THREE WINS FOR THE NO. 5: Phoenix International Raceway is a special place for the No. 5 team, which earned the first win at the track for Hendrick Motorsports on Oct. 30, 1994, with Terry Labonte behind the wheel. Under the direction of Gustafson, the No. 5 team earned its second victory there on Nov. 13, 2005, and another in April 2009, marking the first win for Martin at Hendrick Motorsports.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-588 for Sunday's race. This chassis finished fourth in its debut in the April Phoenix race. Since then, Martin also raced the car twice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
HENDRICK AT PHOENIX: In 28 races (99 starts) at Phoenix International Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports owns eight wins, 28 top-five finishes and 50 top-10s. The team has won six of the last seven events held at the one-mile oval, and its wins, top-10s and poles ranks best all-time among teams there.
GODADDY.COM FAN EVENT: On Thursday, Martin and GoDaddy.com NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Danica Patrick will be at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix for the first GoDaddy.com Fan Frenzy. The event will begin at 2 p.m. local time and will include fan question-and-answer sessions, an autograph session and prizes, including a chance to spend time in the Go Daddy "Cash Machine."
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY.): "Phoenix has been a good track for me since we first started racing there. I've had a lot of success at that track. Short track racing just works for me. I love it. It reminds me of the tracks I grew up racing on. You know, I almost won at Phoenix in 2008, then turned around and got my first win with Hendrick there last year. I'll never forget that night, so this track will always be special to me for that."
MARTIN (ON HIS GODADDY.COM APPEARANCE.): "Any time I can just hang out with the fans and get to talk racing, I enjoy it. This appearance is really special for Go Daddy because it's right there in their home market. It's the first time Danica (Patrick) and I will be at an appearance together. And it's a great way to get all the fans together and really cap off the season the right way. It's more of a 'thank you' to the fans than it is an appearance for me or Danica to be recognized in any way. I hope there's a good crowd because that always gets me pumped up."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON PHOENIX BEING THE NO. 5 TEAM'S BEST TRACK.): "I don't know if I could pinpoint one track and say it's our best one overall, but if I had to Phoenix would be right up there. We've just always been really good there. It helps that we have had drivers that love short track racing and really get after it on the track. Mark was amazing there last year, and winning that first race with him was something just incredible for this whole race team and the entire Hendrick Motorsports organization. In fact, we've never finished outside the top five since Mark got in our car. Knowing that, and the history we had at the track before Mark, it makes going back to Phoenix a lot of fun for this race team. I think we'll definitely be in the front and battling for the win on Sunday."
GUSTAFSON (ON FINISHING THE YEAR ON A HIGH NOTE.): "It means everything at this point in the game. The highest we can finish in points is 13th, so we want to achieve that. We really want to win a race before this year is over, too. Watching how this team has come together over the last eight races has really been a confidence booster for all of us. We've been trying new things and really working hard to improve our performance. I think that we've done that. Ending the season when you're improving yourself is a great motivator when you're getting ready to hit the track in Daytona (Fla.). We're working the kinks out now and hopefully when 2011 starts we're a step ahead of a lot of these other teams. I don't think we're championship contenders as we are right now at this moment, but we're getting there. We're leading laps and running up front and putting ourselves in the position to win at the end of these races. That's what you have to do week-in and week-out to fight for a championship."
Team Chevy From The Driver's Seat - Kobalt Tools 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET – 13TH IN STANDINGS
“Phoenix has been a good track for me since we first started racing there. I’ve had a lot of success at that track. Short track racing just works for me. I love it. It reminds me of the tracks I grew up racing on. You know, I almost won at Phoenix in 2008, then turned around and got my first win with Hendrick there last year. I’ll never forget that night, so this track will always be special to me for that.”
Martin Back Up To Speed
You could forgive Mark Martin for wondering why the heck he spent so much of the season struggling when he’s running so well now.
Martin, last year’s surprise runner-up in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings, hit a deep slump midway through the season, going 18 consecutive races without a single top-five finish — this from a guy who last year won five races and scored 14 top fives. But over the last month, one of two things has happened: Either Martin suddenly remembered how to drive, or crew chief Alan Gustafson found some new and much-needed speed in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Obviously, Martin hadn’t forgotten how to drive during his slump, so the answer must be in his cars. Whatever it is, the turnaround has been startling. In his last five races, Martin has two top-three finishes, three top sixes and no finish worse than 14th. He’s led more laps in the last five races than he had in the previous 29 races combined. Clearly, he and the team are hooked up again.
The timing couldn’t better.
This weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup traveling circus heads to the Sonoran Desert and the tricky 1-mile Phoenix International Raceway oval, a place where last year Martin won his first race with Hendrick and ended a losing streak that stretched back to 2005, when Martin drove for Jack Roush.
In addition to his April 2009 victory from the pole at PIR, Martin also won here in 1993. And his average finish of 8.7 at Phoenix is his best at any oval track on the Cup schedule.
“Phoenix has been a good track for me since we first started racing there,” said Martin, who is 13th in points, best of any non-Chase driver. “I've had a lot of success at that track. Short track racing just works for me. I love it. It reminds me of the tracks I grew up racing on. You know, I almost won at Phoenix in 2008, then turned around and got my first win with Hendrick there last year. I'll never forget that night, so this track will always be special to me for that.”
Martin’s crew chief likes it, too.
“I don't know if I could pinpoint one track and say it's our best one overall, but if I had to Phoenix would be right up there,” said Gustafson. “We've just always been really good there. It helps that we have had drivers that love short track racing and really get after it on the track. Mark was amazing there last year, and winning that first race with him was something just incredible for this whole race team and the entire Hendrick Motorsports organization. In fact, we've never finished outside the top five since Mark got in our car. Knowing that, and the history we had at the track before Mark, it makes going back to Phoenix a lot of fun for this race team. I think we'll definitely be in the front and battling for the win on Sunday.”
And Gustafson is greatly relieved by the improved performance of the team.
“The highest we can finish in points is 13th, so we want to achieve that,” he said. “We really want to win a race before this year is over, too. Watching how this team has come together over the last eight races has really been a confidence booster for all of us. We've been trying new things and really working hard to improve our performance. I think that we've done that.
“Ending the season when you're improving yourself is a great motivator when you're getting ready to hit the track in Daytona (next season). We're working the kinks out now and hopefully when 2011 starts we're a step ahead of a lot of these other teams. I don't think we're championship contenders as we are right now at this moment, but we're getting there. We're leading laps and running up front and putting ourselves in the position to win at the end of these races. That's what you have to do week-in and week-out to fight for a championship.”
Martin’s Crew Takes Tissot Pit Road Precision Award in Texas
Mark Martin’s No. 5 crew claimed the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award in Sunday’s (Nov. 7) Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It was the first pit road win of the season for the No. 5 crew and the 17th different Tissot winner of the 2010 season.
Martin’s No. 5 CARQUEST/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet spent the least amount of time on pit road – 305.658 seconds—during the AAA Texas 500. The quick work by Martin’s crew helped the veteran driver post a third-place finish.
The No. 5 over-the-wall crew consists of: Kyle Turner (front-tire changer), JD Holcomb (front-tire carrier), Josh Kirk (rear-tire changer), Dion Williams (rear-tire carrier), Bailey Walker (jackman), Brad Pickens (gasman) and Travis Gordon (catch can). The crew chief is Alan Gustafson and the pit crew coaches are Mark Mauldin, Walt Smith and Matt Skeen.
“The No. 5 pit crew had a very solid week in Texas,” said Mauldin. “The team performed above expectations. We had been trying some new things in practice. We implemented them during the race and the guys were very solid with everything we did. We did have one slower pit stop, which really wasn’t all that slow, but we backed that up with another 12 second stop. We were very happy with their performance and hope it continues in Phoenix.”
Four teams are currently tied for first place in the Tissot season standings. The leaders are the crews for Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray with each team scoring four pit road wins. Clint Bowyer’s crew is one behind with three wins.
The Tissot season championship crew will receive a $105,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the over-the-wall crew members and driver. Tissot has already paid out $170,000 in prize money with $5,000 going to the weekly-winning crew.
In the event there is a tie at the end of the season for the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award championship, the tiebreaker goes to the team whose driver finishes the highest in the Sprint Cup point standings.
Event Description:
Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick and fellow Go Daddy NASCAR driver Mark Martin are set to make a rare public appearance together at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix Thurs., Nov. 11, just days before the Phoenix International Raceway NASCAR event.
Fans will have the chance to meet the Go Daddy drivers, get their autographs and try for a shot to cash-in on the Go Daddy "Cash Machine."
This event is free to the public and we encourage you to attend and spread the word about this unique opportunity.
What: Go Daddy’s NASCAR Fan 1st
Who: Go Daddy Drivers Danica Patrick & Mark Martin NASCAR Fans
Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes - AAA Texas 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: ON HIS RUN TODAY: "It was a real good run for us today. The car was stronger than we expected in practice, or stronger than I expected for sure. It was really awesome on the long runs, wasn't quite as sharp on the restarts on new tires, and Alan made a great, great call at the end. I think it ran better on the ten lap tires than it would have on new tires. It was a very good call. Like I say, the car ran probably better there at the end by not changing tires than it would have on new tires. It took it a while to come around."
DID YOU NEED THOSE RESTARTS AT THE END? "Well, we were going to be third without it, and when those two just about tangled, I was just in the wrong position to be able to capitalize. But if had been just a little bit different mix up, we would have been in position to capitalize on it.
"My race team, CARQUEST, and Go Daddy, I want to give a shout out to them for their support through this tough summer, and it's great to be a contender again."
An Interview With Mark Martin - 3rd placed finisher - AAA Texas 500
THE MODERATOR: We're now joined in the Samsung Mobile Media Center by our third-place finisher, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, Mark Martin. Mark, this is your 11th top 10 here at Texas which is most all time. It's also your seventh top-5 finish, best finish at Texas since 2005. Obviously a good day for you guys. Take us through it.
MARK MARTIN: It was a real good run for us today. The car was stronger than we expected in practice, or stronger than I expected for sure. It was really awesome on the long runs, wasn't quite as sharp on the restarts on new tires, and Alan made a great, great call at the end. I think it ran better on the ten-lap tires than it would have on new tires. It was a very good call. Like I say, the car ran probably better there at the end by not changing tires than it would have on new tires. It took it a while to come around.
THE MODERATOR: Did you need the restarts there at the end?
MARK MARTIN: Well, we were going to be third without it, and when those two just about tangled, I was just in the wrong position to be able to capitalize. But if had been just a little bit different mix-up, we would have been in position to capitalize on it.
My race team, CARQUEST, and Go Daddy, I want to give a shout out to them for their support through this tough summer, and it's great to be a contender again.
Mark Martin and the No. 5 team win the Pit Road Precision Award in the Sprint Cup AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The Tissot "Pit Road Precision Award" is given to the eligible driver who has spent the least amount of time on pit road. Martin earned $5,000 and a Tissot VA Quartz Chronograph watch. He finished 3rd in the race and moved up one spot to 13th in the 2010 Sprint Cup point standings. Nov. 7 - 8:47 pm et - Rotoworld.com
Mark Martin Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes - AAA Texas 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 9th
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT: "Really a great improvement. I am really proud of that lap based on what we were doing in practice. I see now that one more crack at it maybe we could have probably improved some yet. The guys did good. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) made some good adjustments there. We were 30th in practice; we're going to be a lot better than that starting the race. We'll be fine in race trim. The car drives really good, we just couldn't get it wired in quite where we needed it to go fast."
Delphi Continues 10-Year Winning Relationship with Hendrick Motorsports
Delphi brings Johnson, Gordon, Martin and their crew chiefs to the aftermarket.
Troy, Mich. - Delphi will continue its sponsorship of Hendrick Motorsports during the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The announcement was made at a press conference held at the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“This will be our 10th year with Hendrick Motorsports, one of NASCAR’s most successful teams, and we look forward to another winning season,” says Francisco A. (Frank) Ordoñez, president, Delphi Product & Service Solutions, and vice president, Delphi Corp. “For us it is about giving technicians access to the drivers and crew chiefs they look up to. We are partnering with the best, so we can give our customers the best.”
For the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Delphi will be featured on the uniforms of Hendrick Motorsports drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. In addition, crew chiefs Alan Gustafson, Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte will support the “Destination: Victory Lane” promotion at http://delphivictorylane.com. The website is designed to give technicians access to Delphi technology and repair information; driver extras like photo galleries and “Ask the Crew Chief”; daily and weekly prize drawings; and an all-new sweepstakes drawing for a grand prize opportunity to win the “Delphi Dream Shop.”
“The partnership with a leading automotive company like Delphi continues to be very important to us from both a quality and technology standpoint,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “They’ve been a key contributor to our success, and we look forward to celebrating our 10th season together in 2011.”
About Delphi:
Delphi is a leading global supplier of electronics and technologies for automotive, commercial vehicle and other market segments. Operating major technical centers, manufacturing sites and customer support facilities in 30 countries, Delphi delivers real-world innovations that make products smarter and safer as well as more powerful and efficient. Connect to innovation at www.delphi.com.
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - AAA Texas 500
CARQUEST CAR: The red, blue and white CARQUEST Auto Parts car will make its final appearance of the season on the No. 5 Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. CARQUEST Auto Parts will return to the hood of the No. 5 Chevy for eight races in 2011.
ONCE A COWBOY: Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 CARQUEST Auto Parts/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, wore the famed cowboy hat in Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway on April 5, 1998. Martin started seventh and led 37 laps, earning his second of seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins that season.
MARTIN AT TEXAS: Along with his 1998 victory at Texas, Martin has earned six top-five finishes and 11 top-10s in 18 Cup starts. He’s led a total of 172 laps at the Lone Star track and has a 13.2 average finish.
POLE SITTER: Martin’s next Sprint Cup Series pole position will be the 50th of his career and will place him eighth on the all-time pole winner’s list. Texas Motor Speedway is one of only six active tracks where Martin has not yet started from the top starting spot.
LOOP STATS: According to NASCAR’s loop statistics, Martin owns the fourth-best average finish—11.5—at Texas Motor Speedway during the last 11 races there.
MOST RECENTLY AT TEXAS: Martin and the No. 5 team overcame a 30th-place starting position in April at Texas to finish sixth. Martin never has finished worse than sixth while driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports at the 1.5-mile oval.
NO. 5 TEAM AT TEXAS: Since 2005, the No. 5 team has earned three top-five finishes and five top-10s at Texas under the guidance of crew chief Alan Gustafson.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-624 for Sunday’s race. This chassis never has been raced or tested.
POINTS: Martin earned the No. 5 team’s sixth consecutive top-15 finish last weekend at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The 11th-place finish advanced the team within 39 points of 13th place in the standings.
HENDRICK AT TEXAS: In 19 races (77 starts), Hendrick Motorsports has tallied three wins, 19 top-five finishes and 30 top-10s. The organization has led 1,191 laps around the 1.5- mile oval. Most recently, Jeff Gordon went to Victory Lane there for Hendrick in April 2009.
QUOTES
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON RETURING TO TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): “This has always been one of my favorite tracks. I am lucky to have a ton of fans here. It’s not too far from Batesville (Ark.) so a lot of the locals that watched me race as a kid come out here and still cheer me on. It’s a great feeling. We were good here in April, and I think that we’re even better now, as a team, than we were then. So I’m looking forward to it. I think this team has a win in it this year, and the races are clicking away, so maybe Texas will be where we can check that off.”
MARTIN (ON BATTLING FOR 13TH IN POINTS.) “To me, every position is important. We didn’t miss the Chase and then just give up. We knew that we wanted to improve our program and get better results, and we’re doing that. We want to win races, and I think that we’re capable of doing that again. And throughout all of that, you want to get to the highest points position you can. For us that’s 13th. So if we can achieve that—get to the best we can—then that’s definitely a positive for this race team. It’s a good way to end the season and a good starting point for 2011.”
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON THE TEAM’S INTERMEDIATE PROGRAM.): “California was a really nice improvement—that’s a little bigger, a two-mile track. And at Kansas, we had a great car. We had to start in the back from our engine problem, but we made gains there. At Charlotte (N.C.), we had a good car, but it’s such a track position battle. We lost some of that and got behind. It’s not where we want to be yet, but I feel like we’re a lot better than we were in the summer on intermediate tracks. We’ve made some improvements, but we have a little more to go.”
GUSTAFSON (ON THE IMPORTANCE OF TRACK POSITION.): “When they repaved Charlotte, you have to run such a hard tire that they don’t really fall off. The cars are so equal, especially in the fall race, that no one is passing. There’s too much grip so whoever is out front takes off. At Texas, the surface is more worn out. It will be hotter and slicker. So I don’t think it will be as track position dependent as Charlotte was.”
GUSTAFSON (ON BATTLING FOR 13TH IN POINTS.): “You always want to get as high in points as you can; win as many races as you can; lead as many laps as you can. It’s all about goals. You have to have them. In the situation we’re in, we can’t just say ‘We didn’t make the Chase, so we have no goals.’ There are goals to win. Goals to get to 13th. Goals to consistently run up front. I think the opportunity to finish 13th is right there in front of us right now. It’s something we want to, and need to, achieve.”
Team Chevy From The Driver's Seat - Mark Martin - AAA Texas 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET -- 14TH IN STANDINGS
"Texas has always been one of my favorite tracks. I am lucky to have a ton of fans here. It's not too far from Batesville (Ark.) so a lot of the locals that watched me race as a kid come out here and still cheer me on. It's a great feeling. We were good here in April, and I think that we're even better now, as a team, than we were then. So I'm looking forward to it. I think this team has a win in it this year, and the races are clicking away, so maybe Texas will be where we can check that off. To me, every position is important. We didn't miss the Chase then just give up. We knew that we wanted to improve our program and get better results, and we're doing that. We want to win races and I think that we're capable of doing that again. And throughout all of that, you want to get to the highest points position you can and for us that's 13th. So if we can achieve that -- get to the best we can -- then that's definitely a positive for this race team. It's a good way to end the season and a good starting point for 2011."
Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes - Tums Fast Relief 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 E-BAY MOTORS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET: Finished 2nd
YOU WERE DRIVING LIKE YOU WERE 21 YEARS OLD TODAY. WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?
"Alan Gustafson (crew chief) and all these guys at Hendrick Motorsports, man, gosh, that was so much fun! And it was such a bad day. I was running out of brakes at lap 30 and you know, I thought this was going to be the longest day of my life. And these guys on this race team; I want to thank e-Bay Motors for coming on board. I look forward to a lot of folks going there and maybe checking out a lot of their cars and parts there and of course GoDaddy.com and everybody that supports us; CARQUEST and all those guys. It was a great run for us. We needed that. I ain't mad we didn't win; I'm glad we ran second to be honest with you. We were two laps down and to be honest we were going to be 28th. So, boy; what an incredible race car, man! Another 20 laps and we could have caught him (Danny Hamlin). I've had people pass me before here and I thought hey, how do they do that? I see how now, driving this baby."
WOW, WHAT A CHARGE AT THE END! THAT HAD TO BE FUN
"It's incredible. I want to thank all the fans for coming out today. I hope they saw a great race. In another 20 laps it would have been a really great race. I think all you guys. It's a beautiful car; it looked fast and it was fast. That was a fun time.
"We started running out of brake at lap 30 and had to nurse them all along, and that whole last 100 lap run there I just had to know; I had to only run until they'd get so soft and then no harder. And yet the car was fast, you know? Man that was fun. This is what I live for and many I can't give it up."
Mark Martin Post Race Interview - Tums Fast Relief 500
Our race runner-up is Mark Martin. He drives the No. 5 eBay Motors Go Daddy.com for Hendrick Motorsports. I can tell you from watching this race, folks here in this media center, what a performance you put on there today with a car that was pretty tore up.
MARK MARTIN: Yeah, lap 30 I started overheating my brakes, started having to baby them. I thought there was no possible way we were going to run 500 laps. At lap 150, 175, I thought, Oh, my goodness, it's going to be a long, long day.
Then we had all the stuff tear up. I never really have much enjoyed this place, to be real honest with you. But that last hundred laps was fun. I've had guys pass me and I wondered how in the world they did that. Now I see how. What an incredible racecar that Alan Gustafson and everyone gave me. Really good-looking paint job with eBay Motors onboard.
Really a great time, great recovery from two laps down. I really want to thank my teammates and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports for supporting us through a really tough summer. We've turned it around with some good runs. Hopefully we can continue to do that.
KERRY THARP: Certainly a great performance out there from you today.
Q: Mark, Denny said in Victory Lane that he had never closed that well before. Had you ever had a closer rate like you had at the end of the race?
MARK MARTIN: Not in Cup. In Nationwide, Busch races, some short track late models. That baby was rolling. That last 50 laps was unbelievable. Man, that was fun. I love long green-flag racing. I don't like these 10-lap sprints, all that crazy junk. I love long runs. When I don't have a good car and we get a long run, we suffer miserably. When we have a great racecar like California or here, that's to me what racing is all about and always has been.
MARK MARTIN: The race is on after Talladega. Nobody knows what's going to happen.
Q: Mark, how do you judge a finish like this? Are you happy to see the improvement or do you dwell on the season saying we should have been running like this all year?
MARK MARTIN: I hadn't thought about that. Pretty dang happy. That's what I did think about, definitely. You know, it's not a gimme. You don't get this stuff. You're not owed it. You're lucky if it happens. That's the way I look at it. I feel darn lucky to have been in that seat today.
Q: You said you really haven't had a lot of fun at this track. Can you talk specifically about what happened today?
MARK MARTIN: With a hundred to go, we were 20th or something like that, 111 to go. We drove to second. Why wouldn't that be fun? I'm used to people passing me. I was passing good cars the way they usually do me here. I never could figure out how they did that. Now I know. When the car was working like mine was working today, that was really fun. We had a spectacular racecar at the end. Seemed to get better throughout the race. We had to run it harder. We weren't running it real hard before we got wrecked and tore up, lost the laps we lost. We had a flat tire under the green and lost two laps, too. But we had time to get them back.
Great success for us.
Q: Mark, you say you had a great car. Those closing laps we saw so many cars fall off. What adjustments did you make to be there at the end and come on strong while others were falling off?
MARK MARTIN: Car just got better. The only thing we did was raise the track bar two rounds today and took half a wedge out. Over the course of 500 laps, the car was mediocre at the start of the race and spectacular at the end. The adjustments weren't what made the car spectacular. I think the racetrack just came to us. We had a good setup in the car for the racetrack when it was rubbered up in the second half of the race.
KERRY THARP: Mark, thank you. Super performance.
MARK MARTIN: Thank you, guys.
Mark Martin Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes - TUMS Fast Relief 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 EBAY MOTORS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET -- QUALIFIED 21st
ON HIS LAP: "Real disappointed with that. I thought we really got around there good and I was psyched about my lap and I really thought I got it all. And I did.......I just......the time was not very fast so it's a little disappointing. I thought that was going to be pretty good and I felt like I got a lot out of the race car and it all did what I needed it to do."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - TUMS Fast Relief 500
EBAY MOTORS ON BOARD: eBay Motors, a division of eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, will be on the No. 5 Chevrolet this weekend. Nearly 5,000 eBay users signed up to put their eBay username on the hood of the eBay Motors/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Sunday's race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
MARTINSVILLE WINNER: Mark Martin is a two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup race winner at Martinsville. In April 1992, he started 14th and led 33 laps on his way to Victory Lane. In 2000, he overcame a 21st-place starting position and led 64 laps to earn his second Martinsville win.
FIRST TOP-FIVE: Twenty-nine years ago at the paper-clip oval, Martin earned his first career Sprint Cup top-five finish. Martin started fifth and finished third at Martinsville Speedway racing the No. 02 in 1981, his first year of Cup competition. Martin followed Darrell Waltrip and Harry Gant across the finish line.
MARTIN'S VILLE: In 45 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville, Martin has earned two wins, 11 top-five finishes and 23 top-10s. He's led a total of 344 laps there.
NEXT TIME: When Martin takes the green flag at Martinsville Speedway next April, it will be his 800th career Sprint Cup start. Martin's 789 current Sprint Cup starts place him second on the all-time career starts list. Only Richard Petty has more with 1,185 entries.
MOST RECENTLY: In March, Martin started 16th at Martinsville and ran inside the top 10 throughout the majority of the 500-lap race. Martin led 25 laps before suffering a cut tire with just 60 laps remaining. The team fell one lap down and finished 21st. It was his first finish outside the top 10 at Martinsville since joining Hendrick Motorsports.
POLE SITTER: Martin's next Sprint Cup Series pole will be the 50th of his career and will place him eighth on the all-time pole winner's list. Martin is a three-time pole winner at Martinsville. He earned the pole position for three straight races from September 1990 through September 1991.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-561 for Sunday's race at Martinsville. The team has used this chassis in its last two trips to Martinsville, notably finishing eighth last October at the short track.
HENDRICK AT MARTINSVILLE: In 53 Cup events (162 entries) at Martinsville, Hendrick Motorsports owns 18 wins, which is a team-best and the most among active organizations. Hendrick also owns 56 top-five finishes and 91 top-10s. Its 14 pole positions rank second-best for Hendrick, which owns 15 pole positions at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
ONE-TWO: Of its 30 one-two career finishes, Hendrick Motorsports has scored the most -- four -- at Martinsville's short track. Jimmie Johnson most recently led teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. across the finish line in October 2008. In April 2007, Johnson finished first and Jeff Gordon took second. In October 2003, Gordon led Johnson across the finish line. In September 1996, Gordon finished first ahead of teammate Terry Labonte.
GIVING THE COMMAND: Kyle Turner, front-tire changer for the No. 5 eBay Motors/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet and native of Yorktown, Va., will be one of 43 Sprint Cup crew members to give the starting command on Sunday.
UNDERCOVER BOSS: Dion Williams, rear-tire carrier for the No. 5 eBay Motors/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, will be featured in Sunday's episode of "Undercover Boss" on CBS at 9 p.m. ET.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 EBAY MOTORS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON RETURNING TO MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY.): "Martinsville was one of our more spectacular races this season. If you just look at the stats, you won't see that, but we had one of the strongest race cars at the track that day. We led for awhile but then had a pit road penalty midway through the race -- a freak deal with the air hose, really -- but our car was so strong that we got back into the top 10. Then, probably from pushing the car so hard to get back to the front, we cut a tire and that cost us what would have been a really, really good finish. Our car was so, so good, and I think we should be that way again this weekend."
MARTIN (ON HAVING EBAY MOTORS ON THE NO. 5 CHEVROLET.): "This is really exciting for all of us on the team. With the economy the way it is, it's exciting any time you can get a new sponsor to come on board. And with this one being about cars, about the automobile industry, that's exciting for us, too. I like the way they brought the fans into it and let them put their eBay usernames on the car. I've never driven a car with fans' names on it before. The fans have really stuck by us this year and this is a good way to say 'Thanks.' I'd like to get them all in Victory Lane Sunday."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 EBAY MOTORS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALIFYING AT MARTINSVILLE.): "Of all tracks, Martinsville and Bristol (Tenn.) is where qualifying is most important. Not just because of starting position either, but more so because of pit selection. Pit road is so tight, and there aren't many openings, so having one of the first choices is ideal. Once the race starts, so many cars get lapped, so if you start in the back and it goes green for a while that's a threat very early in the race. If you start up front, there are fewer incidents to deal with and it's easier to take care of your tires and brakes. Everything's easier when you start up front, but it's more important at Martinsville than nearly every other track on the circuit."
GUSTAFSON (ON PIT STRATEGY.): "You always go into a race with a set pit strategy plan. But that can change slightly depending on where you're running, what the competition is doing and when the cautions fall. It's really a moving target. Pit sequencing at Martinsville is different. Everyone seems to be on different cycles. You can't get nervous and jump the gun on a call though. That's when you get in trouble. Once you make a plan, you've got to generally stick with that as much as possible and see it through to the end."
KYLE TURNER, FRONT TIRE CHANGER, NO. 5 EBAY MOTORS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON GIVING THE COMMAND SUNDAY.): "I'm really excited to do this with the other guys on Sunday. To be picked from everyone on the team was pretty cool, and I love racing back in Virginia, no matter which track we're at. I wasn't going to tell my parents about the command because I knew they would make a big deal. When they found out, they instantly bought tickets, so I'll have my own little fan section up there in the crowd which is nice."
Team Chevy From The Driver's Seat - TUMS Fast Relief 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM/EBAY MOTORS CHEVROLET - 15TH IN STANDINGS: "Martinsville was one of our more spectacular races this season. If you just look at the stats, you won't see that, but we had one of the strongest race cars at the track that day. We led for awhile but then had a pit road penalty midway through the race - a freak deal with the air hose really - but our car was so strong that we got back into the top 10. Then, probably from pushing the car so hard to get back to the front, we cut a tire and that cost us what would have been a really, really good finish. Our car was so, so good and I think we should be that way again this weekend."
Mark Martin Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes - Bank of America 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 4th
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP
"It was ok. I bit off a little more than I could chew in turn one. I was uncharacteristically optimistic about turn one so I left my foot on the floor a little too long before I got there. I didn't get the corner I might have got there. But I got a sweet one down there. Just a great race car. I'm having fun."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Bank of America 500
CALIFORNIA PERFORMANCE: Mark Martin, driver of the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, led a race-high 41 laps last week at Auto Club Speedway en route to a sixth-place finish. The finish is the third straight inside the top 15 for the GoDaddy.com team.
MOST STARTS: Martin will make his 52nd career NASCAR Sprint Cup start at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway on Saturday, the most for him at any track on the circuit. The 51-year-old has earned four wins, 18 top-five finishes and 23 top-10s at the intermediate track. He has raced more miles -- 24,646.5 total -- at Charlotte than any other track and has led 1,174 laps (1,761 miles), which is the third-most for the NASCAR veteran at any track on the circuit.
LAST TIME AT CHARLOTTE: In May, Martin started 11th at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After racing into the top 10, crew chief Alan Gustafson opted to remain on the track while the leaders pitted on the final Lap 377 caution period. The call gained track position, and Martin scored the fourth-place finish.
LOOP STATISTICS: Martin has spent 72.3 percent of the last 11 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway inside the top 15, which is the third-best among all active competitors. Martin has the fifth-best average running position -- 12.326 -- and the fifth-best driver rating, with a score of 91.1 out of a possible 150.
TOP-10 FINISHES: Martin has scored a top-10 finish in 50 percent or more of the races he's competed in at 17 of the 22 active Sprint Cup tracks, including Charlotte Motor Speedway. Martin has earned a total of 424 top-10 finishes in his career, the most of any active Cup driver, which is also more than 50 percent of his career starts in the Cup Series.
POLE SITTER: Martin's next Sprint Cup Series pole position will be the 50th of his career and will place him eighth on the all-time pole winner's list. He earned his two Charlotte Motor Speedway poles in 1991. Martin's 9.8 average starting position in the last 11 races at Charlotte is the fourth-best among all active competitors.
THE NO. 5 AT CHARLOTTE: Under the direction of Gustafson, the No. 5 team has earned three top-five finishes and four top-10s in 13 starts at Charlotte. The No. 5 Chevy has led 83 laps at the intermediate track with Gustafson at the helm.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-620 for Saturday's race at Charlotte. This chassis never has been raced or tested.
HENDRICK AT CHARLOTTE: In 53 Cup events (175 starts) at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports leads teams all-time in the Series with 16 wins, 48 top-five finishes and 73 top-10s. The organization also has led 3,776 laps at the 1.5-mile oval, which is the best of any team.
CHEVY CHAMPIONS: Hendrick Motorsports contributed six wins to the 16 that Chevrolet acquired this season en route to scoring the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Manufacturers' Cup. Chevrolet won its first Manufacturers' Cup honor in 1958; and this year's win marks the eighth consecutive season and 34th overall in which Team Chevy has captured the title (2003-'10).
TRUCK U: Gustafson will be a special guest on SPEED's "Truck U" Sunday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Gustafson will provide commentary as the hosts repair a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado with Delphi products.
UNDERCOVER BOSS: Members of the GoDaddy.com team will be featured in the Sunday, Oct. 24 episode of "Undercover Boss" on CBS at 8 p.m. ET.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON THE GODADDY.COM TEAM'S RECENT MOMENTUM.): "I cannot begin to tell you how good Sunday felt out in California. To lead that many laps; to know that we had a winning race car -- that's what we've been fighting for. You know we have tried so many things and really went through a rough time. The past three weeks have proven to us that this hard work is going to pay off. We're building new cars and getting better every week. Sunday was exactly what we needed to prove that we are going in the right direction. This is a winning race team and we're going to be winning again soon."
MARTIN (ON GOING BACK TO CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): "We had a really good finish here in May. We had a good race car, and Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) made some really great pit calls too that put us in the right position there at the end. We're taking a brand-new race car again this week, and that seems to have been good for us the past couple of weeks as well. I'm excited to get on the track. We had such a good performance on Sunday, and I truly believe we'll be just as strong this weekend. I'm ready to go."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON RETURNING TO CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): "I'm looking forward to getting back on the racetrack. Anytime you have a good weekend, you're anxious to get back out there and have another shot at a win. With the way we ran at Kansas and California, I think our intermediate package is really headed in the right direction. We had a winning race car last weekend. One that dominated for part of the race and that's a really, really good feeling. Hopefully we can bring that same kind of performance to Charlotte this Saturday."
GUSTAFSON (ON HIS "TRUCK U" APPEARANCE.): "Doing "Truck U" was fun. The producers, the hosts, everyone was very nice. They were a lot of fun to be around and work with. That was the biggest thing for me. On-camera was cool, but off-camera, everyone on the show was a lot of fun. It was a good environment to hang out in. I had a really good time and hope to do it again."
Team Chevy From The Driver's Seat - Mark Martin - Bank of America 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET - 15TH IN STANDINGS
"We had a really good finish here in May. We had a good race car, but Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) made some really great pit calls too that put us in the right position there at the end. We're taking a brand new race car again this week and that seems to have been good for us the past couple of weeks as well. I'm excited to get on the track. We had such a good performance on Sunday and I truly believe we'll be just as strong this weekend. I'm ready to go. I cannot begin to tell you how good Sunday felt out in California. To lead that many laps. To know that we had a winning race car. That's what we've been fighting for. You know we have tried so many things and really went through a rough time. The past three weeks have proven to us that this hard work is going to pay off. We're building new cars and getting better every week. Sunday was exactly what we needed to prove that we are going in the right direction. This is a winning race team and we're going to be winning again soon."
Martin Joins Earnhardt Jr., Harvick, Kahne In Martinsville Fan Zone
Mark Martin has been added to the Martinsville Speedway Fan Zone sponsored by AMP Energy, giving the historic track one of its strongest fan zone lineups ever.
Joining Martin in the Fan Zone will be Kevin Harvick, who led the NASCAR Sprint Cup points most of the season, Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s most popular driver, and Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge.
“This is a pretty amazing lineup,” said Martinsville Speedway president W. Clay Campbell. “It would be difficult to come up with a much better group of drivers than this.”
Martin, the latest addition, has two Martinsville Speedway wins and 40 Sprint Cup Series wins overall. He’s been the runner-up in the series’ championship race five times with 2009 the most recent year.
The driver appearances in the Martinsville Speedway Fan Zone sponsored by AMP Energy will be emceed question and answer sessions. There will not be any autograph sessions.
Admission to the Martinsville Speedway Fan Zone sponsored by AMP Energy is $99 and includes pastries, juice and coffee for breakfast, lunch buffet, and includes four coupons for AMP Energy, Pepsi products and beer (patrons 21 and older) and Pre-Race Track Pass.
The Pre-Race Track Pass allows fans to stroll on the track along the front stretch from 9:00 a.m. to noon.
The $99 price does not include a ticket to the TUMS Fast Relief 500.
The Martinsville Speedway Fan Zone will open at 8 a.m. on October 24.
The pastries will be served at 8 a.m. with the lunch buffet beginning at 10:30 am.
Tickets for the TUMS Fast Relief 500 begin at $25 and range to $77.
Tickets to the Kroger 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on October 23 are $30 in advance, with children 12 and under admitted free.
Tickets for Farm Bureau Insurance Pole Day, which features practice and qualifying for both the Kroger 200 and the TUMS Fast Relief 500, are $15, children 12 and under admitted free.
Nationwide Drivers - And Mark Martin - Shake Down New Car At Charlotte
NASCAR's Nationwide drivers got their last chance at a dress rehearsal Wednesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Wednesday's two practice sessions were the final shakedown for NASCAR's new Nationwide car, which will race for the fourth and final time this year in Friday's Dollar General 300 at Charlotte before becoming the series' full-time car in 2011.
"All in all, the practices were going well," said Nationwide Series director Joe Balash. "I think a number of the teams were testing quite a few different items on the cars.
"I would say we're very pleased with how the four events have gone so far for the Nationwide Series new car. We've had good turnouts at all four (practices), we've had very competitive races. … As far as the overall car processes going into next year, I don't think we're going to make very many tweaks at all in the rulebook, as far as the car's construction and those types of things are concerned."
One tweak that could come sooner than later is a change to the gear used at Charlotte. Cars were running closer to 8,000 rpm Wednesday, as opposed to a more typical 8,400.
"We're showing about 300 or 400 rpm less what we would show normally," said Justin Allgaier, fourth in the series standings and, as such, the top Nationwide-only driver. "I don't think it's a matter of (wanting to go) faster. I think it's just getting the engine in more of an operating range where we're normally used to. When we do that, we don't have to push it as hard."
Mark Martin spent Wednesday morning shaking down Danica Patrick's car for JR Motorsports. It was the first trip in the new Nationwide car for the series' career victory leader, and it got his juices flowing.
"I haven't driven one of these cars before," said Martin, whose lap at 177.567 mph was fifth fastest in the session. "I'm friends with (JRM owners) Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. and Tony (Eury) Jr., and I thought this would be a good experience for me to work with them a little bit. It was fun. I really like to help when I can. It helps them and it helps Danica. They have some telemetry to look at now."
"I had a lot of fun. I learned a little bit. My brain will be kicked into overdrive now on how to make this new Nationwide car a little better. I don't have any plans to race one but any kind of challenge and anything that makes me think will make me a better driver in any car. It was a good exercise for the brain. And it will be fun to work with Tony and Dale and bounce the ideas off of them that I have. JR Motorsports has a good baseline for this new car and I feel like I was able to provide a good baseline on where the car was and how to improve it even more."
Patrick took over for Martin just after noon and posted a best lap of 171.217 mph before the lunch break.
Though principals from Nationwide teams met Tuesday morning at NASCAR's research-and-development center, Balash said the majority of the time consisted of a marketing presentation by series sponsor Nationwide. Several competition details came out of the meeting—a limit of 10 certified chassis per Nationwide car number, for example, but issues dealing with the Nationwide points system and the Sprint Cup drivers' eligibility of the series championship remain unresolved.
"It's under a full review," Balash said. "When we get to the right answer, we're going to push some answers as soon as we can, but we're not going to push for something and not have it be the right answer. We've taken a lot of suggestions from a lot of people, and now that we have those suggestions, we've got to work through the math and history to see what that looks like.
"We have never said that we're not going to have double-duty drivers in the series, so the question is what type of format do you use to have double-duty drivers in the series. There's a lot of suggestions and a lot of input, and we've got to work through those."
Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes - Pepsi Max 400
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6TH:
ON HIS RACE: "It was nice to really be strong. I am really proud of how we ran today. We had a great car. Would have like to have seem more racing at the end instead of all that, but I'm not going to complain. It's been a long time since I had a race car that could win a race and that one could have won today under the right circumstances. So kudos to Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and everybody at the No. 5 car and Hendrick Motorsports for getting us back in the hunt. We hadn't been in a while."
Mark Martin Post Qualifying Quotes - Pepsi Max 400
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET -- QUALIFIED 11th:
ON HIS LAP
"I just want to thank everybody at the No. 5 car; (crew chief) Alan Gustafson and everybody that digs so hard at Hendrick Motorsports. I want to say a big thanks too to all our CARQUEST teammates out there and GoDaddy.com and Delphi; and welcome EBay Motors on board as well. It's early in the weekend but this is the kind of race car that you can take and win a race with."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Pepsi Max 400
CARQUEST CAR: The red, white and blue paint scheme of CARQUEST Auto Parts returns to the No. 5 Chevrolet this weekend. CARQUEST is the primary sponsor for eight races this season, with just the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Auto Club Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway remaining.
MARTIN AT AUTO CLUB: Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 CARQUEST Auto Parts/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, will make his 19th Cup start at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday. In 18 previous attempts, Martin has earned one win (May 3, 1998), six top-five finishes and nine top-10s. He has led 283 laps at the two-mile racetrack.
MOST RECENTLY AT FONTANA: In February, Martin qualified the No. 5 Chevy 10th and led five laps at the Fontana, Calif., racetrack before finishing fourth. Martin's driver rating of 118 in that race was the third-best among the 43 drivers entered. His 248 laps out of a possible 250 inside the top 15 ranked as the most of any driver.
GROUNDBREAKER: With a Camping World Truck Series win in 2006 at Auto Club Speedway, Martin became the first NASCAR driver to win a Sprint Cup, Nationwide (2005), Camping World and IROC Series (1997, 1998) race at the same track.
LOOP STATISTICS: According to NASCAR's loop statistics, Martin has the fourth-best average running position (10.258) in the last 11 races at Auto Club Speedway. His driver rating of 99.7 ranks fifth among the competition during that timeframe. Martin has raced in nine of the last 11 races at the two-mile racetrack.
TOP-10 FINISHES: Martin has scored a top-10 finish in 50 percent or more of the races he's ran at 17 of the 22 active Sprint Cup tracks, including Auto Club Speedway. Martin has earned the most top-10 finishes of any active Cup driver with 424 total, which is also more than 50 percent of his career starts in the Cup Series.
POLE SITTER: Martin's next Sprint Cup pole will be the 50th of his career and will rank him eighth on the all-time pole winner's list. He never has earned the top spot at Auto Club Speedway, and it is one of only six tracks where he has yet to earn the pole.
FIRSTS FOR GUSTAFSON: Crew chief Alan Gustafson earned his first career pole position at Auto Club Speedway in February 2005. On Sept. 4 of that same year, Gustafson returned to the track and earned his first career Sprint Cup victory.
NO. 5 TEAM AT FONTANA: Under the direction of Gustafson, the No. 5 GoDaddy.com team has earned one victory, four top-five finishes and six top-10s in 11 starts at Auto Club Speedway. The team has led 225 laps on the two-mile track.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-595 for Sunday's race at Auto Club Speedway. This chassis never has been raced or tested.
HENDRICK AT FONTANA: In 20 events (78 entries) at Auto Club Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has tallied nine wins, 27 top-five finishes and 36 top-10s. The organization leads all other teams in victories, with driver Jimmie Johnson notably visiting Victory Lane in four of the last six Cup events there.
TRUCK U: Gustafson will be a special guest on SPEED's "Truck U," which will air on the cable network Sunday, Oct. 17 at 8:30 a.m. ET. Gustafson will provide commentary as the hosts repair a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado with Delphi products.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON RETURNING TO AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY.): "When we raced in Fontana in February, our car was really, really good. We led some laps and had a strong weekend out there and finished fourth. Since then, we've gone from the wing back to the spoiler, and that, obviously, threw a wrench in our performance this year. But I really see improvement in this team. We got some things figured out at Dover (Del.) a few weeks ago. And then, after starting from the rear in Kansas, we had a very strong race car and drove up to another top 15 finish. We're still not where we want to be, but we're getting closer. Hopefully that will continue to improve this weekend, and we can get another showing like we did earlier this year."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON RETURNING TO AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY.): "I go into every weekend thinking of how we need to improve. Really with California, the way the two races are spread out, you think more about what you did at Michigan because they're very similar tracks. You rate what you had at Michigan and try to improve on that going back to California. A lot has changed since our last race there. California was so long ago, it's almost like two different seasons. We do feel like what we ran there in February was solid, and we'll play off of that. But, like I said, we'll correlate more to Michigan than California. We weren't real strong in either race at Michigan this year, so we'll use what we learned from that and try to apply that to California's setup from February."
GUSTAFSON (ON HOW THE SWITCH FROM THE WING TO THE SPOILER HAS CHANGED THINGS.): "No one really knows how much the spoiler versus the wing affects anything. It's tough to quantify even if you went back with everything the same except the spoiler. The track has aged. Teams have improved. You can't get a good evaluation on it that way. We've run it enough now; we're just past all of the figuring out stages. This is about the last situation left where we can say we ran the wing there in the spring. So it really doesn't factor into anything anymore. We have enough info on the spoiler now that we need to take that info and go forward."
GUSTAFSON (ON THE TEAM'S RECENT IMPROVEMENTS.): "I think we're making gains. We're going in the right direction, and we need to just steadily chip away at it. You'd like to make a huge jump, but it's unrealistic to think that way. That's tough to do. We've improved the last two weeks. Our pit crew has improved greatly over the last seven or eight weeks. The difficulty on Fridays the last two weeks has hindered us, but we've still been able to overcome that and get good finishes. It's nice to be able to overcome that. We just need to take that next step. We've been in the top 15 and now we need to move that into the top 10 over the next few weeks and try to upgrade from there."
Team Chevy From The Driver's Seat - Mark Martin - Pepsi Max 400
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM/CARQUEST AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET - 15TH IN STANDINGS
"When we raced in Fontana in February, our car was really, really good. We led some laps and had a strong weekend out there and finished fourth. Since then, we've gone from the wing back to the spoiler and that, obviously, threw a wrench in our performance this year, but I really see improvement in this team. We got some things figured out at Dover a few weeks ago. And then, after starting from the rear in Kansas, had a very strong race car and drove up to another top 15 finish. We're still not where we want to be, but we're getting closer. Hopefully that will continue to improve this weekend and we can get another showing like we did earlier this year."
Chase non-contenders could play role in Fontana Sprint Cup race
Martin also made the Chase in 2009 but appears headed toward one of his worst seasons since joining the Cup circuit with Jack Roush in 1988. He won five times and finished second to Johnson a year ago, but hasn't been in victory lane this season.
He acknowledges that the change from the wing to the spoiler set his team back, but won't comment on how much the rumors that Kasey Kahne would replace him at Hendrick Motorsports in 2011 affected him.
"When we raced in Fontana in February, our car was really, really good. We led some laps and had a strong weekend and finished fourth," Martin said. "Since then, we've gone from the wing back to the spoiler and that, obviously, threw a wrench in our performance this year, but I really see improvement in this team.
"We got some things figured out at Dover a few weeks ago, and then, after starting from the rear in Kansas, had a very strong race car and drove up to another top-15 finish. We're still not where we want to be, but we're getting closer."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods
GO DADDY GIVES BACK: Go Daddy is teaming up with Mark Martin to donate up to $50,000 to Victory Junction. Starting Friday, Oct. 1 at 3 a.m. ET, 5 percent of online purchases at GoDaddy.com (up to $50,000) will be donated to Victory Junction. The promotion ends at 3 a.m. Monday, Oct. 4.
MARTIN AT KANSAS: Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, has earned one victory, two top-five finishes and four top-10s in nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway. Martin also has led 152 laps and has an average finish of 12.4 there.
LOOP STATISTICS: According to NASCAR's loop statistics, which were compiled during the last five races at Kansas, Martin ranks fifth or better in five categories. He has the third-best average finish (8.2), fourth-best driver rating (100.1), fourth-most laps led (150 laps), fifth-best average running position (10.843) and fifth-most laps run inside the top 15 (940 laps).
LAST TIME AT KANSAS: In 2009, Martin started from the pole position at Kansas to score his seventh and final pole of the season. He went on to lead 11 laps before finishing seventh at the 1.5-mile oval.
POLE SITTER: Martin's next Sprint Cup Series pole position will be the 50th of his career and will place him eighth on the all-time pole winner's list. He earned his first career pole at Kansas last year.
THE NO. 5 TEAM: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the No. 5 team has earned two top-10 finishes in six Kansas Speedway starts. The No. 5 Chevy has led 104 laps at the intermediate track.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-523 for Sunday's race at Kansas. This chassis has been used three times this season with a best finish of fourth at Auto Club Speedway in February. In June 2009, chassis 5-523 took the checkers at Michigan International Speedway.
HENDRICK AT KANSAS: In nine Cup events (39 entries) at Kansas Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports owns three wins, 10 top-five finishes, 18 top-10s and four pole positions. The organization leads all other teams in wins, poles and laps led (641).
CHEVROLET DOMINANCE: Chevrolet has reached Victory Lane six times in the last nine Cup events at Kansas, and Hendrick Motorsports has accounted for half of those victories. Jimmie Johnson scored Hendrick Motorsports' most recent win at the 1.5-mile speedway in 2008.
CONGRATULATIONS: Dion "Rocko" Williams, rear-tire carrier on the GoDaddy.com team, and his wife Jamiyla welcomed their third child, a son, Tyson Nikko, to their family on Monday.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON GODADDY.COM DONATING TO VICTORY JUNCTION.): "I'm really proud to be involved in this promotion with GoDaddy.com. Go Daddy has proven themselves to be a company that really gives back to their community, and that community includes the racing world. Victory Junction is something that all of us in NASCAR think very highly of. Hopefully the fans get behind this and register a domain name or purchase a Go Daddy product this weekend. It's a good time to do it and a portion of their money spent will go to a great cause."
MARTIN (ON THE UPCOMING RACE.): "I'm excited to get back to Kansas. I've always liked racing on the intermediate tracks. We haven't had the best results on them this year, but this team really improved on things last week in Dover. The car was pretty good right off the truck and that's what we need more of this year. I've said before that this team is working harder than they ever have before. We're determined to turn our results around. Last weekend showed improvement and we need to keep building on that."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON KANSAS SPEEDWAY.): "To be good at Kansas, it's a lot like other tracks. The car has to carry a lot of speed through the center of the corner and exiting the corner well. Turn 2 is difficult because you can be tight or loose. Our car has been both at Kansas. Usually with the new car you're loose on exit, so we'll battle that. In Turns 3 and 4, the car has to get through the center well. Exiting Turn 4 is difficult with the way the wall is and the way the track loads. It's similar to Chicagoland (Speedway), but the lack of banking changes Kansas a little bit. There are multiple grooves there now which makes it a cool race. The car has to be able to move around and run the top and the bottom to win. Nobody will be good enough to be in one spot, especially over long green-flag runs, which are pretty common at Kansas."
GUSTAFSON (ON HIS VISITS TO VICTORY JUNCTION.): "It's a wonderful place. It has such a positive energy to it. The whole reason for its existence is to bring positivity into families' lives. The most amazing thing about it is that it's offered in really adverse times, and the camp is able to make that environment so positive and pleasant that children in those tough situations can enjoy that and have fun and be happy. The camp is only about having fun. I have a huge amount of respect for the Petty family for Victory Junction. I know that the racing community has really embraced the camp, and we feel like it's something that's very near and dear to us. We all want to support it, keep it going and help expand it. And to do that takes money -- a lot of money. That's tough right now. There are people who are struggling to live their lives, let alone being able to contribute to that. So it's really nice that Go Daddy is donating to them. It's a company that is doing well, and they're paying it back to a great place. It's very special. I'm proud that they're doing this and think it says a lot about them and how they give back. There's no better place for them to do that in racing than at Victory Junction."
Mark Martin - Team Chevy From The Driver's Seat - Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET -- 16TH IN STANDINGS:
"I'm excited to get back to Kansas. I've always liked racing on the intermediate tracks. We haven't had the best results on them this year, but this team really improved on things last week in Dover. The car was pretty good right off the truck and that's what we need more of this year. I've said before that this team is working harder than they ever have before. We're determined to turn our results around. Last weekend showed improvement and we need to keep building on that."
Note: No post race or post qualifying notes or quotes.
Mark qualifies 42nd at Dover
Martin sent to rear of field
Mark Martin will drop to the rear of the field for Sunday's Sprint Cup series race at Dover after issues were found with a rear shock absorber on his car during post-qualifying inspection.
The NASCAR veteran had qualified third on Friday afternoon but officials found the gas pressure on the right rear damper of his #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy exceeded the maximum allowed by the rules.
As a consequence, the starting order changes, Martin Truex Jr moving into third, with everyone behind Truex also moving up one spot except 43rd-placed Michael McDowell, while Martin will see the green flag wave from 42nd on the starting grid.
After being the runner-up in the championship last year, Martin missed this year's playoff and is currently 17th in the drivers' standings.
No additional penalties will be handed to Martin and his team for the rules infringement.
Fans can make their racing dreams come true
CONCORD, N.C. -- From a trip to victory lane, to riding in a pre-race lap with a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, Speedway Children's Charities is making dreams come true for race fans with its online auction, running Sept. 26 through Oct. 10.
Race fans can bid on auction items including the Ride of a Lifetime and Charlotte Motor Speedway Race Experience packages.
Speedway Children's Charities has teamed up with the NASCAR Foundation to offer the Ride of a Lifetime which gives fans the opportunity to take a lap around the legendary superspeedway with their favorite driver prior to the Bank of America 500 on Oct. 16.
Fans can bid on the chance to ride with a number of drivers including Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, David Ragan, David Reutimann, Scott Speed, Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr. and Brian Vickers. Bidding starts at $500.
In addition, race fans may bid on unique Charlotte Motor Speedway Race Experience items including Victory Circle passes, pace car rides, a post-Bank of America 500 champagne toast with the race winner in The Speedway Club and more.
All proceeds from online auctions will benefit The NASCAR Foundation and Speedway Children's Charities.
For more information, a list of auction items, or to bid on a ride with your favorite driver, visit www.charlotte.speedwaycharities.org or www.sccrideofalifetime.com.
About Speedway Children's Charities:
The mission of Speedway Children's Charities remains true to the ideals it was founded upon in 1982: To care for children in educational, financial, social and medical need in order to help them lead productive lives. SCC provides funding for hundreds of non-profit organizations throughout the nation that meet the direct needs of children. Our vision is that every child has the same opportunities no matter what obstacle they are facing. For more information visit www.charlotte.speedwaycharities.org.
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - AAA 400
DELPHI RETURNS: The red and black colors of Delphi will be back on the No. 5 Chevrolet this weekend at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Mark Martin last drove the No. 5 Delphi/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May. This will be Delphi's final race of the 2010 season.
FOUR-TIME WINNER: Martin, driver of the No. 5 Delphi/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, has four wins at Dover International Speedway, which is tied with Charlotte Motor Speedway for his second-most wins at any track. Martin picked up a trio of wins at the concrete oval from 1997-1999. He started from the pole position in those first two wins -- September 1997 and September 1998. In September 1999, Martin led a race-high 161 laps to take the win. Most recently, Martin led 19 laps in June 2004 en route to the win.
DOVER DOMINATION: Martin ranks first in several categories among all-time drivers at the one-mile concrete oval. His 22 top-five finishes are the most ever recorded there, while his 30 top-10s also rank first. He also owns 25 lead-lap finishes, best among drivers all-time at Dover.
MONSTER MARTIN: Martin's 22 top-five finishes aren't just a track-best, they're also a career-best for the 51 year-old driver. His 30 top-10s stack up second for him behind Pocono Raceway, where he has 33. During his 48 career Cup starts at Dover, Martin also has led a career-best 1,720 laps.
POLE SITTER: Martin's next Sprint Cup Series pole position will be the 50th of his career and will place him eighth on the all-time pole winner's list. He has earned four career poles at Dover, which ties Richmond (Va.) International Raceway as his second most at any active track. He has earned nine pole positions at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
THE NO. 5 AT DOVER: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the GoDaddy.com team has competed in 11 Sprint Cup races at Dover, earning five top-five finishes. In his first year as crew chief, 2005, Gustafson led the team to second-place finishes in both races at Dover, leading 90 laps in the spring race. The team also earned a runner-up finish last September.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-600 for Sunday's race at Dover. This is the same chassis that Martin drove to a fourth-place finish in the 600-mile race at Charlotte in May. Martin finished 15th with this chassis at Dover in June.
HENDRICK AT DOVER: In 53 races (163 starts) at Dover, Hendrick Motorsports has tallied 12 wins, 40 top-five finishes, 70 top-10s and has led 4,574 laps. The organization owns the most wins and pole positions (seven) all-time at the one-mile concrete oval. Most recently, Jimmie Johnson swept the Dover events in 2009.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 DELPHI/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY.): "I have always been a big fan of Dover. From the first time I raced there, it naturally fit with my driving style. I've had a lot of success on that track. A lot of good race cars. A lot of Victory Lane memories. The racing is always so competitive and so exciting. The fans will see a great show on Sunday for sure. I know all the drivers love racing at Dover so it will be a good race."
MARTIN (ON THE CONCRETE RACING SURFACE.): "Not even a concrete racing surface can ruin Dover. (LAUGHS) Seriously, it's very different from the asphalt we are used to racing on. Concrete doesn't react to heat or the sun like asphalt does. They're incredibly different. I will say that when you lose your grip on a concrete track, the car will just snap incredibly loose. This is a track that takes all of your energy, all of your manpower. You have to manhandle that race car for 400 laps. It's a good time, but you have to be ready for it."
MARTIN (ON EBAY MOTORS JOINING THE NO. 5 TEAM.): "I'm really excited to have eBay Motors join us for the upcoming race at Martinsville. With Rick (Hendrick, team owner) and I both being in the car business ourselves, we both appreciate working with companies that are also in the business and are doing what they do to help move cars. The deal they're running to let eBay users put their username on the car is pretty cool, too. I haven't done a car like that before, and I'm anxious to see how many names we get on there. It would be nice to have a good run that weekend -- maybe even take all of those fans to Victory Lane with me. I've always said I have the best fans in NASCAR. That would be a good way to thank them."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 DELPHI/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON A CONCRETE RACING SURFACE RATHER THAN AN ASPHALT SURFACE.): "The good thing about a concrete track like Dover is that we're not out chasing the track due to temperature changes. That just doesn't affect concrete like it does on asphalt. The big challenges are where the rubber builds up on the racetrack and the joints where the concrete was poured. Dover is really bumpy. We tend to fight making the car run well over those bumps more than we fight the simple fact that it's concrete."
Team Chevy From The Driver�s Seat - Mark Martin - AAA 400
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 DELPHI/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET � 17TH IN STANDINGS
�I have always been a big fan of Dover. From the first time I raced there, it naturally fit with my driving style. I�ve had a lot of success on that track. A lot of good race cars. A lot of Victory Lane memories. The racing is always so competitive and so exciting. The fans will see a great show on Sunday for sure. I know all the drivers love racing at Dover so it will be a good race. Not even a concrete racing surface can ruin Dover (laughs). Seriously, it�s very different from the asphalt we are used to racing on. Concrete doesn�t react to heat or the sun like asphalt does. They�re incredibly different. I will say that when you lose your grip on a concrete track, the car will just snap incredibly loose. This is a track that takes all of your energy, all of your manpower. You have to manhandle that race car for 400 laps. It�s a good time but you have to be ready for it.�
Note: No post qualifying or post race comments
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Sylvania 300
DEFENDING RACE WINNER: Martin earned his first career New Hampshire Motor Speedway victory last September driving the No. 5 Chevrolet. He entered the race as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader, started 14th and led 68 laps en route to the win. The victory left Martin with only four active tracks on the Cup schedule where he has yet to win. Martin is still looking for Victory Lane at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-588 in Sunday's race at New Hampshire. Martin finished 21st in this chassis at this track in June. He posted a fourth-place finish in No. 5-588 at Phoenix International Raceway in April.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON THE REMAINING 10 WEEKS.): "We, as a team, have got to figure out how to make our GoDaddy.com Chevrolet faster. That's what we're focused on. Being 13th in points doesn't matter. Winning would be great. Contending for wins is what we're fighting for. We made some big changes during the Richmond (Va.) race that had us headed in the right direction. It's going to take risks like that and experimenting to get there. We all have to give 100 percent, and that's what we're going to do."
MARTIN (ON HIS WIN LAST YEAR AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): "I had never won at New Hampshire before, and I just kept thinking that this was going to be one of those tracks for me. We would get so close and just not seal the deal. But Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) made great pit calls that race and put us in a position to win. We had a lot of cautions there at the end, and I thought 'Oh no. Just don't mess up. Don't lose this one.' It was an emotional win for us because of it being the first race of the Chase, too. We were contenders, and that win proved it."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON LAST YEAR'S WIN AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): "Mark did a phenomenal job at the end of that race. We can only do so much from the pit box with engineering, pit stops, setups. When he's out on the track in those final 10 or 20 laps, that's all him. He had an awesome restart and pulled away for the win. Mark got everything he possibly could out of that race car. It was an incredible day for all of us because everything just fit together perfectly. Those are the kind of race days you hope for all the time."
GUSTAFSON (ON TURNING THE SEASON AROUND FOR THE GODADDY.COM TEAM.): "We have a lot of work to do. These next 10 weeks, whether we had made the Chase or not, were going to be all-out, try-everything weeks. That's what you're going to see out of this race team now. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We're going to find what it is that's holding us back and we're going to fix it. I'm confident in every member of this race team. Every one is giving everything they have to this team right now. Probably more so than they were at this point last year. There's no way or reason to sugar coat it. We have a problem, and we're going to keep working until it's fixed."
Team Chevy From The Driver�s Seat - Mark Martin - Sylvania 300
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET -- 15TH IN STANDINGS
�I had never won at New Hampshire before, and I just kept thinking that this was going to be one of those tracks for me. We would get so close and just not seal the deal. But Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) made great pit calls that race and put us in a position to win. We had a lot of cautions there at the end and I thought 'Oh no. Just don't mess up. Don't lose this one.' It was an emotional win for us because of it being the first race of the Chase, too. We were contenders and that win proved it. We, as a team, have got to figure out how to make our GoDaddy.com Chevrolet faster. That's what we're focused on. Being 13th in points doesn't matter. Winning would be great. Contending for wins is what we're fighting for. We made some big changes during the Richmond (Va.) race that had us headed in the right direction. It's going to take risks like that and experimenting to get there. We all have to give 100 percent, and that's what we're going to do."
NOTE: No Mark Martin post-qualifying or post race comments - Air Guard 400
CHEVY NSCS AT RICHMOND TWO: Mark Martin NASCAR Weekly Teleconference Transcript
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, was the guest on the NASCAR Weekly Teleconference
An Interview with: MARK MARTIN
THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the NASCAR teleconference in advance of this weekend's NASCAR event at Richmond International Raceway.
Joining us today is Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Hendricks Motorsports. Saturday night's Air Guard 400 concludes the Race to The Chase, the 10-race stretch that precedes The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
It's the last opportunity for drivers to earn a spot in the 2010 Chase. And Mark is one of those on the eligibility bubble. Following Saturday night at Richmond, the top 12 drivers in the Series standings will battle for the Series title during the season's final 10 races, or The Chase.
Mark is 15th in the standings right now. He's 147 points behind 12th place Clint Bowyer. You had to come from behind to make The Chase before. What do you think your chances are Saturday night?
MARK MARTIN: I haven't done the math, but I don't think they're very good from where we're at. Not very good. I'm sure if Clint starts the race, then we just about need to be leading the most laps and win the race and him finish last somewhere in that range.
So we've got ourselves too far behind to expect to jump in there.
THE MODERATOR: Questions?
Q. Mark, to try to drag you into the same boat as me, as one of the few left around who can remember the young Dale Earnhardt and his style, I was thinking about Kyle Busch, as far as car control and like this past weekend, didn't have a great weekend like he did at Bristol but he made a good weekend out of a bad weekend. Does Kyle, with car control and keeping on struggling to salvage weekends, does he remind you of Earnhardt in his heyday?
MARK MARTIN: You know, maybe glimmers of that. But his style -- his style is still a little bit different. It is definitely really strong.
He manages to do an incredible amount of things with at times when it doesn't look like he has so much. But you and I both probably -- it may not have been as big a deal as what it seemed like it was back in the day, in Dale's young times, but it seemed bigger than anything I ever could have dreamed of seeing at this time in my lifetime. And I don't know about you.
So in some ways there are flashes of --
Q. Maybe Dale was a little rougher and more obvious with it and Kyle might be a little bit slicker?
MARK MARTIN: Yeah, there's some of that to it. You know, also what Kyle does is not head and shoulders above what all the greats do. In other words, you know, there were some greats when Earnhardt was out there doing all that but there wasn't as many greats with great cars as there are today. What Kyle does is make him shine and place him above, up at the very top of the class. But not as far -- like Earnhardt just, he was like way elevated and didn't think there was anybody in his league when it came to that.
With Kyle, you don't forget, you still have Jimmie Johnson and you still have Tony Stewart, and you still have Carl Edwards. As far as that matter, I'll tell you what, Matt Kenseth's style is not showy or flashy, but what he does is incredible, when I set back and just watch what he manages to do so often with when he has what appears to be so little.
And so I would say the discrepancy from the mid-pack to Dale Earnhardt versus the discrepancy today is smaller. But you would expect that, because everybody's raised their game and there's so many -- everybody's cars have the availability of being great.
Everybody's cars aren't the same and they're not all as fast as the other. But they are much closer than they were back 25 years ago.
Q. The chase is so far along now, have we got with this thing that if you're not in it you had a bad season?
MARK MARTIN: Well, that's a good question. This is my first time to miss it. I didn't run for it in '07 or '08. So certainly being in it is big. For me, if we were to have squeaked in it and ran, continued to run like we've run the last three races, three or four races, then it wouldn't make our season. You know what I mean?
At the end of the day you still have to run good to be, to really feel good about yourself. So if you run good and you miss The Chase, then that's a crying shame. And that's what we were faced with last year. It would have been a destroying season for us at the 5 car to have missed the chase last year. Because we knew if we could make it, we could get in it, we could win it. And nearly did.
So, you know, I'll have more insight on missing it after this season's behind us, I guess. But for us right now, our focus is to get back up on the level that we were on last year and actually this allows us in one way missing The Chase will allow us to go out there and take chances on different hardware and different setups and those kind of things that we wouldn't necessarily if we were in the hunt for the championship.
So we will work through that. We really tried a lot of different stuff, really different stuff at Atlanta. And it certainly didn't pay dividends.
But we're one more race wiser. And we do know a few things we don't want to do next time. So we continue to work really hard to raise our game to the level it was last year.
Q. Will you be trying new stuff with the goal of having a better overall season next year, or with winning this year in mind?
MARK MARTIN: Both. Both. No difference in those two statements there. It's all the same. When you run better, you run better. And most of the time, over the long haul, when you run better, you score more points. That's not always the case, because you can have bad luck.
But in reality, even with bad luck, if you run better, you score more points than if you were running bad and you have bad luck. So don't forget, you know, there's more to racing than points. It just doesn't seem like it in today's -- in today's sport. But there is. Every race is a race. Every race is not a point. It's not a points tally. It is if you're in a points battle, but for me I believe that the attraction to the sport of racing is the race.
You can't see points tally until these things are over with and all this stuff, you know, takes place. But you can watch a race and get excited right then and there all the way through the race. And at the end of the day we all started out racing because we loved the race. And I still think that that's what puts people in the stands is watching the race.
Q. Mark, how does it happen that a team like yours goes from being second in points at the end of last year to 13th or 14th where you are now, and kind of in the same vein, how does a team like Harvick go from 19th at the end of one year to first the next?
MARK MARTIN: Well, you know, I don't really know. (Chuckling). I just know it happens. I've seen it happen before. But I don't really know.
I saw the Childress cars start their momentum at Indy last year and gradually build momentum in performance from there, going forward, all the way to the end of the season. And I knew that they were going to have a great year this year, based off what I saw there.
Didn't really see this coming for the 5 car. And I just know that it happens, that things change and competition -- you know, the target is a moving target. It always has been and always will be. And we were hitting the bull's eye last year. And we haven't found the bull's eye this year. And we'll continue to work until we do. But we just haven't found it.
And we're the same group of people that were getting it done last year and we can do it again. We'll just keep digging until we find it.
Q. On an unrelated topic, Terry Labonte is going to try to make the race this weekend. Have you talked him at all? He hasn't raced since the end of last year, and what do you think about him stepping back into the seat?
MARK MARTIN: I have a couple of thoughts. I talked to him at the first Texas race I think was the last time I talked to him. It was really good to see him and really good to talk to him. I think it's awesome to have him back, and I think it was pretty clear that I was living the dream of every retired driver or semi retired driver in the country last year.
And it's something that I think it's really good. I think it will be good to see him. It will be good to see him back at the racetrack, and I know there's still fans that saw him win championships and win races and put on great shows that will welcome him back to the racetrack and be glad to see him back.
Q. Mark, this is kind of along the lines of what Bob was saying, but more from kind of an emotional or a gut feel for you to come off a year like you had last year and kind of allow your expectations to rise and then for it to turn out the way it does. Maybe you could explain the difference you feel heading into Richmond this time as opposed to last year.
MARK MARTIN: Well, I'm not as nervous as I was this last year. But certainly it's a different feel. It's something that none of us expected or saw coming. But we are the same people that were doing this a year ago and doing it so well.
And you have to look at the positive things and not focus on the negative. Expectations are really tough to deal with when you don't meet them. And that's why I've tried so hard to limit and keep my expectations in check. But still, yet, even as much as I do that, you know, I couldn't have ever been prepared for having as tough a year as what we've had.
But we're the same people, and we're working just the same together as we were a year ago. And that part of it feels good. You gotta focus on the positive. We have a great race team. Smartest people. Some of the smartest people in the business, very committed. We all really get along and respect one another. And we're going to work through this together, and we're going to get better together.
And at the end of the day, as devastating as it is to not run good at the racetrack, you still go home. Just like you do if you won and carried the trophy home. You still go home the same way. And you go to bed that night and you get up the next morning and it's a new day.
And that's the way every one of them were. Every day is. No matter what the result. And you just have to work hard and have to do the best you can to manage all of those emotions, whether they be the peak or the highest peak or the lowest valley. You have to do your best to manage those emotions and everything that's tied along with it.
Otherwise, it can be a deterrent. You know, either the highs are the highs or the lowest of the lows. If you let those get to you, then it changes the outcome and certainly makes a difference in how you're able to perform and work and deal with situations and work with people and everything else.
Q. Are you a little bit better equipped to deal with something like this because of all the experience you've had throughout your career? Was there a time maybe 10 years ago where you might have been a little bit more angry to be in this position or do you think it just kind of balances out and comes with experience and maturity?
MARK MARTIN: I think that I'm better equipped to handle this than ever before, based on the experiences I've had. I'm not fully matured yet. But I have matured some, from 15 years ago, and certainly would have handled things differently if this was 15 years ago and would have let it impact the way I interacted with the people that I worked with and my family as well.
And I feel like I'm doing a much better job of managing all that than I would have back then.
Q. This weekend, when we go to Richmond, we have so many different agendas. You have people who will do anything to get in. That little tiny bubble space. Then you have other people who are already in, so why not just go for broke, right? You have other people that are being careful and trying to get bonus points. Do you think it's going to be interesting this weekend with all the people racing with their different agendas?
MARK MARTIN: Yeah, you know, it will be. But to me, it's always interesting. Racing is always. Every race is interesting, fascinating to me. But there will be different agendas. I've always been on the end of protection mode to some degree. I've always had something to protect.
And this is probably these next 11 races are going to put me in a different position. And that might be interesting to me, because I can race each race with not so much to lose and everything to gain.
And I've had to be on the other, you know, been in the other shoes every other time that I can think of. I know in '07 and '08 I didn't run a full schedule, but we still had to watch ourselves pretty close because our car ran full time with Reagan Smith or Aric Almirola.
So it's going to be very interesting. Racing always is.
Q. Even in the races where we don't have these big drama story lines, there are so many interesting things that happen to dissect it. And one of the things I was going to ask as a follow-up is: When you guys come on like a light bulb, this past weekend I think there were 24 laps to go, you always race hard but seemed like everybody came to life and the place went crazy. It was interesting when that light turns on. You would have thought it would have been less laps?
MARK MARTIN: It's backing up from the finish of the race more and more and more all the time, the intensity backs up further and further and further into the race or earlier and earlier that gets started. Even the green flag of 500-miler today is really intense, way more intense than it ever was when I got started in NASCAR. There's no comparison.
So the racing is always more intense and, of course, it builds as the further you go along, and when these guys think that they've had their last pit stop, it really goes through the roof.
So I don't know. I love the sport. I'm as big a fan as there is out there. So like I say, every race is interesting to me.
Q. This past weekend Jeff Burton was asked about not having won a championship and his comment was it would be disappointing, it wouldn't ruin my life, but it would be disappointing for me to walk away from this without ever having won a championship. You certainly made your feelings about a championship known. But I'm just wondering, did you always feel that way that you do now about championships, or how did that change for you from early in your career? And my assumption would be whether it's wrong, would be at least early in your career you were all about everything and that maybe over time things changed but maybe I'm wrong. Can you talk about how you can have, how you developed those feelings in regards to the championship and maybe not letting it be the be-all end-all consuming thing for you?
MARK MARTIN: Well, when I was young, winning races was everything. And building my career was also everything. And winning races helped. Winning championships also got you even more recognition as well. So coming up through the ranks, I got four ASA championships.
I never ran for the Nationwide championship. Got in the Cup in my second year with Roush we went into the last race in second in the points and we broke an engine and wound up third. And then my third year, we nearly won it.
And you know there was all the controversy about the points penalty that we got and whether or not we should have got really a points penalty or not in the first place, based on what the infraction was. Whatever the controversy was.
And you know what, it didn't bother me, because I knew, and anybody would know, you know, based on the experience that I had had, that I would win one.
When I look back on it now, it wouldn't have changed my life had I won it in 1990. It wouldn't change my life any. I don't think I'd be a different person. I don't think I'd have a different ride. I don't think I'd have more sponsors or anything else.
When I look back on it, I've been very, very fortunate to have been incredibly successful at doing what I have passion for and love. And I'm no champion. I'm just lucky I got to win a pile of races. I'm no champion.
I haven't earned the right to be in that category or to stand beside those guys. But at the same time I'm proud that I made them work for it and I saw them finish behind me many a time. And that I can be proud of. And I think that there's a measure to every human being. There's different ways you measure success.
And if you're a race car driver, points is one of those measurements. But it is not the only measuring stick there is. But it is certainly one of them. And I don't measure up in that category.
THE MODERATOR: Mark, thank you.
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Mark Martin goes another year without winning that first Cup title
By Paul Newberry (CP) - Mark Martin has won a lot of races over his long career, made plenty of friends, earned tons of respect.
There's still one title he can't put in front of his name.
Champion.
The 51-year-old Martin came into this season as the sentimental favourite to claim that elusive first NASCAR Sprint Cup title, especially after his return to full-time racing in 2009 resulted in a runner-up finish to Jimmie Johnson.
It wasn't even close this time. Martin goes into the final race of NASCAR's so-called regular season � a short-track shootout at Richmond on Saturday � knowing he won't be part of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Only a dozen drivers will be moving on to the playoffs, and there's no realistic way he's passing three drivers in the standings in one night.
"We've gotten ourselves too far behind to expect to jump in there," said Martin, who's a daunting 147 points behind in 15th place.
So, another year will go by without Martin holding up the sport's grandest prize, a striking void in a career that has been full of accomplishment.
"I'm no champion," he said with typical bluntness. "I haven't earned the right to be in that category or to stand beside those guys. But at the same time, I'm proud that I made them work for it and I saw them finish behind me many a time. And that I can be proud of."
No one could have envisioned Martin ending up outside the Chase when he claimed the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500, his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy giving every indication it would again be one of the strongest cars on the track.
Martin finished 12th in that race � failing to win the 500 is about the only other void in his career � but five top-six finishes over the next eight races had him feeling good about his chances.
Then, inexplicably, he suddenly became just a middle-of-the-pack racer. There were crashes at Pocono and in the summer return to Daytona. Even when he made it to the finish, he just didn't seem to have enough under the hood to challenge drivers such as his teammate Johnson or five-time winner Denny Hamlin or points leader Kevin Harvick.
Martin has finished higher than 11th only twice in the last 16 races. He's coming off what has become a typical performance: 21st at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he spent the entire night running far behind, barely even noticed.
He's at a loss to explain how a driver such as Harvick, who struggled mightily in 2009, is running up front this year. Or how the No. 5 suddenly lost its edge.
"I didn't really see this coming for the 5 car," Martin said. "I just know that it happens, that things change and ... the target is a moving target. It always has been and always will be. And we were hitting the bull's-eye last year. And we haven't found the bull's-eye this year. We'll continue to work until we do. But we just haven't found it."
Of course, he knows that time is running short. He'll return for another full-time season with Hendrick in 2011, but his status beyond that is unknown. Kasey Kahne has already signed with Hendrick for 2012, and the team isn't about to kick Johnson or four-time champion Jeff Gordon to the curb. The team's fourth driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., has been a major disappointment but is a lot younger and remains popular with fans and sponsors.
Martin isn't looking that far ahead. But it sure is hard not to look back, to all those close calls when he could've � maybe even should've � been a Cup champion over the course of a career that includes 40 wins, five of them just last year.
He's been a runner-up for the Cup a staggering five times (not to mention eight other times in the top five), the Buffalo Bills of the superspeedway. The most galling of those close calls was undoubtedly 1990, when Dale Earnhardt won the title by a mere 26 points after Martin was assessed a 46-point penalty at Richmond for using an illegal carburetor part that didn't have anything to do with making his car go faster.
At the time, youth helped Martin cope with the disappointment. He was only 31, was only in his third season of what would become a nearly two-decade-long relationship with car owner Jack Roush.
"You know what, it didn't bother me," Martin recalled. "I knew, and anybody would know based on the experience that I had had, that I would win one."
Yet here we are, 20 years later, and still no title.
All Martin can do now is take a philosophical approach.
"When I look back on it now, it wouldn't have changed my life had I won it in 1990," he said. "It wouldn't have changed my life any. I don't think I'd be a different person. I don't think I'd have a different ride. I don't think I'd have more sponsors or anything else."
These days, Martin keeps insisting that he's able to cope with any setbacks that racing throws his way, even if all those wrinkles on his weathered face would seem to indicate that it's bothered him plenty over the course of a Cup career that began way back in 1981.
"I'm better equipped to handle this than ever before, based on the experiences I've had," he said. "I'm not fully matured yet. But I have matured some, from 15 years ago, and certainly would have handled things differently if this was 15 years ago. I would have let it impact the way I interacted with the people that I worked with, and my family as well."
Martin will race these last 13 events with nothing to lose, which might be kind of fun, while looking to get a head start on 2011.
He doesn't want to go through this again.
"It's something that none of us expected or saw coming," he said. "Expectations are really tough to deal with when you don't meet them. And that's why I've tried so hard to limit and keep my expectations in check. But still, even as much as I do that, I couldn't have ever been prepared for having as tough a year as what we've had."
Then he says it again, for emphasis.
"I'm no champion."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Air Guard 400
GOLDEN START: Saturday's race will be Mark Martin's 50th Cup start at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Martin has made 50 or more starts at four other tracks on the Cup circuit: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Michigan International Speedway.
POLE SITTER: Martin's next Sprint Cup Series pole position will be the 50th of his career and will place him eighth on the all-time pole winner's list.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-561 for Saturday night's race at Richmond. This is the same chassis Martin drove at Richmond earlier this year. Most recently, this chassis was tested at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON NOT MAKING THE CHASE.): "It's disappointing for sure. After last year, you know we made it and had a shot at the championship and that was exciting for me and everyone on this race team. That was a career year for me and for Alan (Gustafson, crew chief). And not every year is going to be like that. This year we definitely have some things to work on and improve on. I have no doubt that we're going to figure it out. Not making the Chase last year would have been awful because we were in championship form. This year, we have more important things to work on. It doesn't hurt as bad as it would have had we not made it last year."
MARTIN (ON THE NEXT 11 WEEKS.): "These next 11 races are going to be fun. We can throw anything at the car, and I know this team is going to be super aggressive now about figuring out where to find more speed and better handling. It's all about the win and setting ourselves up for 2011 now. I'm looking forward to it."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON THE TEAM'S GOALS DURING THE NEXT 11 WEEKS.): "I'm really frustrated and disappointed by our performance this year. I feel like the effort and the focus is there, but we've fallen short of meeting our goals and expectations, and that's always difficult to handle. But, at the same time, we know we're struggling. We've identified that. The exciting thing for me and the energizing thing for me is that these next 11 weeks are a really good opportunity to re-evaluate everything and be really aggressive and rebuild all phases of our race team. That generates some new excitement. I've been through these situations before. Everyone goes through these downtimes. We need to focus on getting out of this low as quickly as we can and work on maintaining our highs. We came off of a really high high last year and now we're in a low. I've learned from both situations, and I'm going to be better equipped to handle both situations in the future.
"I'm disappointed in the way we've performed and the results we've gotten but at the same time I'm excited and enthused. You have to look for the positive in every situation. The positive is that this is a good opportunity for us to be aggressive about pushing our cars, our team, our pit crew, every phase of this team to the max without fear of going over. Not being in the Chase, we can take those chances. If we do that and do it successfully then we know we'll be in good shape for 2011. That's my goal. We're going to push really hard. Be incredibly aggressive. Face our demons. We're not burying our head in the sand. It's all on our shoulders, mine especially. I'll take the weight. I'm going to look at where we went wrong and aggressively pursue correcting those problems."
Team Chevy From The Driver�s Seat - Mark Martin - Air Guard 400
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET -- 15TH IN STANDINGS
"Richmond is a great race track. I think all the guys like racing there. We had good racecars there last year. Every race is a new race. We had three great racecars at Bristol; the first three times we raced Bristol in the 5 car were awesome and this last time was about as bad as I've ever been. You never know what you're going to get. Right now we're working as a whole organization to try to raise our game. I think we're all--when we hit it just right we have good strong results--but we don't have the kind of strength and stamina that we had as a group last year where you could just be ok and be competitive. If you're just ok right now, we're not there. We're not competitive and we need to raise the level of the performance of the whole group right now. That's part of the competition. It comes and goes like that. You're never on top all the time; although Hendrick seems to be on top most of the time."
Mark Martin Media Visit - Emory Healthcare 500
MARK MARTIN, No. 5 CARQUEST/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Atlanta Motor Speedway to discuss racing to get into the Chase, his car this weekend, racing at Richmond, and more.
HOW'S YOUR CAR?
"The car for race setup we were pretty encouraged with it, we were pretty happy with it. We're trying a great deal of new stuff this weekend and we're interested in placing it in competition and seeing how it fares over the long haul. We were disappointed in our qualifying trim, but if you're only going to have one, you would hope to be encouraged with your race stuff. It's hard to say. Daytime, afternoon practice and racing tomorrow night--who knows? My race car was more comfortable than usual--you get a lot of long runs here--so that's good."
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON YOUR POINTS POSITION RIGHT NOW?
"I don't think about it a whole lot. We'd certainly like to be in; we'd certainly like to get in there. We will make our very best effort just as we have starting at Daytona in February. For me and I think for our whole team. Staying focused on upping our game and improving our performance working toward trying to get back in the form that we were in last year is our number one priority. Points tally up how they tally and if you achieve that performance then you score a lot more points. We're just working hard every week and every day, and we're making our best. We'll see how it comes out. There are two races to go, so we'll see how it comes out."
ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE ALAN [GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF] LET YOU KNOW THROUGHOUT THE RACE WHERE THOSE OTHER GUYS ARE?
"No. No. We need to stay focused on our game; we're not in a position to even guard or what have you. Hopes don't do you any good if you start hoping that something is going to work out, or doesn't work out, or whatever. It's just best to stay focused on what you're doing and if we were to score more points this year we wouldn't be in this situation. That's the bottomline. You can't wait until two races to go and say, 'Oh, we gotta do this man!' We had to do this back in February and you have to start right then. We've got work to do and we are working. We have learned a whole lot; we still haven't made our racecars really fast, but we are a lot smarter than we were eight weeks ago. I'm really proud of what we have accomplished and we will continue to dig until we get it."
YOU SAID THAT YOU'RE TRYING SOME NEW THINGS OUT ON THE CAR THIS WEEKEND. IS THAT KIND OF HOW YOU GUYS DIG--DO YOU SHAKE THINGS UP AND TRY EVERY LAST EFFORT TO GET IN TO THE CHASE?
"Well Alan [Gustafson, crew chief] really makes the calls on that kind of direction. We haven't specifically discussed it, but he told me today as we were working through our stuff that we've got a lot of new stuff on this racecar and I really want to see how it plays out in racing. With that being said, I think that we're on the same page. We need to work on some things that would give us better results than what we've been doing status quo. We're going to have to find new stuff. We've got to move into the next chapter of whatever is it of our setups and stuff, and find something that gives us better performance than where we've been."
HAVE YOU BEEN AROUND SO LONG THAT IT DOESN'T AFFECT YOU MUCH AS FAR AS BEING A NERVE-WRACKING SITUATION?
"I'm not nervous like I was last year because last year I knew that if we could make the Chase, we could win it. We almost did [win it] and it would have been a crying shame if we would have missed the chase; it really would have. This year, it's a different story. If we do make the Chase based on where we're at right now, it will be a long shot to expect to be a contender to win the championship unless things were to just turn overnight. Rather than worrying about all that and worrying about points and everything else I'm focused on trying to help this race team, trying to be better myself and trying to help this race team climb the mountain."
IS RICHMOND THE KIND OF TRACK THAT YOU ENJOY AS A DRIVER?
"It's a great race track. I think all the guys like racing there. We had good racecars there last year. Every race is a new race. We had three great racecars at Bristol; the first three times we raced Bristol in the 5 car were awesome and this last time was about as bad as I've ever been. You never know what you're going to get. Right now we're working as a whole organization to try to raise our game. I think we're all--when we hit it just right we have good strong results--but we don't have the kind of strength and stamina that we had as a group last year where you could just be ok and be competitive. If you're just ok right now, we're not there. We're not competitive and we need to raise the level of the performance of the whole group right now. That's part of the competition. It comes and goes like that. You're never on top all the time; although Hendrick seems to be on top most of the time."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Emory Healthcare 500
POINTS: Martin is currently 14th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings. He trails 12th-place Clint Bowyer by 101 points with two races remaining until the field is set for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
GOLDEN START: Sunday's race will be Martin's 50th Cup start at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Martin has made 50 or more starts at only three other tracks on the Cup circuit: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Michigan International Speedway. He will make his 50th Cup start at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway next week.
POLE SITTER: Martin's next pole will be the 50th of his career and will place him eighth on the all-time pole winner's list. The NASCAR veteran most recently earned the pole position at Atlanta -- his second at the intermediate track -- for the March 2009 event.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-550 for Sunday night's race at Atlanta. Martin drove this chassis to an 11th-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month and to a seventh-place finish at Pocono Raceway the following week.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON MAKING THE CHASE.): "Anything can happen. Where we are now, it would be a surprise to make up that kind of ground in two races. It would come at Clint's (Bowyer) expense for sure. But, it's important to us to continue to work on trying to get our cars faster and get stronger and better as a team. That's the most important thing on our agenda. If we were able to go out and win Atlanta then we might think going into Richmond that we could get back in the Chase. But realistically it seems like we've got some work to do before we're going to be a contender to win races. Really, that's more important than talking about the Chase. That's the most important thing to our race team right now -- to get back into the form we were in last year. If we don't, then whether or not we were in the Chase wouldn't make a difference. Last year we were a contender. We made the Chase, and we were a contender to win the championship. Right now we need to get in that form. We take that a race at a time. Everyone is working really hard at it. We've seen some progress and some gains, but we're not there yet. It requires all of us to keep our heads down and keep working."
MARTIN (ON ATLANTA HAVING ONE RACE IN 2011.): "A little piece of me hates to see that happen. It's a great place to race. I've been racing in NASCAR on and off since the 1980s, and there were always two races at Atlanta. There's a side of me that hates to give that up like we did Darlington's (S.C.) one race, or as we gave both races up at Wilkesboro (N.C.) and Rockingham (N.C.). I still miss going to both of those racetracks. It's a sign of the times. We haven't had the support at Atlanta that we needed to have, so unfortunately the date goes somewhere else."
MARTIN (ON HIS NO. 5 TEAM.): "I love this team. All of the people on it are definitely a part of my family. Everybody is capable and everybody is probably working harder than they were a year ago. The fact that the results don't show that is not a discouragement to me. We have the team. We have the people. We have the chemistry. If we keep that going, we'll get our performance back where we want it."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON THE TEAM'S CHASE POSSIBILITIES.): "Last week, I thought we were still in close enough proximity that it was under our control -- regardless of what our competition did we could still get in by running good. I don't feel like it's in our control now. We're going to have to get some help from the guys in front of us. One hundred points is enough that even if we won the next two races and they run well, we still won't get in. We need the guys in front of us to give us some help, and that could easily happen. But then we need to be able to capitalize on that. I think the most important thing is figuring out how to do that. We haven't been able to do that for a while. That's my main focus is to figure out how we can run good and we need to get there as soon as possible. If it's in the next couple of weeks great, and if our competition has some issues then we'll be in. If not, then we just focus on aggressively improving this team."
GUSTAFSON (ON THE SPRING ATLANTA RACE.): "We overcame a lot in that race. Our car wasn't very good at the start, and we got it pretty good. We were going to get a good finish, but then got caught in a crash because some people stayed out on tires. Atlanta is one of those tracks that is super tough to get a hold of. Even a good car there doesn't feel good. You have the potential of hurting tires, which is a significant issue. It's the toughest place we race. Even if we had won in the spring, I would still be concerned going back. It's that tough. With the weather conditions, even though it's at night, it's still a treacherous track. Day, night, spring, fall it doesn't matter."
GUSTAFSON (ON ATLANTA HAVING ONE RACE IN 2011.): "Atlanta has such a rich history and tradition. It's a place we all like to race at. I didn't want to see them lose a date. It's a fun track. A tough track. Different than most of the tracks we race on. I would like to race there twice a year, but for whatever reason, they don't fill the stands. It's a good business decision to do what NASCAR did. I don't know why Atlanta struggles because the racing is so good, and you would think in that area there was a high enough amount of race fans to fill the stands. I'm sad to see them lose a date, but I do understand why NASCAR had to do what they did. Getting to some areas of the country that don't have a date and the fans don't have a close track to get to, I think that's a good thing to do. We need to tap into those crowds and generate excitement in those areas."
Mark Martin - Team Chevy From The Driver�s Seat - Emory Healthcare 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET � 14TH IN STANDINGS
�Anything can happen. Where we are now, it would be a surprise to make up that kind of ground in two races. It would come at Clint�s (Bowyer) expense for sure. But, it�s important to us to continue to work on trying to get our cars faster and get stronger and better as a team. That�s the most important thing on our agenda. If we were able to go out and win Atlanta then we might think going into Richmond that we could get back in the Chase. But realistically it seems like we�ve got some work to do before we�re going to be a contender to win races. Really, that�s more important than talking about the Chase. That�s the most important thing to our race team right now -- to get back into the form we were in last year. If we don�t, then whether or not we were in the Chase wouldn�t make a difference. Last year we were a contender. We made the Chase, and we were a contender to win the championship. Right now we need to get in that form. We take that a race at a time. Everyone is working really hard at it. We�ve seen some progress and some gains, but we�re not there yet. It requires all of us to keep our heads down and keep working. I love this team. All of the people on it are definitely a part of my family. Everybody is capable and everybody is probably working harder than they were a year ago. The fact that the results don�t show that is not a discouragement to me. We have the team. We have the people. We have the chemistry. If we keep that going, we�ll get our performance back where we want it.�
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Irwin Tools Night Race
POINTS: Mark Martin is currently 13th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. He trails 12th-place Clint Bowyer by just 35 points with three races remaining until the field is set for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
BRISTOL WINNER: Martin is a two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup race winner at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. In August 1993, Martin started from the pole position and led 67 laps en route to his first victory at the short track. Five years later, he led 190 laps before scoring his second win at Bristol on Aug. 22, 1998.
POLE SITTER: Martin, driver of the No. 5 CARQUEST Auto Parts/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, has earned nine pole positions at the Tennessee short track, which is more than any other active driver and ties legendary Cale Yarborough for first all-time. From Martin's first Bristol pole in April 1989 to his most recent -- last August -- the overall pole speed has increased by more than four mph. Martin's next Sprint Cup Series pole will be the 50th of his career and will place him eighth on the all-time pole winner's list.
MARTIN AT BRISTOL: In 43 Cup starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Martin has posted two wins, 16 top-five finishes and 23 top-10s. Martin has led 1,199 laps at Bristol, which ranks second for the NASCAR veteran only to the 1,720 laps he's led at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
EARLIER THIS YEAR: Martin started from the 13th position at Bristol in March. Martin drove into the top-10 and was making the pass for fifth place when he was pushed into the outside retaining wall by another competitor. The Chevrolet suffered extensive damage and was forced to retreat to the garage for several laps. The team was scored with a 35th- place finish.
LAST YEAR AT BRISTOL: Martin earned the pole position for both Sprint Cup races at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2009. He finished sixth in the spring race. In his August outing, which also happened to be his 1,000th career NASCAR start, Martin led 240 laps and finished second.
HISTORICAL WIN: Crew chief Alan Gustafson led the No. 5 GoDaddy.com team to victory at Bristol on March 25, 2007. The win marked the first victory for NASCAR's new car and was the 600th victory for Chevrolet and the 200th NASCAR win for Hendrick Motorsports. Since 2005, the No. 5 team has earned three top-five finishes and five top-10s at the short track.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-600 for Saturday night's race at Bristol. This is the same chassis Martin raced to a fourth-place finish in the 600-mile race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May. He also drove this car to a 15th-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway last month.
HENDRICK AT BRISTOL: Hendrick Motorsports has nine wins, 41 top-five finishes, 75 top-10s and 10 pole positions in 53 events (163 starts) at Bristol. Jimmie Johnson earned his first win at the short track in March after leading 84 laps.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON THE TEAM'S CHANCES TO GAIN POINTS AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): "Bristol is a tough one because you can't count on anything, and you can't count anything out. This team witnessed that first-hand when we were there in March. We had an awesome race car, possibly the best one we've had all season. We had a chance to win that race and lost it all when we were pushed into the wall by another car. And last year, we led a lot of laps and came up just one position short in the fall race there. All we can do is run the best race we can. It's a great race and we all look forward to it. I think we'll be really good, you just can't count out something crazy happening at Bristol."
MARTIN (ON THE TEAM'S PROGRESS.): "It obviously didn't show, but we did have a good car at Michigan. I got a little too aggressive early in the race and that didn't help us at all. The guys did what they could and brought home the best finish we could. We've been testing a lot and actually will continue to do so. One thing about this No. 5 team, no one gives up. Ever. It's impressive. Just like on Sunday, these guys had so much fight in them. It wasn't the day anyone wanted, but no one complained or gave up on anyone else. That's what makes teams survive tough times and get better from them. This points race is going to be a battle that's for sure. We're doing all we can do. We're working hard as a team to get back on the level we were on last year."
MARTIN (ON POINTS RACING.): "It's just what you do. It's what I did on dirt tracks the first year I drove. The race itself is fun and a challenge, and it's what I enjoy the most. Points are affected by things you can't control. But the race can be fun and you can have some control over that. The individual races are important to me. Each one of them is another opportunity and a great day in my life. Points racing is something we have to do, but I don't necessarily like it."
MARTIN (ON HIS POLES AT BRISTOL.): "I guess I really didn't realize that I had that many. (LAUGHS.) I remember getting both of them last season and how crazy those laps were. I thought, 'I don't know how much more of that my heart can take!' It's just one of those tracks that we were able to get everything out of the race car. We haven't gotten the amount of poles we would have liked to this year, so I don't know how our lap will be Friday. I hope I have another one of those crazy good ones."
GM Racing - Team Chevy From The Driver�s Seat - Mark Martin
MARK MARTIN NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET -- 13TH IN STANDINGS
"Bristol is a tough one because you can't count on anything, and you can't count anything out. This team witnessed that first-hand when we were there in March. We had an awesome race car, possibly the best one we've had all season. We had a chance to win that race and lost it all when we were pushed into the wall by another car. And last year, we led a lot of laps and came up just one position short in the fall race there. All we can do is run the best race we can. It's a great race and we all look forward to it. I think we'll be really good, you just can't count out something crazy happening at Bristol. Bristol is the most exciting race track I think that we race on. It's action-packed, it always has been and I think certainly since I've been driving NASCAR been one of the most exciting races to watch. Sparks fly there."
Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes - Carfax 400
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY CHEVROLET -- FINISHED 28TH
"I ran into the back of the No. 82 (Scott Speed). He lifted for Juan (Montoya) and I didn't know it was time to lift yet and I pounded him pretty hard and that really messed it up. But I put us behind anyway earlier in the race getting up against the outside wall. So we got a little behind because of that too. It was, oh, I'll call it my mistake but we are racing hard. And that was a case of me racing too hard, too early for sure. But that would have been too hard even late because it messed me up; it would have messed me up late or early. I was charged up and excited and amped up when the race started and had to hammer down a little bit more than I control."
WHAT ARE YOUR CHASE CHANCES?
"I don't know what they are. We'll keep digging. I don't know. Every race is a new race."
HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP THE DAY?
"My guys did an awesome job. The car was really fast the last run but it took us the whole race to fix up my mistake. I was real aggressive early in the race and got the damage in the front. It got us a little bit behind first of all and then got the damage in the front end. We going to race hard like we did today and try not to have any more scrapes but we're going to go down swinging and that's what we did today. I'm real proud of the rebound that the guys made; we were pretty fast in that last run."
DID THAT SPEED LATE IN THE DAY GIVE YOU ENCOURAGEMENT?
"I think we had a decent car. I don't know what we had because things started going wrong from the start. It was a great team effort and we'll keep pounding no matter what. We were racing hard."
Mark Martin Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes - Carfax 400
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET -- QUALIFIED 12TH
"I was real proud the effort that we put together today. We made a lot of good use out of our practices. We got the car really comfortable in race trim and qualifying trim. I thought that was a really stellar lap that we got. We were a little off on our speed, but we'll be working on that tomorrow."
Mark Martin Press Conference
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
MARK MARTIN, No. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET met with media and discussed speculation about his future, this season compared to last, making the Chase, Jack Roush, and more. Full Transcript:
ON PROGRESS THE TEAM HAS MADE
�We�ve got to keep improving and we would hope to do that. We�ve got good race tracks in front of us. We�re making very steady progress, and I�m optimistic that we will continue to make progress. We�re really working hard, putting a lot of effort into getting back on top of our game here, and certainly the results are starting to show it.�
YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE CONSUMMATE PROFESSIONAL, BUT HOW MUCH HAS ALL OF THE SPECULATION REGARDING YOUR FUTURE BEEN A DISTRACTION?
�As much as we would like it not to be, now that it�s behind us, it does a feel a little lighter. So, I would say that we did the best that we could under the circumstances at managing all of that, and the air does feel a little lighter. We all really enjoy working together, and we�ve been doing a lot of that together, not just at the NASCAR events, but we�re putting a lot of effort away from the events as well, and picking things up. It feels fun again. We hope to keep this positive momentum going forward.
"I reflect back on how I reacted in Indy and regret what I said there. That came from the heart and not from the head. It was grinding on me, and I apologize for what I said and wish I hadn�t said what I said. I should�ve just continued to hold on to the high road just a little bit longer, and it would�ve been all okay. Anyway, we�re moving forward now.�
STRICTLY IN TERMS OF COMPETITION, HOW MUCH PRESSURE IS ON YOU? HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO LAST YEAR, WHEN YOU CAME FROM SO VERY FAR BACK?
�It�s real different than last year. Last year, it was so intense because we knew that if we got in the Chase, we could win it � and nearly did. And so it would�ve been a major crime to have missed the Chase last year. This year, we have got to continue to build momentum quickly, if we make the Chase, to be relevant once we get in. And that�s what�s important to us. I think that to all of us at the 5 car it�s more important for us to get on track than anything else, you know � than making the Chase and just floundering around is not what we want to do. We would like to make the Chase and peak at the right time and be a contender. That�s a stretch, but that�s what we�re striving for.�
YOU ARE 10 POINTS UP ON 13TH PLACE IN THE STANDINGS. DO YOU FIND YOURSELF PLAYING OFFENSE OR DEFENSE?
�I�m not really sure. We need to go out and really run strong. I don�t think we can make the Chase unless we go out and run strong. So what we do, we put our effort toward that. And then if we don�t run really strong, it isn�t because the effort wasn�t in an offensive way. You know what I�m saying? So, if we don�t go out and look really strong, it doesn�t mean that we�re playing defense; what we were really doing was our very best. And that�s what we�re going to do � put our best foot forward, put an enormous amount of effort into picking up our game, really more than last year, because last year we were on it so we were just refining what we were doing. This year we�re really pushing hard to find a way to step it up.�
LOOKING AHEAD, YOU HAVE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES NOW. HAVE YOU PLANNED THAT OUT IN YOUR MIND, YET?
�Yeah. I mean I�ve got in my mind what I want to do, and what I want to do is get almost this deep into the season next year. The cool thing is that I don�t have to worry about it. Certainly would not make any kind of commitment this early of any kind. It is a very exciting time in my life. It is the best time in my life. From January �09 to now has just been the best, ever. And, it�s exciting. I love this sport, and I�ve had the opportunity to work with so many great people, and the support of so many fans and so many people in the sport. And I�m going to let it ride pretty deep into next year, I think, before I make any kind of decision, because I want to take the one that is most fulfilling to me, whatever that might be, whatever it entails. That�s what I want to do.
"So, I�m going to ride along and enjoy working with the brightest in the business right now, I believe, from Mike Baumgartner, our car chief, to our engineers and Alan Gustafson, and having a friend in Rick Hendrick and all the people there. It is the time of my life and I�m going to enjoy that. And you have to understand, also, it�s by choice, my choice, that I won�t be back in the 5 car in �12. That was my choice, and I made that choice final back in March, because it was looking too far forward. So, to answer your question, it�s still looking too far forward to think about what might happen in 12. That was just too far out for me to make that type of commitment, so life�s good right now.�
COMPARING LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR, HOW IDENTICAL WERE YOUR CARS FROM �09 TO NOW?
�It has changed. What worked last year is too slow this year, and that kind of tripped us up a little bit. It took us a while. At first, you�re in denial that you missed it here and missed it there. It takes a while to realize that what was so awesome last year won�t get it done this year, and so the cars are evolving week to week now, the setups and the cars, the change to the spoiler actually did trip us up a little bit, more than we expected, we didn�t expect it. And also the tires have evolved a lot from last year.
"They�re different every time we go back to the same race track again, they�re almost never the same thing. We haven�t been involved in much of the tire testing, and when they take guys to tire tests, those guys end up tailoring the tires, if you understand what I�m saying, because they drive their cars and get a feedback � �Yeah, that�s good. That�s not so good.� � and so the tires have been tailored to a different setup, car, than I was driving last year that really worked, and now we�re having to migrate toward more of the way the other guys have been setting their cars up than the way my cars were set up last year.
"We�ve had to figure that out and learn as we go. What worked and was fast last year just won�t get it this year. So we�ve been having to migrate toward what some of the other teams have been doing.�
YOU SAY THAT IT�S FUN AGAIN. DID THAT FEELING ARRIVE WITH TUESDAY�S NEWS OR DOES IT DATE BACK TO WHEN YOU RAN WELL AT POCONO OR INDIANAPOLIS?
�It was starting to build, actually, at Chicago. We didn�t have the greatest in result but we certainly saw the progress in the speed of the car. We knew the things we were working on were starting bear a little fruit. But for some reason � I don�t know if it was just the fact that we got back in the Chase, I don�t know � but for some reason this week has just felt, to me, much better. We�ve been together.
"We tested Tuesday and Wednesday together and had just a great two days� worth of working together with Alan and the guys, and the whole week has just felt lighter. It�s a combination of all of that. The biggest thing is that we believe we�re headed in the right direction to get back more competitive. That�s huge. The other thing was, like I said before, is I think as hard as we tried to not let it have any effect on us, I think it did have an effect on how you feel. I think it has an effect on you feel � especially as it wore on. It was fine for a while, but it wore on a long, long time. It wore on Alan as well and probably affected the guys on the car as well. It�s really an awesome group.
"The 5 is a real special team, and we�ll always have a real special place in my heart. And, believe it or not, Kasey Kahne going there has a lot to do with how I feel about them, it really has a lot to do with that. I wanted to make sure that they were in the best hands possible. Actually, I don�t know if you guys maybe do or don�t realize it, but I started talking to Kasey Kahe in September of �09. I don�t think Rick Hendrick started talking to Kasey Kahne until February or March of this year. So, he didn�t even now that I was talking to Kasey Kahne about coming over there, and of course Kasey just kind of laughed a little bit about it and said, �You never get out of that car.� Anyway, I really, really, really have friends for life there, and I want to make sure that they were in great, great hands, and I feel very confident about that now.�
HAVE YOU TALKED TO JACK ROUSH SINCE HIS CRASH, AND CAN YOU TELL US HOW HE�S DOING?
�I talked to Jack Sunday evening, and he�s doing okay. He, obviously, wanted to tell me the story about how the accident happened, and it was pretty much what I suspected immediately when I heard where and when it had happened. There was a conflict with traffic. He told me the whole story, and we talked for a long time. It was really good to talk to him. The bond between he and I is really, really strong because of the things that we went through in the beginning of Roush Racing, and as hard as they were, so many of those years, as hard as they were, they were also the kinds of things that bond people for life. So, it was good to talk to him. We talked about that. We talked about building and trials and everything we faced through those years and had a great visit.�
YOU SAID, �CONFLICT.�
�You know, I don�t want to get into that much, but when there�s an air show, when there�s a thing like Fun �n Sun down at Lakeland, which I had gone into before, they�ve got aircraft that are landing just nose to tail, and they might be landing on other runways, on taxiways, all this stuff simultaneously.
"It�s not something you deal with under normal circumstances. Under normal circumstances, they�re way spread apart and all of that stuff. When you deal with that and the volume at Oshkosh or Fun �n Sun in Lakeland and I had done that before, I had an idea of what was going on, and Jack got in a situation where he thought, �How am I going to get out of this without hitting somebody?� because of all the things that were going on, which is exactly what I thought would happen, because, you know, he�s in a jet and there�s some very small aircraft at different speeds and those kinds of things, and he just got in a situation where he was uncertain about how he was going to make it all work, got slow and tried to get slowed down and got a little too slow and whatever. It was one of those situations where it was a bad deal. I really feel bad. I�m glad that�s he�s released from the hospital. I know that�s really tough on him. I know he�s a tough guy, but he can deal with the injuries, probably better than he can deal with being in the hospital, you know? So, I�m glad he�s out, and look forward to seeing him back at the race track real soon.�
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Martin admits speculation about his future at Hendrick weighed on him
BROOKLYN, Mich. � Now that it's over, Mark Martin can admit that the speculation about his future at Hendrick Motorsports was weighing on him.
Confident that he'll be in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 car through the end of the 2011 season, Martin said the team mood feels much lighter this week.
"I think as hard as we tried to not let it have any effect on us, I think it did have an effect on how you feel," Martin said Friday at Michigan International Speedway. "It was fine for a while, but it wore on a long, long time."
Martin's place at Hendrick was subject to speculation after the team signed Kasey Kahne without having an open seat for next season.
Martin insisted all along that he wasn't going to be forced out a year early to make room for Kahne, and lashed out at reporters after facing persistent questions about his future. The situation was settled this week when it was revealed that Kahne will drive for Red Bull Racing next year, then go to Hendrick in 2012.
Martin said he regretted venting his frustration in public.
"I reflect back on how I reacted in Indy and regret what I said there," Martin said. "That came from the heart and not from the head. It was grinding on me, and I apologize for what I said and wish I hadn't said what I said. I should've just continued to hold on to the high road just a little bit longer, and it would've been all OK. Anyway, we're moving forward now."
Teammate Jimmie Johnson said Hendrick will benefit from knowing for sure that Martin will stick around for another year with a solid succession plan in place.
"I've always said that I've been in a very tough position as a driver at Hendrick Motorsports because Mark Martin brings so much to the table that I don't want to see him go anywhere," Johnson said. "At the same time we have Kasey Kahne, who is going to bring a ton to the table as well and be there to work with him and develop that relationship. I guess I always try to find the positive in things and we have two very good situations."
But that doesn't mean the NASCAR world suddenly will be free from speculation about the future of Martin, who once held a "Salute to You" tour to celebrate his impending retirement with fans. That was five years ago.
Now he'll definitely be out of Hendrick's No. 5 car after the 2011 season. But Martin, 51, doesn't know what he'll do after that and isn't in any hurry to decide.
"I'm going to let it ride pretty deep into next year, I think, before I make any kind of decision," Martin said. "Because I want to take the one that is most fulfilling to me, whatever that might be, whatever it entails. That's what I want to do."
Martin insists it is his choice to leave the No. 5 after next season.
"It's still looking too far forward to think about what might happen in (2012)," Martin said. "That was just too far out for me to make that type of commitment, so life's good right now."
And Martin made it clear that he doesn't hold any resentment toward Kahne - instead, he insists he cares deeply about finding a suitable replacement for a team he loves, and began recruiting Kahne before team owner Rick Hendrick did.
"I started talking to Kasey Kahne in September of '09," Martin said. "I don't think Rick Hendrick started talking to Kasey Kahne until February or March of this year. So he didn't even now that I was talking to Kasey Kahne about coming over there, and of course Kasey just kind of laughed a little bit about it and said, 'You'll never get out of that car.'"
Asked about Martin's unstable relationship with the concept of retirement, Kyle Busch noted that Martin isn't the only person in the sports world struggling with the issue.
"Brett Favre doesn't know either," Busch said.
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Carfax 400
POINTS: Martin advanced to 12th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings with a 19th-place finish last Sunday at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Martin leads 13th-place Clint Bowyer by 10 points with four races remaining in the regular season. The postseason -- or the Chase for the Sprint Cup -- begins Sept. 19 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
MICHIGAN VICTOR: Martin has earned five Cup wins at Michigan International Speedway, a personal best for the 51-year-old driver at any track. He also has posted 17 top-five finishes and 29 top-10s in his 49 career Sprint Cup starts at the two-mile track.
TRACK STATS: Martin's 29 top-10s tie him with fellow competitor Bill Elliott for the most career top-10 finishes at Michigan International Speedway. Martin trails his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon by one top-five finish for the most in the category, and he leads all competitors with 34 lead lap finishes.
GOLDEN START: Martin will make his 50th start at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. The only tracks where Martin has made more starts on the Sprint Cup tour are Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (51 starts apiece). Martin also will make his 50th starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Richmond (Va.) International Raceway next month.
POLE MAN: Martin's next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole will be the 50th of his career and will place him eighth on the all-time pole winner's list. With all of his success at Michigan, Martin never has earned the pole position there, but did start from the top spot in 1990 when qualifying was rained out.
THE NO. 5 TEAM: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the No. 5 GoDaddy.com team has competed in nine races at Michigan International Speedway, earning a win at the racetrack last June. Including the victory, the team has earned one top-five finish and three top-10s at MIS with Gustafson at the helm.
HENDRICK AT MICHIGAN: In 53 races (166 starts) at the two-mile oval, Hendrick Motorsports has scored five wins, 38 top-five finishes, 71 top-10s, nine pole positions and led 1,876 laps. Hendrick Motorsports' most recent win at Michigan came in June 2009, when Martin overcame a 32nd-place starting position, took the lead on the last lap and held on for his third win of the 2009 Sprint Cup season.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Chassis No. 5-550 for Sunday's race at Michigan. This is the same chassis that Martin drove to a seventh-place finish at Pocono Raceway two weeks ago. In July, Martin raced this car to an 11th-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON REJOINING THE TOP 12 IN POINTS.): "We knew this was going to be a fight for us. And it's definitely not over. We gained points in Pocono, and we gained again in Watkins Glen. We have got to keep doing that. This team is improving every week; we just have to keep that going in Michigan this weekend. It's a good feeling to be back in there, but it's not at all a relief. We have four races to go. Anything can happen. We can't slip up. We can't have a bad day. We've got to keep moving forward."
MARTIN (ON HIS CHANCES OF GAINING MORE POINTS THIS WEEKEND AT MICHIGAN.): "I think, if you look back at how we improved at Indianapolis and how we improved at Pocono, that we have to look at Michigan as another track where we can build momentum and gain some points. We're taking the same car this weekend that we took to both of those tracks. It's my favorite car in the whole Hendrick stable. So that gives me a little confidence, too. Anything can happen though, and we need to be prepared for those anythings."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON REJOINING THE TOP 12 IN POINTS.): "Watkins Glen wasn't a pretty day by any means for us. Like our engineer said after the race, 'It wasn't what we wanted, but it was what we needed.' We saw the (No.) 33 was having a bad day, and we knew we had to take advantage of that. Mark had to keep the car clean and get as many positions and points as he could. We did what we had to do. We've been saying all along, we're not going to make this up in one giant leap. This is about making small steps to eventually make the big gain. We're getting there. We just have to keep working toward that goal. We have four races left to get there."
GUSTAFSON (ON TAKING RISKS AT MICHIGAN AND THE FOLLOWING THREE RACES.): "We are not in a position to take risks right now. Michigan is a fuel-mileage track. I'm sure there will be teams that push the limits and take those risks, but they will be teams that don't have a lot to lose. We don't have that luxury. It's going to be all about risk versus reward. We have to keep that final goal in the forefront of our minds at all times. Will we want to take that risk for the win? Sure. But would it be worth it if we ran out and finished 30th? No. We can't do that.�
GM Racing Preview - From The Driver�s Seat - Mark Martin - Carfax 400
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET -- 12TH IN STANDINGS: "I think, if you look back at how we improved at Indianapolis and how we improved at Pocono, that we have to look at Michigan as another track where we can build momentum and gain some points. We're taking the same car this weekend that we took to both of those tracks. It's my favorite car in the whole Hendrick stable. So that gives me a little confidence, too. Anything can happen though, and we need to be prepared for those anythings. "We knew this was going to be a fight for us. And it's definitely not over. We gained points in Pocono, and we gained again in Watkins Glen. We have got to keep doing that. This team is improving every week; we just have to keep that going in Michigan this weekend. It's a good feeling to be back in there, but it's not at all a relief. We have four races to go. Anything can happen. We can't slip up. We can't have a bad day. We've got to keep moving forward."
Mark Martin Post Race Notes & Quotes - Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH
HOW WAS YOUR RACE TODAY?
"Alan Gustafson (crew chief) was just a rock today. All weekend we were way off on speed and we worked so hard throughout the practice. We made some improvements, we started the race, we were pretty far off and every time we stopped they improved the car, which is hard to do on a road course. I know these guys were digging in hard, we're really pulling hard and I'm proud of them. We're making progress, we're not where we need to be, but the last three weeks before we got to the road course we're improving each week so we hope to be strong at Michigan. We're battling as hard as we can go.
"We did a great team effort all weekend, with realistic goals, understanding the speed that we had in our race car. I couldn't be more proud of the rock that Alan Gustafson is providing this team and that's what we're going to do. We're going to stay solid, keep fighting hard, work on our stuff and see if we can get in this thing.
"I was not aware of it (Bowyer's issues). I didn't know about it. We're not really focused on that. We really have got to continue to get better. We fell back some. We were better at Chicago, better at Indy, better at Pocono. We knew this one would be a challenge and we got through this one. We need to be better at Michigan. We're working, we're trying ... we're digging as hard as we can go.
WHY DID YOU THINK THIS RACE WOULD BE A CHALLENGE?
"Because we ran like junk last year. We were terrible last year and we were a little better this year. We were terrible at Sonoma last year, and a little better this year. But we still have a long way to go to be competitive at a road course.
HOW WOULD YOU SUMMARIZE YOUR CHASE CHANCES?
"We've got to pick it up. We've got to keep getting better. We got better at Chicago, Indy and Pocono. Now we need to get better yet at Michigan. If we can do that, keep gaining momentum in these last four then we've got a shot at it. But if we trip and stumble anywhere, it will be curtains."
Mark Martin Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes - Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 24TH
ON THE QUALIFYING LAP: "That was a good lap for us. I feel like I got 100 percent of the car. Unfortunately, I didn't bring anything special to the table and I'm a little disappointed in that. The car has been a little bit off this weekend and we battled to get it where we are and we're pretty proud of the gains we've made. We know we have some more to go. I could have messed that lap up, I didn't. I wish I would have brought three-tenths to the table, which I would expect to be able to do. I expect that of myself and I don't feel like I did that. A little disappointed in that. All in all, we're fighting hard for it."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen
POINTS: With a seventh-place finish at Pocono Raceway last Sunday, Mark Martin and the No. 5 GoDaddy.com team improved their chances of making the 2010 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Martin cut his points deficit from 62 to 34 behind 12th-place Clint Bowyer with five races remaining until the Chase begins.
GOING FOR FOUR: Martin is a three-time winner at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, having reached Victory Lane from the pole position in 1993, 1994 and 1995. He led the most laps in each race and combined to run 183 laps during those three victories.
MARTIN AT THE GLEN: In 20 Sprint Cup Series starts at the upstate New York road course, Martin has earned three victories, three pole positions, 12 top-five finishes and 16 top-10s. He has led 204 laps and has completed all but four of the 1,763 laps he's attempted. He holds an average start of 9.1 and average finish of 7.8 there -- his best average finish at any track on the Sprint Cup circuit.
TRACK BESTS: Martin's 12 top-five finishes and 16 top-10s rank as the most all-time for any Cup driver at the 2.45-mile road course. Ricky Rudd has the second-most top-five finishes with eight, while Rudd and Rusty Wallace are tied with the second-most top-10s at 10 apiece. Martin's three pole positions tie him with the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. for most all-time at the racetrack.
TOTAL ROAD COURSE EXPERIENCE: In his 28-year Sprint Cup career, Martin has competed in a total of 44 road course events -- 20 at Infineon Raceway, 20 at Watkins Glen and four at now-defunct Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. In those 44 starts, he has earned four victories, scoring each one from the pole position. He also has recorded a combined 20 top-five finishes and 32 top-10s. He has led 365 laps combined at the three tracks.
THE NO. 5 TEAM: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the GoDaddy.com team has earned two top-10 finishes in five Cup events at Watkins Glen. The team earned its best finish -- seventh -- at the road course with Gustafson in 2007.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-608 for Sunday's race at Watkins Glen. This is the same chassis that Martin drove to a 14th-place finish at Infineon Raceway in June.
BIRTHDAY: Gustafson will celebrate his 35th birthday on Thursday. Gustafson, a native of Ormond Beach, Fla., joined Hendrick Motorsports in 1999, working in the team's chassis shop. He started working with the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team as its shock specialist the following year. In 2002, he was named the team's lead engineer, and three years later was named crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL.): "This is the superspeedway of road courses. I love this place. I've always seemed to run a little better at Watkins Glen than I have at Sonoma. I typically run better on intermediate racetracks, and that's how Watkins Glen feels. Sonoma is more like a tight short track. It's a hard-braking track. Watkins Glen is more open and has more speed. I'm looking forward to getting back there."
MARTIN (ON THE TEAM'S LAST RACE AT WATKINS GLEN.): "Last year was a struggle for us. I think if we had to pick the race that frustrated us all the most in the 2009 season, Watkins Glen was it. Because of that, this GoDaddy.com team has really worked hard on its road course program. We've tested a lot. They've put a lot of concentration on how to make our performance better. I'm really confident in this race team and the effort they've put into this. I think our performance will be way better than what we experienced last year."
MARTIN (ON THE TEAM'S CHANCE TO MAKE THE CHASE.): "I know this is going to be hard. I know we have our work cut out for us. But I 100 percent believe we can make the Chase. The improvements this team has made over the past month or so are incredible. We've had a competitive car in the past two races and that was something we were shooting for. If we can keep finishing inside the top 10, we're going to tick those points off. It's not going to be easy, but we can do it."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON THE TEAM'S ROAD COURSE PROGRAM EFFORTS.): "Last year was disappointing for us as far as road courses were concerned. Out of all of the races, Sonoma and Watkins Glen surprised us the most. We just weren't any good. We spent the off season and a lot of this season concentrating on how to change that. We need better road course cars, and we need to be more prepared if we want to succeed on road courses. I think we've improved. From our performance in Sonoma earlier this year, I'd say we improved over 2009. It wasn't a great finish, but it wasn't the struggle we had last year. Our efforts are going to help our performance, We'll just have to wait until Sunday to see how much."
Team Chevy From the Driver�s Seat - Mark Martin - Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET -- 13TH IN STANDINGS
"This is the superspeedway of road courses. I love this place. I've always seemed to run a little better at Watkins Glen than I have at Sonoma. I typically run better on intermediate racetracks, and that's how Watkins Glen feels. Sonoma is more like a tight short track. It's a hard-braking track. Watkins Glen is more open and has more speed. I'm looking forward to getting back there. Last year was a struggle for us. I think if we had to pick the race that frustrated us all the most in the 2009 season, Watkins Glen was it. Because of that, this GoDaddy.com team has really worked hard on its road course program. We've tested a lot. They've put a lot of concentration on how to make our performance better. I'm really confident in this race team and the effort they've put into this. I think our performance will be way better than what we experienced last year."
Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes - Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH
"That was a good finish. We should have had a better finish last week in Indy, and we probably should have been top five today. But we're turning the corner. We cut our point deficit almost in half. If we keep running in the top 10 every week we can make the Chase. That's what we're trying to do."
Hendrick Motorsports
November 23, 2010
Driver: Mark Martin
Crew Chief: Lance McGrew
Driver: Jeff Gordon
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Driver: Jimmie Johnson
Crew Chief: Chad Knaus
Driver: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Crew Chief: Steve Letarte
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November 14, 2010
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November 10, 2010
By Tom Jensen
SPEED.com
November 10, 2010
November 10, 2010
Where: Chase Field – Rotunda
401 E. Jefferson St.
Phoenix, AZ 85004
When: Thursday, Nov. 11
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. MT
Gates open at 11 a.m. MT
Why: Q & A with Go Daddy Drivers
Autograph Opportunity *First 150 fans guaranteed bracelet for autographs (1 autograph item per driver)
Prizes
For Questions Contact: Stephanie Bracken
Go Daddy Public Relations
SBracken@GoDaddy.com
480.505.8800 ext. 4451
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CARFAX 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 13, 2010
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