NASCAR's Mark Martin
2010 Season Articles - January & February
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM IMPALA, FINISHED 4TH
HOW WAS YOUR AFTERNOON? "It was a great finish. Just a great job by everybody on the GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. I was to thank my buddy Bob Parsons and everybody at GoDaddy.com. Awesome race car at the end. We were off a little bit at the beginning, we weren't prepared for that sunshine and struggled for a long time. Then we got the car good there at the end. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the guys just did a great job. We were pretty competitive there at the last."
Mark Martin Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes - Shelby American
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM IMPALA (Qualified 8th)
"This car was great. I was a little bit worried about it because I bounced the last run I made in one. I was afraid I would be conservative, but I took it down in there pretty good and I just slammed it to the floor and away we went. It was a good run. This team can win this race, what a great race team. I am loving the GoDaddy.com colors. I just have to be the luckiest guy, I feel like the luckiest guy to strap in this thing and drive it. I feel like I am dreaming."
Mark Martin Media Friday Media Visit - Shelby American
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM IMPALA SS met with members of the media at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and discussed racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, strategy for qualifying based on weather forecast and other topics.
TALK ABOUT HOW GOOD YOUR CAR WAS AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY LAST YEAR
"We did, we didn't get to finish the race off, but we had a really strong run and it was our third race together last year here. We were pretty proud of the performance and feel like we learned a lot about things since then. About how I like the cars to drive and the team and I sort of know each other a lot better than we did a year ago. I'm looking forward to this. It's a great place to race and we're excited about it. It should be a great race here."
HOW WILL YOUR EFFORTS TOWARD QUALIFYING AND PRACTICE CHANGE WITH THE THREAT OF RAIN TOMORROW?
"It will have minor implications on the line-up of qualifying, how people qualify, but not major. Just minor. We did the same thing last week because the forecast was for rain Saturday. It throws us a little off of our regular routine, the way we do it at the five car. Everyone will be in race trim today in practice and then switch over. When you switch to qualifying trim you don't have much time and if you don't hit it right real quick then you'll be off a little in qualifying. It's the nature of the business."
DO YOU GIVE THE NEW FATHERS IN THE GARAGE ADVICE OR HOPE THEY FOCUS ON BEING FATHERS TO GIVE YOU MORE ADVANTAGE ON THE RACE TRACK?
"I don't think it gives me an advantage at all. It makes me kind of proud. We went a long time with very little little ones coming into the sport. That kind of felt strange to us that had been around and been a part of it for so long and had seen a steady growth of the families. It's good to see, it's good times. It's the best experience of anyone's life, bar none. I don't think they need any of my advice. They're really not that young, these guys that are having the kids. They're probably having them at a great time, when they've had a chance to mature a good bit themselves."
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM WINNING THE FIRST SPRINT CUP RACE AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY?
"I remember what springs were in the car, if you can believe that. I remember the springs and the sway bar that was in the car. We don't run springs like that anymore in these cars. I remember Jeff Burton making me earn it at the end. I remember after we won the race and did everything it was late when I finished up with all the media and all the stuff and it had gotten dark, not pitch dark, but had gotten a little darker. I took off in the helicopter to go to the airport and as it raised up to where I could see down and get a perspective from overhead, it hit me as to what we had accomplished. Before then, it could have been the quarter-mile dirt track back home because you were just doing one thing after another. I didn't really realize the magnitude of what it was that we had accomplished until I saw it from up in the air and looking down on it. I remember that moment and thinking, 'Wow, we just won this race in Las Vegas.'"
ARE THERE ANY YOUNG DRIVERS IN NATIONWIDE RIGHT NOW THAT YOU ARE WATCHING OR ARE IMPRESSED WITH?
"I think its obvious, very obvious -- the kid in the 99 (Trevor Bayne), he's awesome. I have an old age syndrome right now and forgot his name, but he's a part of the DEI (Dale Earnhardt Incorporated) development plan and I had a chance to get to know him when he was 16. He's a fine young man and an incredibly great driver. I don't really see, with the exception of him, I really don't see anything that's knocking me off my feet. Of course I saw Joey (Logano) at 10 so I knew it a long time, I saw it coming for a long, long time. I'm not out and about, I'm not seeing the 10-year olds race like I was at the time because I was racing with Matt (Martin, son) so I probably don't have my finger on the pulse quite as good as I did when I spotted Joey. I should reword that -- I didn't spot Joey when I saw Joey, I did not spot."
HOW HAVE THE TRACK WINNER'S CIRCLE APPEARANCES CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?
"It's changed a lot over the years. When we first started doing Winner's Circle you did it on Thursday before the race and you did some press stuff. You did whatever you did. You might do something fun with the media or something that would get the press together or something like that. Then over the years they changed that to if you agreed to doing it sometime before the track opened then you could do that. Today, you don't even have that choice and it's a whole different thing. It's a whole different set of things that you do. I wasn't on the Winner's Circle last year and I haven't done my first Winner's Circle appearance this year, but we're working on scheduling now. It's actually changed a good bit since I was on the Winner's Circle last and I don't remember when that might have been -- 2006 I guess. It's changed a lot since 2006 to be honest with you. If you want the correct information, Kendra (Jacobs, public relations) would give it to you much better than I would."
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE TRACK SURFACE AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY?
"This is a great place to race and the most age the asphalt gets on it, the better it is for the racing. Not particularly smooth, but doesn't need to be. Just needs to have some age on it so that you can race on the bottom or in the middle. Eventually, you'll be able to race up top, up by the wall as well as it continues to age. It's a real racy race track. It's fast, it's competitive, it's fun, you can pass here and it's a great venue for us. Fans like coming out here and so do the competitors. It's better than going to a race track that's out in the sticks, it's the opposite of that. This place is very, very strong on service. They're here to serve you and that is a pleasure. When you come to Las Vegas, it is a whole different feeling than when you go a lot of other places where you feel like you're a burden on folks. When we come here, the people are here and they want to know what they can do. That's what it's all about. That's what it does -- that's what Vegas does. I enjoy it here."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview Shelby American
VEGAS VICTOR: On March 1, 1998, Mark Martin became the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to visit Victory Lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after starting seventh and leading 82 laps. Martin counts the victory at the 1.5-mile track as the most memorable of his 40 career Cup wins.
LUCKY NO. 13: Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, will make his 13th Sprint Cup start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Including his 1998 victory, he has posted five top-five finishes and nine top-10s in his previous 12 starts.
MOST RECENTLY AT LVMS: Last year, Martin climbed from his 18th starting spot to fourth by Lap 121 when the engine expired. It left the No. 5 team with a 40th-place finish.
LOOP STATISTICS: Martin has the sixth-best driver rating -- 94.9 -- in the last five Las Vegas Motor Speedway races. The NASCAR loop data statistics driver rating is a formula combining the following categories: wins, finishes, top-15 finishes, average running position while on lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps, and lead-lap finish with a maximum 150 points per race.
FROM THE POINT: Las Vegas Motor Speedway is one of only six active tracks where Martin has yet to earn the pole position. Martin made his career-best LVMS start in 2008 when he lined up third. His next pole will be the 50th of his career and will tie him for eighth on the all-time pole winner's list.
NO. 5 TEAM AT LVMS: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the No. 5 team has posted two top-five finishes and three top-10s in six starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The team posted a career-best runner-up finish in March 2005.
HENDRICK AT LAS VEGAS: Hendrick Motorsports has scored four wins, 11 top-five finishes and 17 top-10s in 12 events (46 starts) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
POINT STANDINGS: Martin's fourth-place finish last week at Auto Club Speedway vaulted the GoDaddy.com team to sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings. At this time last year, the team was 27th.
ALL ABOUT THE 5: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-555 for the race in Las Vegas this weekend. This chassis was raced at Texas Motor Speedway last November where Martin finished fourth.
QUOTES
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON WHY HE LOVES LAS VEGAS.): "I love this city. It's probably my favorite place we go. I don't know what it is, because I'm not a real 'go-out' kind of guy. But the atmosphere is so great here. You can do anything at any time of day. It's open 24 hours. There are shows and great food. It's just an exciting place to be."
MARTIN (ON HIS LAS VEGAS WIN.): "That day was so cool. It was the first time the Cup Series raced at Las Vegas. I don't think the win really sank in at first. I'm trying to really appreciate wins more because you don't know if there will be a next one. And that night, after all the post-race stuff was over, we helicoptered out of the track. The Strip was all lit up, and it was just an incredible sight. I remember sitting in the helicopter and letting that win sink in. I just really appreciated that one."
MARTIN (ON THE TEAM'S POSITION IN THE STANDINGS.): "After our fourth-place finish last week, I was so relieved. It's such an opposite starting point from what we had last year. The communication between Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and I is on a whole new level. At this point last year, we were still getting to know each other. Now, it's like he just knows me and he knows what I want out of the race car. We're at a whole new level. There's no telling what this team is capable of, but it's definitely nice to not be in a hole this early in the season."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON VISITING LAS VEGAS.): "I love Las Vegas. The city itself is just really cool. I like architecture, so that's something that really intrigues me about Las Vegas. It's just an exciting place to be. There's a lot going on. We spend most of our time there at the racetrack, but it's nice to have a lot to do once the garage closes, too."
GUSTAFSON (ON THE GODADDY.COM TEAM'S START TO THE SEASON.): "We've had a decent start to the season. Definitely in a better position right now than we were at this point last year. It's still early, though. We have to keep our focus on consistency to maintain our position and breathe a little easier. That doesn't mean we'll get complacent, though. Winning is our main goal. We want those wins. If you win, everything else works itself out and falls into place."
Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes - Auto Club 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY IMPALA, FINISHED 4TH:
TALK ABOUT YOUR AFTERNOON HERE
"It was a great run. Alan (Gustafson) and everybody on the GoDaddy.com Chevy did awesome. They gave me a great race car. It was fun, man. What a great race track to race on, man. There was a lot of racing going on out there and a lot of passing and side-by-side and fighting. I had a blast today."
Mark Martin Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes - Auto Club 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM IMPALA, QUALIFIED 10TH:
TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING EFFORT: "Our car was really really awesome today. Just a little tight on the last run and I told the crew about it. I was a little concerned, but I really wasn't worried, the back end just didn't hook up on that run so I wasn't able to get on the gas like I had. Kind of a disappointment because we felt like we had a shot at the pole. Might have should left it alone. Sure felt different than the first run of practice."
Mark Martin Friday Media Visit - Auto Club 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM IMPALA met with members of the media at Auto Club Speedway and discussed the Daytona 500 winner, upcoming changes to the Cup car and other topics.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS COMING OUT OF DAYTONA AND RACING AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY THIS WEEKEND?
"We had a great race out here the last time out here. It was a really fun race for us, we had a really strong car and a great run. I'm excited about getting back out and racing again out here. The race track was just fantastic. Last time we were out here we were able to run all over the race track, all kinds of different grooves and it was just great for racing. I'm ready to go and can't wait to get started here today."
IS JAMIE MCMURRAY'S WIN IN THE DAYTONA 500 A POPULAR WIN AND HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO SPEAK TO HIM?
"It is. I think it's a very popular win in our sport for everyone. I'm really happy for Jamie (McMurray) and he should bask in it and all those guys, it was cool for (Chip) Ganassi (team owner) and Felix (Sabates, team owner), Teresa (Earnhardt, team owner) and everyone. It was a very popular win and well deserved for a guy who has endured his share of disappointment and kept working."
HOW DOES GETTING A SLOW START AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON IMPACT A RACE TEAM?
"It's an additional challenge. You have all your challenges that are more than enough as is just from the competition side of things. But it is a challenge. It's a challenge that can be met and dealt with and overcome, but it requires a little bit different approach maybe than some of the other challenges you face. One of those aspects to that is the mental challenge of how you let that affect or how you react to everything. Driver, crew member, crew chief -- every individual. How you deal with that challenge can affect your performance because of how you react to every situation. If you race long enough, you're met with every kind of challenge. I prefer doing it the other way. We tried to keep the rudder steady and Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and I tried to keep our chin up and keep our leadership in place for everyone to see. We did have fast race cars and that gave us optimism in itself."
DO YOU FEEL YOU INSPIRE DRIVERS TO CONTINUE TO COMPETE AS THEY GET OLDER AS LONG AS THEY ARE PHYSICALLY FIT?
"I think that Ron Hornaday and myself and John Force definitely have given hope to a lot of race car drivers that aren't ready to give it up yet for sure. It presents it's own set of challenges physically fit side of it certainly is one of the challenges that can be met with, but there are other challenges that are much tougher. Having sponsors behind you who want to make longer term deals with younger, up-and-coming guys. There's a lot of other challenges other than just wheeling the car. Sometimes that pressure is what gets you. Also, if you've been very successful, sometimes it's a challenge for people to have the fire that is required to be willing to do whatever it takes to be competitive. There's a lot more to it than just meeting the numbers."
DO YOU FIND THAT SPONSORS ARE TOUGHER TO GET FOR OLDER DRIVERS?
"Oh yeah. Absolutely."
HOW IS THE PRESSURE OF A SLOW START TO THE SEASON DIFFERENT WHEN NOTHING IS WORKING?
"When I've been in a hole before and been searching, I didn't win out as well over things. That was also when I was younger and maybe not as mentally tough or mentally fit as today. When you're not running good, that's the worst for a race car driver or a crew chief. That's a lot worse than having bad luck. Because you don't know how to fix it so that one is the toughest one of all is when you're not able to perform at the level that you should be able to and you can't get it and you don't know why. It will come if you keep digging, but sometimes it's pretty brutal."
HOW MUCH OF A CHALLENGE DO YOU FEEL ADAPTING TO THE SPOILER WILL BE THIS SEASON?
"I don't know how much it will change things and how much of a complexion change. It is a change, whether it will change the complexion of racing and competition, we will have to see yet, I'm not sure."
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE TESTING ADDED WITH THE CHANGES COMING TO THE RACE CARS AND WHAT ARE YOU NOT ALLOWED TO DO IN YOUR FIRST GODADDY.COM COMMERCIAL?
"Honestly, no I don't want to see more testing and I'm not sure that you have a completely clear vision of putting on a good show. Sometimes when you mix things up you put on a better show. You see different people excel. You're looking at the glass half full, that's what I used to do. I say it's an opportunity for excitement and no we don't need more testing. We don't need comfort level, we're big boys, we go to the race track, we work on these things, we figure them out, we race the hell out of them on Sunday and I think the show stands to benefit from a change and a lack of testing. That's my opinion. She (Arlene Martin) didn't tell me that I couldn't take my shirt off."
CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW THINGS WILL CHANGE FOR SOME DRIVERS WHO ARE EXPECTING THEIR FIRST CHILDREN?
"For everyone who has experienced it, it is the ultimate experience in life. I was a little concerned for a long time because we had so many young drivers coming into the sport and so few little ones coming in. For me, at this stage in my life, I realize how important it is and what a thrill and excitement or how exciting it is. It's exciting for me to see for so many to be starting or adding to their families."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview Auto Club 500
MARTIN AT ACS: Mark Martin will make his 18th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday. In 17 previous attempts, Martin has earned one win (May 3, 1998), five top-five finishes and eight top-10s. He has led 278 laps at the two-mile racetrack.
MOST RECENTLY AT ACS: In this race one year ago, the No. 5 team suffered engine trouble and finished 40th. In the fall, the team bounced back to finish fourth at Auto Club Speedway during the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
LOOP STATISTICS: Martin ranks sixth in both average running position and average finish in the last 10 Sprint Cup races at Auto Club Speedway. Due to his part-time schedules in 2007 and 2008, Martin competed in just eight of those 10 races.
POLE SITTER: Martin picked up where he left off in 2009, earning the pole position for the Daytona 500 last week. Martin's seven poles last year were a career-best and the most of any Cup competitor last season. He never has earned the top spot at Auto Club Speedway, and it is one of only six tracks where he has yet to lead the field to green. The next pole that Martin earns will be the 50th of his career and will rank him eighth all-time.
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, three top-five finishes and five top-10s in 11 starts at Auto Club Speedway. The team has led 220 laps on the two-mile track.
POINT STANDINGS: Martin sits 11th in the standings entering the second race of the Sprint Cup season. He trails 10th place by six points and the leader by 58.
WINNING CHASSIS: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-523 for Sunday's race. Martin drove this chassis five times last season, including to Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway in June.
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, Camping World and IROC Series race at the same track.
NEW TEAM MEMBER: Lee Deese, lead engineer on the No. 5 GoDaddy.com team, welcomed his first child, daughter Emily, to his family on Monday, Feb. 15. Both Emily and mother, Heather, are doing well.
QUOTES
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON GETTING THROUGH THE DAYTONA 500.): "It's no secret that I'm not a fan of restrictor-plate races. We got through that one. And in one piece. And with a decent finish. Twelfth isn't what we look for as a great finish each week, but to start the season like that, we're relieved. I was relieved."
MARTIN (ON RACING AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY.): "This is when we get back to real racing. It doesn't matter which line you're in or who bumped who, or who your drafting partner is. I'm excited about it. I'm ready to get back there with the GoDaddy.com team and see what we can do."
MARTIN (ON REPAVING DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY.): "I truly hope they don't repave Daytona. The speeds will be incredible, and the wrecks will be even worse. And there will be more of them."
MARTIN (ON THE GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED FLAG RULE.): "I'm not really a big fan of it, but the fans definitely are. It just gives us more chances to wreck, and you saw that in the end of the Daytona 500. We have to keep the fans happy, though, and I'm sure they enjoyed the end of that race."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON GETTING PAST THE DAYTONA 500.): "That was a long two weeks. A lot of things happened. We wrecked two cars. We got the pole. A lot of ups and downs. The situations and positions we were put in, I feel like, all things considered, we didn't put ourselves in a hole. Obviously we'd like to have run better and finish better. The Daytona 500 is a race you really want to win, but at the same time I don't think we hurt ourselves. We may have overachieved, but when you see a 12th-place finish, you don't feel that way."
GUSTAFSON (ON THE TEAM'S PAST PERFORMANCE AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY.): "This has always been a great track for us. We've had a lot of success there. We should be a threat to win the race. The interesting thing about it is that this is the first race that everybody has worked on over the offseason to make improvements to their intermediate stuff. This is the first bread-and-butter race so to speak. This is where you see where you really stack up. It will be interesting."
GUSTAFSON (ON THE GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED FLAG RULE.): "From the racers' standpoint, and the crew chiefs' standpoint, and the standpoint of fairness, I don't think it's the correct thing to do. But from the standpoint of the fans and the entertainment value and giving them a return on their investment for a ticket, it is the right thing to do. At the end of the day, that takes precedence over competitive fairness. I understand that and am fine with it. I think it could give guys opportunities to win the race who have not necessarily earned the opportunity. We all knew them (the rules) going in. At the end of the day, I'm glad they did it. They needed to to give those fans the Daytona 500 they deserved."
GUSTAFSON (ON POSSIBLY REPAVING DAYTONA.): "I don't like it. I don't want them to repave it. It's a hard track to get figured out and run well at and to handle all the situations with speed, pulling up, drafting, handling and getting over the bumps. There's so many variables. You have to tie that all together to get the perfect package, which is impossible. You have to make compromises, and it's so much fun. It gives you the opportunity to overachieve or excel, and it gives the drivers the opportunity to shine. If they repave it, the majority of those characteristics will be gone. It will be purely based on speed until the track gets wore out and that's no fun. But, at the same time, we can't afford to have 90-minute track delays. We can't afford that. We can't do that to our fans. I'd like to think there's a happy medium to where we can fix the issue but leave the character of the track, but I don't know if that's feasible. I'm not a track owner, but if it makes sense to pave it to where we don't run into that issue again, then that's what we have to do."
Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes Daytona 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM IMPALA -- Finished 12th
WAS THIS RACE A SAFETY ISSUE?
"It was pretty risky but the fans got what they paid for. It was a little risky to do it."
IS THIS A CRUMMY WAY TO START OUT THE DRIVE FOR FIVE?
"Yeah, without a doubt. It sucks. But it's a long season and we came out of here last year with a crashed race car and still came back. We have a little work ahead of us."
Daytona Duel - Race 1: Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM IMPALA, POLE SITTER FOR DAYTONA 500
DID YOU LEARN EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW OUT THERE?
"Yes. Our car was good. I made a couple of bad choices on lanes and got shuffled back. But, our car handled good. It is fast. This is going to be one of those anybody's race on Sunday. You just can't get an advantage. There was no car out there in the race that had an advantage. So it is just going to be like a crap shoot to win the 500."
HOW WILD WAS IT OUT THERE?
"It wasn't real bad. It got a little bad there those last four laps and I was in the middle of it. The only way I wouldn't start on the pole of the Daytona 500 was to wad it up. So I conceded there was a lap and a half to go and I was too far back to win it. I just decided to start on the pole."
Martin looking for elusive victory in Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -Mark Martin was driving in the middle of a pack when things got a little dicey during his qualifying race Thursday.
Cars were ducking high and low, sliding left and right, banging, bumping and battling for every inch around Daytona International Speedway.
Martin backed off.
The 51-year-old driver - the guy who has endured so many close calls, frustrating finishes, big wrecks and equipment failures at NASCAR's most famous track - simply had too much to lose this time around.
Martin earned his first Daytona 500 pole last week, a strong sign this could be his best shot at getting what would be the most meaningful victory in his 29-year career. His No. 5 Chevrolet will lead the 43-car field to the green flag in Sunday's race - and would like to do the same when the checkered flag drops about four hours later.
"We've got as good a car as anybody,'' said Martin, who finished second to teammate Jimmie Johnson in last year's Sprint Cup standings. "Anybody can win this thing. It might as well be us.''
Few would complain, not after everything Martin has been through at the 2 1/2-mile superspeedway. The storied track has given him more heartache and disappointment than reason for celebration. He once ran out of gas late, crashed some of his fastest cars and even came up a few inches short in 2007.
After returning to the sport on a part-time basis, he was leading with two laps remaining that year and looked like he would hold off Kyle Busch in a green-white-checkered finish. But Busch wrecked, and Kevin Harvick edged Martin at the line in one of the closest finishes in race history.
Martin could have been sour, and no one would have blamed him. But he got exactly what he wanted - a chance at winning the sport's premier race.
Nonetheless, Martin is still winless in 49 Cup starts at Daytona. Sure, he has two victories in the now-defunct IROC series, another in the exhibition Budweiser Shootout and one more in the truck series, but none of those compare to the Great American Race.
He is winless in 25 starts in the 500. A win Sunday would end his drought and make him the oldest to win the 500. Bobby Allison was 50 when he won in 1988.
"I love getting records,'' Martin said. "Can't get the youngest anymore.''
Nope. But he could become the oldest series champion, too.
Martin, who's finished second five times in the points race, revived his career with NASCAR powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports in 2008 when he returned to a full-time schedule. Team owner Rick Hendrick paired him with crew chief Alan Gustafson, who grew up near Daytona idolizing Martin, and the two have developed a strong bond.
It nearly capped last year with a title. Martin finished 141 points behind Johnson, who claimed his fourth consecutive championship.
"I'm the luckiest guy around because it looks like I've done so many things right, but really I've just been lucky and stumbled around,'' Martin said. "I have just stumbled around, fell in this 5 car, and it's the best thing that has ever happened to me, you know.
"There's no place in the world that I'd rather be. I've said that before. There's no place in the world I'd rather be.''
Hendrick insists Martin's arrival has benefited everyone on the four-car team. His workout regimen has prompted everyone to get in better shape. His communication skills concerning the car have become part of the model. And his seemingly eternal optimism has rubbed off on others.
"I said this, and I'll say it again, he's helped the whole organization,'' Hendrick said.
Now, the entire shop would love to help Martin get to Daytona's Victory Lane.
"The sentimental favorite is Mark,'' Johnson said. "He's a bad ass. He's tough.''
He's also on the pole. Martin was the only driver to top 191 mph in qualifying last weekend and had looked fast in practice since.
He felt like he could have been a factor in his 150-mile qualifying race, but knowing a wreck would have cost him his starting spot, he backed off. He won't do the same Sunday and could end up with his biggest trophy of all.
"I'm just lucky to have an outstanding resume with some holes in it,'' said Martin, who won five times last season and pushed his career total to 40. "I had the most fun of my life last year, and I'm gonna have a blast this year.
"Not many people my age can say this is the best it's ever been, and for me it is. So, you know, life's good.''
Daytona 500: Front Row Press Conference
An interview with:
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.
KERRY THARP: We are pleased to be joined in the media center now by our Coors Light pole winner for the 2010 Daytona 500, and that is Mark Martin. He drives the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, and his crew chief Alan Gustafson.
Mark, this is you're 49th career pole. This ties with you Bobby Isaac for eighth all time. This is your first Daytona 500 pole. Other history made today: You become the oldest driver in NASCAR history to sit on the pole for the Daytona 500 at 51 years of age.
MARK MARTIN: I love getting records. After the ones of the youngest to do that, I'm still after it. Can't get the youngest anymore.
KERRY THARP: Dale Jarrett, the previous oldest, 2005, he was 48 years old.
Also joining us on the podium is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He'll be on the outside pole for the 2010 Daytona 500. He drives the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
Let's hear first from Mark Martin. What does it feel like to be the polesitter for the Daytona 500?
MARK MARTIN: It's just incredible to be behind the wheel of that 5 car. This is something that I've stood and watched for, I don't know, 26 years or so, with envy of the guys who sit on the front row. Last year was my first experience to do that with Alan in the 5 car. We were really close last year. The guys, you know, they just stepped up their game some more for this year.
Obviously we're all thrilled to have Dale Jr. on the outside. The 5 and the 88 shop, it's a really special accomplishment. But, you know, Alan I'm sure will tell you, you can't do this without incredible people doing in every area from the engine to the chassis to the body to the fabrication, painters, every piece of it.
But I've been around this business a long time and I've never seen anyone pull that whole group of people together better than Alan does.
KERRY THARP: Speaking of Alan, your crew chief, your thoughts about how that No. 5 car got around there today?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Really proud. Countless amount of hours that go into doing what we do to come down here and run. I think it's a testament to what the 5/88 shop can do. I'm really proud of the shop.
We were hard on them, to say the least, over the winter. Worked a lot of hours. For it to pay off instantly like this, to have the 5 and 88 on the front row is really gratifying for us. I think it will be a big shot in the arm for us for the rest of the year.
For the 5 in particular, we've chased this for a while. We've progressively gotten closer. Really proud of the guys. We finally got an opportunity to get it done today and we did. It was in a lot of adversity, wrecking that Shootout car, that was impressive for those guys to be able to basically build the third car and make sure that the primary 500 car was in great shape.
Super proud of the guys for that. Obviously, Hendrick engines is sensational in what they do, give us the best power to go out there and get the job done.
Just a great day to go around. To have Go Daddy on the car for first time, sit on the pole, it's great. It's a great start to a wonderful relationship, so I'm excited about that, too.
KERRY THARP: And, Dale, this matches your career best Daytona 500 start. You also were on the outside pole in 2003. Talk about your car. It's been pretty fast the last couple days. Talk about your qualifying effort out there today.
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Yeah, we felt real good about our car yesterday. We would have liked to have had a couple more runs to try to get a little more speed out of it. I felt like it had some more opportunity.
We were able to put down a pretty good lap. I knew Mark was going to be really strong. His team did a great job making the adjustments from yesterday from what they learned in the single run we all had. I'm real proud to be on the front row with my teammate and Hendrick cars. It's a testament to the engine shop and the fabricators. Those guys really make the biggest difference at Daytona. We obviously got great individuals piecing the cars themselves together and making sure they're gonna do all the things they need to do in qualifying.
Just real proud for our sponsors, AMP Energy, and National Guard. They've been real supportive. We've been waiting what teams like a lifetime through the off-season to get to the racetrack to do something good for them, so that felt really good today.
KERRY THARP: We'll take questions for Mark, Dale or Alan.
Q: I know Dale mentioned several times that success here is great, but it's really what happens once you get to California for the rest of the season. If you could address how confident you are that you can be up front there in two weeks.
MARK MARTIN: I feel good about it 'cause we did it all last year, so I feel good about it.
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Well, you know, I agree with Dale. I think those tracks are more the standard configuration that we'll run, sort of the bread and butter.
But I think that what will carry over here is the work ethic, excitement, energy, determination of our shop as a whole to succeed is what is going to carry over and make us successful at California, Vegas, Bristol, Sonoma. You can take your pick, wherever you want to choose. That same work and determination that gets you to the top here gets you to the top there. I think it is a good precursor to what we can accomplish together. Hopefully get a championship for that building.
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Well, what we do here at Daytona is incredibly important. There's no other race that we put so much preparation into. But the other tracks, like Fontana and Vegas, they're so similar to everything else we do throughout the year, I'm just anticipating getting to those tracks and seeing what kind of results we can put down.
Q: Mark, does this feel like you haven't skipped a beat from now you ended last year, getting the pole right off the bat? How does this feel for your sponsor, who was already getting so much publicity going into today?
MARK MARTIN: We did a Goodyear tire test at Atlanta January 12th and 13th, I believe it was. When we hit the racetrack, I knew we had picked up where we left off. It was just fun. We were fast. We just had a blast.
So, you know, I knew then that it was just gonna be an extension of last year. Certainly it is. Alan and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports has worked really, really hard. There's no one area that we were going to be able to improve from 2009 significantly because you saw what we did in 2009. So what they've done is they've worked so hard trying to get just a little bit in every area to be even better yet.
You know, the little input that I have on things, I've done the same thing. You know, I've looked deeper and worked harder. That's my commitment to the year, just like our race team, in every area.
You know, we're ready to go. Can't wait to go racing every week so that we get in a routine, a normal routine.
By the way, yeah, it's nice. I'm still under the radar compared to Danica. Even though we got the pole, we're still under the radar. That's cool. That's my style.
KERRY THARP: Let's hear from team owner Rick Hendrick. Rick, congratulations sweeping the front row for the 2010 Daytona 500. All four of your cars today in qualifying were top 10. How does it feel to have 1-2 in the starting lineup next week?
RICK HENDRICK: After watching the Shootout practice, I'm glad that we got two up front, hopefully they'll make it to be there.
This is a race all on its own when you come to Daytona. The engine shop, the chassis shop, everybody works hard. It's a team effort. It's like going to the Super Bowl and qualifying.
You know, I can't tell you how proud I am of Alan Gustafson and Lance McGrew. The challenge was we wanted one team with two cars, then they unloaded two cars that ran almost identical times. I know this is just one race, but no one here and no one outside of our company will know the effort that Alan and Lance put into this team and these two cars, and I'm really proud of 'em.
KERRY THARP: We'll go back for questions.
Q: Mark and Dale, just wanted to ask you, there seems to be an incredible amount of satisfaction about the result here today because it emanates from your shop, the 5 and 88, what that represents. Do you think it's premature to say right now the next challenge to Jimmie's reign will come from this shop in terms of what you accomplished today?
MARK MARTIN: We hope so. That's as far as I'll take that. Obviously, you know, that's our goal. But that also is everyone else's goal in Sprint Cup racing.
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Yeah, I mean, I think we as a company want to put all four cars up front everywhere we go. That's sort of what we try to do. This is just a small step in the right direction for the 88. Hopefully we can be a part of what the other three teams have had success-wise in the past season this coming year.
Q: Dale Jr., you talked on the media tour about the changes that the team had undergone. There was some concern because you hadn't actually been on the track. Will you breathe any easier now that you've been behind the wheel of the car and seen what those changes have done or is there still a lot of questions in your mind?
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Well, we've just been a tiny bit on the racetrack. You're still thinking about how the car is going to be completely rebuilt for the race trim. We want to see what we do tonight. We feel like we got a pretty good package going into the Shootout. We can learn a little bit about how that works out for us. We'll have the rest of the week to work on our race trim for the 500.
You know, all this really does today is obviously pleases a ton of people back in Charlotte, gets all these guys on our teams that are traveling out here with us pumped up about this opportunity coming up not tonight but next week. It takes a little bit of pressure off, relieves a little bit of stress to be able to go out there and be able to do something good.
Q: Dale, Rick touched upon this. A casual fan may not appreciate this, but how important is it for you to know that you and your cars had an almost identical time to Mark's?
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I think I had a little bit more motor than he did, so I was a little disappointed (laughter). I think I had a horsepower on it or something. Rick probably won't want me to say more than that.
You know, it makes me feel good because I know Alan and Lance have really tried to work very, very close together. And when you can go to the racetrack and both cars are really similar like that, it reflects on the sharing of information and sharing of knowledge and ideas, especially when it comes to speedways like Daytona. There's plenty of written data, but there's a lot of ideas floating around, too, that can help you that aren't on paper.
It's really cool when those two guys can sort of mesh as well as they have. I think when they do that, they set a great example for everyone else in the shop to follow suit. It really changes the entire look of the building itself.
Q: Mark, is there a credible reason why we won't be asking you these same questions when you're 55 or 60?
MARK MARTIN: Don't go there (laughter). Don't go there. Let's not even talk about that.
I'm just loving life right now. I'm going to be loving life every time I get a chance to strap in that 5 car.
Q: Rick, you said a few minutes ago, tongue-in-cheek, that you hope both of those cars are still there next Sunday. Tonight how much will that Shootout say how much the 500 is going to be, Dale and Mark?
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: The Shootout is an entirely different event. Everybody goes into it with a different mind frame. You see a little bit more personality on the racetrack.
But I was glad that me and Mark had qualified on the front row so we don't have to compete against each other on Thursday. We can sort of settle our own little issues in our qualifying races separate from each other. Hopefully both of us can win a trophy.
But tonight's more about going out, we have kind of been limited on track time, especially Mark with the accident, so tonight's just about trying to see what shape the racetrack's in. Over every year it kind of changes a little bit, wears out a little more.
Obviously you're doing maybe something a little something different on the setup. We're out there to see what our cars will do, if they're good enough, obviously slinging up there and see if you can win the race.
Q: Will the 125 be more indicative of how rough the 500 will be?
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I don't think it's going to be as rough as a lot of people might be anticipating because it's starting in the early afternoon, it's going to be run in the daylight hours, and the track itself will be a little slick. Throughout the day, you'll see a lot of close racing in the first 15 laps of tire run, but after that you're going to see a lot of guys sliding around, trying to hang on to their racecars, keeping up with each other. You're going to see a lot of guys from fifth on back, it really gets dirty as far as the air back there, you'll see a lot of guys challenge to try to pass each other, race with each other.
Tonight is probably about as rough as you'll see all week.
MARK MARTIN: Just try to throw it up in there. Just what Dale said. Tonight, that is what tonight is about. If you're 20th, it's going to be a long throw. Hail Mary.
Q: Alan, we're hearing about you and Lance working together. Can you speak to how what you are doing specifically as you can. How is it different from last year?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Well, it sounds very simple but it's very complex to get two racers who typically are very egotistical people to get along real well and cooperate in the direction of the shop. For us, that's the key. When you use 85 people, what we've got to do is get 85 people to produce as much as they possibly can. That's how you're the fastest, that's how you're the best, that's how you win poles, that's how you win races.
If you take 42 of them, 43 of them, whatever, go this way, go that way, it's counterproductive. You'll go over the same things that the other guys went over and you won't get as far.
We've got to between the two of us work out the direction of that shop so when that shop gets the direction, it's sharp as an arrow. That's the key. We have the best people in the sport. If we tell them exactly what we need, I guarantee you they will get you exactly what you want.
That's what we're focused on doing, giving them really good direction, letting these guys that Mr. Hendrick graciously got for us, let them go do their thing. It's a tough thing to do. We have to race each other, as we have here. This is a great example. You have two groups of race teams, two drivers, two crew chiefs who have worked all winter long, they were separated by whatever it is, hundredths of a second.
There's a guy on the pole, there's a guy on the outside. There can be some issues with that, there can be some ramifications. But that's what we've got to understand, it's all for the 5/88 Hendrick Motorsports.
It gets tough. I'm real excited about. The 11 years I've been there, this is the best position we've been in to go win a championship. This is the best position we've been in to have out two teams succeed. I don't see why that won't happen.
Q: Is that what the problem was last year?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: I wouldn't go that far, but I would say it definitely was not as good as it needed to be. We needed to improve. We needed to be more efficient. We needed to play off each other more. We needed to make that shop operate as one. We've done that now. It took a lot of work.
This is a big deal. You can say, does this mean anything about Vegas, indicative of performance. Well, maybe not. But it is a big deal to those guys who have worked 24/7 that we went in there and shook up their lives three months ago and said, This is what is happening. Three months ago, you're building this for the 5, now you're building this for the 5/88.
It's a positive thing. There's a lot of labor that goes behind it. This is a big shot in the arm for those guys that have gone through all those changes, all the labor of us switching over components, challenging those guys to make these racecars better.
This is a quick shot in the arm for them to show that, hey, this is the correct path to go on. If we do follow this road, we're going to be successful.
Q: Mark, has anyone counted how many times you've said the word 'fun' in the last 14 or 15 months?
MARK MARTIN: I know people are sick of it, but that's just too bad (laughter).
Q: I don't think they're sick of it. Are you going to have to redefine the word in 2010?
MARK MARTIN: Well, 2010 will be a challenge to have as much fun as we had in 2009 because part of the time, I don't know about Alan, maybe not for Alan but for me, I was surprising myself. It was a surprise. And so we have higher expectations, or at least I do, you know, this year.
But it's still fun. It's awesome. Succeed or fail, we're doing it together. Somehow or another, you know, it's our commitment to he and I, you know, that we're gonna have fun doing it even when it doesn't go well. We're going to do our best to be having fun. Real competitive. Sometimes it's hard to do that when you're as competitive as he and I are.
Q: Mark and Dale, since you're starting up front in the 150s, what's your modus operandi? Go all out? Protect your car?
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: I like the fact no matter what you do in that race, you're gonna start second, as long as you can bring the car back. So if you're sitting there with a decent shot at trying to make a move to the win, you can do it a lot easier without much risk. If it doesn't work out, you finish fifth or 10th, whatever, you haven't really lost anything as far as your starting position for the 500.
You can might go for a move at the end that may or may not pay off. So that's about it. Other than that, I mean, you know, you might want to try to do a little better job of taking care of your car the first half of that race.
I don't know. You can't really worry too much about that situation that you're in as far as, you know, being on the front row and being guaranteed. You just got to go out there and try to win.
MARK MARTIN: I've been here a lot of times. I've won an IROC race and a Bud Shootout, so that's all. So what do you think I'm going to be trying to do (smiling)? I'm going to be trying to win me a race. And the Thursday comes before Sunday, so I'm going to be trying to get Thursday first (smiling).
Q: Alan, what is your situation on cars? I assume you're using your backup for tonight. Will you be able to get another one down here? And, Rick, Junior said he thought his motor was better. Was that intentional? Did you give him your best one?
RICK HENDRICK: They're all good (smiling). That is true. I think there's six motors within one and a half horsepower of each other. I don't know that you can measure that, so...
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, the car that we wrecked on Thursday night is getting painted right now. So it's fixed and it will be back here Wednesday at our disposal if we so need.
The car that Mark is going to drive tonight is actually a brand-new car. The way it turned out, you know, as you go through this process, you learn things. It very well may be our best car. There's some indications that make us feel that way. We'll see how it goes.
I told Mark today that those guys have worked really hard. We took that car back. They drove all night. They got it in at 4, stripped the motor out of it, they put a clip on it yesterday. The guys hung the body on it from yesterday afternoon till 5 in the morning. They're started working on it and they are going to paint it tonight.
The point to Mark is they're not doing all that work to just kind of save a car. We're going to go out there and race hard tonight and try to go ahead to get a big Budweiser trophy. That's our goal.
Really proud of what we can accomplish when we put our minds to it, have that car fixed, be ready to be back here as a backup on Wednesday in case something goes wrong tonight is a great comfort. There's not a lot of companies that can handle that.
Q: Alan, all but about 15 today broke the pole speed from last year. Is that the bigger plate?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: The wicker is a pretty significant factor. It's an eighth smaller with the plate. The endplates they put on add some drag, so that would be a little bit of a deduction.
I think the big jump in speed we saw was the wind down the back. Over where we ran yesterday, we were running -- Dale ran a 7-0, we ran a 7-1, yesterday we were running in the O's and teens. Half of that is probably tune-up, half of that is wind condition. So that was a big contributor to the jump in the speed.
Q: Mark and Dale, the close proximity of your teammates, is the race too long to count on being able to hook up with teammates for partners or is it hit or miss towards the end? Can you count on it because you're all pretty much up near the front at the start?
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: The race is really long. You'll see just about everybody at some point in time in the field. If you're in a position to work with your teammates, you obviously do it. If they're in a side-by-side situation, you try to get up there and help 'em out of it. That's just kind of how you do it.
At the end of the race, though, you kind of got to do whatever you think you need to do to put yourself in position to win the race. That's kind of how you have to play it at the end because you definitely don't want to make the wrong move trying to save someone else's tail. That's not what you're in the race for. The last few laps, it upsets your team more than anything.
I've done that myself. I've lost some races, making the wrong move, trying to help somebody when I should have been trying to win the race for myself or win for my sponsors.
Q: Rick, the driver to your immediate right kind of beat himself up toward the end of last season. He seems to be more self-confident going into the season this year. What has helped turn Dale around this year?
RICK HENDRICK: He knows how hard we worked as an organization. We feel like we let him down last year. We tried, but we were just not getting it done. Again, I don't know anybody in that garage that would have taken on the task that Alan did with Lance. And the two of them, I told them today, I was as proud of them as if they had won a championship because they sat down and came up with a game plan and really went to work.
Everybody in the organization has been amazed at the amount of effort. Everybody is smiling in that group. They kind of made a commitment. I think when Junior sees that kind of commitment, he's been working hard. We had good opportunities towards the end of the year, and no matter how good we were running, something was going to happen. We all felt like we were snake bit. So it was really good to wipe the slate clean.
We're committed. I told him when he came over here, I was going to give him the best stuff I could. I think I tried, but I think we could do better, and we have.
And to have Mark, who is an engineer driver extraordinaire, I said this, and I'll say it again, he's helped the whole organization. I've always hated to come to Daytona when I had to race against Dale, he and his daddy, you know, because they're unbelievable at a plate race, anywhere they go.
I'm just really excited. We worked hard. I'm proud of the guys. But Alan and Lance and Mark and Dale deserve all the credit. We got a long road to go. To see Mark as fired up as he is, committed as he is, as good as he is, run second last year to Jimmie when Jimmie had almost a picture perfect year, we're excited about the season.
But, you know, nobody will ever know the amount of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week that Alan and Lance have put into getting these cars down here and laying the groundwork for the week to come.
KERRY THARP: We'll take a couple more questions.
Q: Alan and Mark, as guys with Daytona ties, is this something you can kind of cross off your to-do list as far as something you wanted to get done or is it just another pole?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: For me, it's a huge deal. Being a crew chief, this is a situation where you can really shine. You've got opportunity to put a well-engineered, fast car out there, run faster than anybody else for the biggest race of the year. If that wasn't enough, I grew up about five miles, and I could hear these cars in my backyard when I was six years old. So I came here for years and years, this place, the speed, the cars, watched the great crew chiefs do it, you know, from Dale Inman all the way through the list, Gary DeHart, Jack Knaus, Ray Evernham, take your pick. They've all done it. And now fortunately I've been fortunate enough to accomplish that feat.
Then when my hero is driving the car makes it that much sweeter. It's really cool for me. Side note: When you can get a record with Mark, Mark has enough records to have his own record book, but when you can get a new one with him, we've done it a few times since he drove his car, done something he's never done in his career, be on the pole for the Daytona 500, something he's never done, I'm really proud to be able to do something he's never done, because he's done an awful lot. That's really cool for me, too.
Q: Mark, just a couple years ago you were talking about pulling back, slowing down, enjoying other non-race aspects of your life. Now you're back having more fun than ever.
MARK MARTIN: I did that, though. Don't forget, I talked about it and did it.
Q: What did you find out you missed? Talk about the process of jumping back in full force.
MARK MARTIN: I was happy. I had conceded myself and my career to what I was doing. I was very fortunate to drive the 01, nearly win the Daytona 500, and to drive the 8 car, fast racecar, have a lot of fun, do it on my terms. And I wasn't really at the time missing anything.
But when I was presented the opportunity to drive the 5 car, and I had two near misses in the 8 car to winning, I almost won two different races in the 8 car. I had a chance to drive the 5 car, I knew more than anything else, I knew that I would regret for the rest of my life not taking that opportunity.
And, boy, was I right about that. And so, you know, I'm the luckiest guy around because it looks like I've done so many things right, but really I've just been lucky and stumbled around. I've just stumbled around. I have just stumbled around, fell in this 5 car, and it's the best thing that has ever happened to me, you know.
I'm so happy to be at the racetrack. There's no place in the world that I'd rather be. I've said that before. There's no place in the world I'd rather be.
KERRY THARP: Thank you, gentlemen. Good luck the remainder of SpeedWeeks.
Mark Martin Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes Daytona 500
Team Chevy's Mark Martin Wins the Pole for the Daytona 500 with Teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Qualifying Second; Both Impala Drivers Locked into the Great American Race.
Daytona Beach, Fla., Feb. 6, 2010 - Team Chevy driver Mark Martin, No. 5 GoDaddy.com Impala started the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season off in great style by winning the pole for the Feb. 14th 52nd annual Daytona 500. It is the 51-year old driver's 49th career pole, but his first for the Great American race.
With today's accomplishment, Martin becomes the oldest driver in NASCAR history to capture the number one starting position for the season-opening race.
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM IMPALA -- Pole-Winner
"That would be really cool to get in the 46.00's. I'd like to thank Alan Gustafson, the GoDady.com team, and Hendrick Motorsports; I was just out there riding really fast. It sure is fun. It's quite an opportunity to get to drive their stuff here."
YOU KNOCKED YOUR TEAMMATE OFF THE POLE; CAN YOU HOLD ONTO IT?
"Well, I don't know. This is a crazy thing and it would really be cool to see. If we don't, I'd like to see Bill Elliott. But maybe we'll be able to hold onto it here."
THIS IS YOUR 26TH DAYTONA 500 AND YOU'VE GOT TO LIKE HOW THINGS ARE STARTING OUT
"It's time; it's time. You know we haven't done it yet, so this is the best shot I've had, or as good. I had some really good shots and didn't get it done, but think we have our best chance now."
WITH YOU AND DALE, JR. SO FAST TODAY, IS THIS A SIGN THAT THINGS ARE WORKING?
"When we went out yesterday and he ran a .70 and we ran a .72, I looked at Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and said 'It is supposed to be like that, RIGHT?' and he said 'Yea.' So yes, we hope to both raise our game this year, the No. 5 and the No. 88"
POST QUALIFYING COMMENT
"This is just a great accomplishment for this GoDaddy.com team, Alan Gustafson and all of the guys. I want to thank Bob Parsons for stepping up to the plate here. It is pretty exciting to have them on board. It is all about the team. That was not accomplishment of mine, it is one of all of our guys on this team. To have Dale, Jr. on the outside of the front row, locked in, just means that we are doing stuff right."
Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview Daytona 500
GO DADDY DEBUT: Mark Martin will debut the new black, green and orange No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in Saturday's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. In addition to the exhibition event, GoDaddy.com will be the primary sponsor for 20 points-paying NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events this season, including the Feb. 14 Daytona 500.
BACK FOR MORE: Martin returns to the wheel of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet this year, coming off one of the most successful seasons of his career. Martin's five wins and 805 laps led in 2009 were his most in a single campaign since 1998. He also earned a career-best seven pole positions last year before finishing second in the Sprint Cup standings for the fifth time in his career.
MARTIN IN THE SHOOTOUT: This Saturday, Martin will make his 22nd career start in the Shootout, the most of any current, full-time Sprint Cup driver. He finished eighth in the 2008 Shootout, his most recent start in the event. Martin qualifies for the 2010 Shootout because he was a 2009 Chase contender as well as the winner of the 1999 Bud Shootout.
50TH START: Martin's 50th points-paying Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway will come in the 2010 Daytona 500. That will tie Daytona with Charlotte Motor Speedway for the most Cup starts Martin has made at a single track. In 49 Daytona starts, he has earned nine top-five finishes and 17 top-10s. The race will be Martin's 26th Daytona 500.
MOST RECENT SPEEDWEEKS: In his Hendrick Motorsports debut last February, Martin qualified on the outside pole for the 2009 Daytona 500. He went on to lead 36 laps of his 60-lap Gatorade Duel before finishing second. Martin's hopes of winning his first career Daytona 500 were washed away, however, by rain showers that ended the race on Lap 152. Martin finished in 16th place.
SETTING A RECORD: Should he take the checkered flag on Feb. 14, Martin would become the oldest driver to win the Daytona 500. Last season, Martin became only the fourth driver older than age 50 to win a Sprint Cup event and only the second driver older than 50 to win multiple times. The veteran driver celebrated his 51st birthday on Jan. 9.
MARTIN IN THE 500: Martin nearly won his first Daytona 500 in 2007, when he crossed the finish line just .020 seconds behind Kevin Harvick. It marked the closest margin of victory ever recorded at Daytona during the prestigious 500-mile event. Martin has started the Great American Race 25 times and has earned five top-five finishes and nine top-10s.
ONE OF FOUR: Daytona International Speedway is one of just four active Sprint Cup tracks where Martin has yet to earn a victory, along with Pocono Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Martin has one runner-up finish at Daytona, which he recorded in the 2007 Daytona 500.
MARTIN AT DAYTONA: In 49 Cup starts at Daytona International Speedway, Martin has scored one pole position (July 1, 1989), nine top-five finishes and 17 top-10s.
HOMETOWN CREW CHIEF: Martin lives in Daytona Beach now, but his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, considers the Daytona Beach area home for another reason. Gustafson grew up in Ormond Beach, just seven miles north of Daytona International Speedway. After graduating from Seabreeze High School, he enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which is located less than one mile east of the track. Gustafson has earned one victory at Daytona -- the NASCAR Nationwide Series event in July 2007.
DAYTONA SUCCESS: Under Gustafson, the No. 5 Chevrolet team has finished second twice at Daytona. The team took runner-up honors in July 2006 and July 2007, leading a combined 20 laps.
THE NO. 5 AT DAYTONA: The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has led at least one lap in three of the five Daytona 500s it has entered under the direction of Gustafson. The team started from inside the top 10 in the last four 500s, with a career-best start of second coming last season with Martin behind the wheel. Martin finished the 2009 event in 16th. Overall the No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports' first Sprint Cup entry, has tallied one win (1986), 10 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s during the organization's 26 years.
HENDRICK AT DAYTONA: After 26 seasons of running the Daytona 500, Hendrick Motorsports drivers have tallied six wins, 19 top-five finishes, 34 top-10s and six pole positions in 81 starts. Hendrick drivers have finished inside the top 10 in all but four events.
NEW TEAM MEMBER: Tom Gray, 30, joined the No. 5 GoDaddy.com team this season as the second race engineer. Gray, who hails from Indianapolis, formerly worked in Hendrick Motorsports research and development department. Gray graduated from Purdue University in 2003 with a degree in mechanical engineering technology and was the first freshman there to win the Purdue Grand Prix, a competition held among engineering students.
PIT CREW: The No. 5 GoDaddy.com team's pit crew remains intact from the 2009 season: Kyle Turner, front-tire changer; J.D. Holcomb, front-tire carrier; Jason Hunt, jackman; Josh Kirk, rear-tire changer; Dion Williams, rear-tire carrier; Travis Gordon, catch can; and Brad Pickens, gasman.
SHOOTOUT CHASSIS: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-548 for Saturday's Shootout. Martin raced this car in the July 2009 event at Daytona International Speedway.
500 CHASSIS: Martin will race Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-560 in the 2010 Daytona 500. This is a new chassis that never has been raced or tested.
GUSTAFSON AT SPRINT FANZONE: Crew chief Alan Gustafson will chat with Miss Sprint Cup on stage in the Sprint FanZone on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 5:45 p.m. local time. The Sprint FanZone is located in the Daytona International Speedway infield adjacent to the Sprint Cup garage area.
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON RACING IN THE SHOOTOUT.): "It was hard not to be in that race last year. I was itching to get into that car, and to watch all the other guys go out there, it was an odd feeling. I was happy to hear with the way they restructured the race this year that we were definitely in. That time on the track is important to getting back into the swing of things with your team and with pit stops before the 500. I'm looking forward to it."
MARTIN (ON HIS OFFSEASON.): "I didn't go anywhere. Let's start with that. I stayed home and enjoyed every minute of the time with my family, just relaxing. I trained hard this off season, some days for three or four hours straight. I wanted to be in my best physical condition this year, and I think I am. I know I'm better than I was last year. I feel the best that I have in years, more physically and mentally prepared to start the season."
MARTIN (ON HOW TO IMPROVE FROM A RUNNER-UP SEASON.): "I made sure over the offseason that training was a priority. From talking to Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the guys at the shop, I know that they are more prepared and better at this point now than they were last year, too. We learned a lot last season that has us in a better place this year. Last year, we didn't know how our communication would be. The guys didn't know how I liked my cars set up. We know all of that stuff now. Instead of working on the little things, we can focus on the big picture. That makes a big difference."
MARTIN (ON THE DAYTONA 500.): "The Daytona 500 is a big deal. We can see that in the fans that come out and stay for weeks. The amount of time that is spent preparing the cars for this one race. The level of excitement is up on that day. It's just a different feeling. But once you're strapped in that car, it's the same. It's just like any other race, and you want to win. I don't treat it differently, and it's not this 'monkey on my back' because I haven't won it. Would it be great to win? Yes. But I don't think it's something that's going to haunt me if I don't."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON HIS OUTLOOK FOR THE 2010 SEASON.): "Win it all and leave them (the competition) crying! (LAUGHS.) We want to build on what we did in 2009. Take the gains we made, improve on them and ultimately win the championship. I think we have to score 15 more points per race in the Chase. We need to try to make the cars better, the team better, pit stops better, efficiency better, technical knowledge better and try to get an advantage. I think with a year under our belt and the understanding of what we have to do and need to do to improve on a track-to-track basis, we are absolutely better than we were at this point last year."
GUSTAFSON (ON GODADDY.COM TEAM CHANGES FOR THIS YEAR.): "Tom Gray came on board as a new engineer with us. He is a really bright guy. He has a lot of racing experience that will provide us with a lot of great information to ultimately run better. It will take some time for him to acclimate himself to the position. But that's with everyone. Once he gets comfortable he'll be a really good asset to the team. As for our pit crew, the same guys are back. A few new back-ups but the same primary guys are back. They're ready to go. They've had time to jell. Now they can work on speed and performance. They've been around each other enough where we have the basics handled. We can zero in on maximizing the speed of the pit stops."
GUSTAFSON (ON IMPROVING UPON HIS CAREER-BEST SEASON.): "My goal is to win every race. I'll do everything I can to get to that point. Sometimes you fall short and learn from it. Sometimes you succeed and learn from it. There's constant pressure regardless of what situation you're in. It doesn't change for me if we're 34th in points or first in points or second in points; coming off your worst season or your best as a crew chief. It's all similar. There's a constant pressure to perform. We hold ourselves to a high standard, regardless of the situation. The pressure is always there."
GUSTAFSON (ON NASCAR'S NEW RESTRICTOR PLATE.): "NASCAR added some wing end plates that slowed the cars down and put a little drag on the cars. I don't know for sure, but the restrictor plate should be, in single-car runs, a pretty direct replacement for the drag that they added with the curved end plate. That should be the same. They will probably suck up better and faster than they did before in a pack. If that's the case, the drivers will like it. In overall speed, I don't think they'll be a whole bunch of difference."
Mark Martin gets New Sponsor, Keeps Shirt on
The familiar blue and yellow paint scheme of the No. 5 Chevrolet driven by Mark Martin will be no more as the Hendrick Motorsports driver will have a new primary sponsor for the 2010 season in GoDaddy.com.
Although Kellogg's did not continue their sponsorship with Martin's car, sponsors CARQUEST Auto Parts and Delphi still remain.
Its exciting. GoDaddy.com has got some really cool stuff," said Martin. "It's a little bit edgy and brings a little bit of edginess to the No. 5 car, which is different than you've seen in years."
The edginess he may be referring to is the new lime green, black and orange color scheme adorning his Chevrolet or perhaps the sponsor itself.
JR Motorsports driver Danica Patrick, who also has GoDaddy.com as a sponsor, has been featured in the company's commercials, but Martin has yet to star in one himself.
"We worked on the possibility of doing one together with Danica and that hasn't worked out with timing and scripts, but it will happen," said Martin. "It's just a lot going on. Everybody is going in different directions. It just hasn't happened yet."
During the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour stop, a media member jokingly asked Martin whether GoDaddy.com had asked him to wear a bathing suit, referring to one of Patrick's commercials.
They haven't asked me to take my shirt off yet," Martin replied.
An interview with Mark Martin
DENISE MALOOF: Mark Martin, 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series runner-up. 2010, did you have fun during the off-season?
MARK MARTIN: It's been just really great. I really had a special time with family and friends, no big spectacular trips or anything like that. But it was probably the best holiday that I've had in as long as I can remember. A lot of family together, and we spent most of the time in Florida. It was good.
Q: When you look back at your history of racing at Daytona and Talladega, without the restrictor plates, comparing those cars to the new car, can you do that? Were they any more or less out of control? How did the two cars compare pre-plate and post-plate?
MARK MARTIN: The pre-plate cars were a lot more out of control, a lot, lot more. And the packs were small. And so there were fewer wrecks because the cars weren't in big packs, because you couldn't hardly hold on to them.
From a driver's standpoint, that was a challenge. It was fun; it was a challenge when the cars were like that. From a race fan's standpoint, the better the car handles, the better the race is, because they stick together and you have one huge lead draft with all kinds of things happening out there.
Q: NASCAR has told the teams that eventually the wing will be gone and you'll have a spoiler. What do you think about that, and how do you plan to attack that? Do you plan to do a lot of testing or just go to the one test that NASCAR is having and go from there?
MARK MARTIN: I don't expect a huge impact on the handling of the race cars, nothing to the effect that would throw us out of whack. So no, I don't plan on doing an enormous amount of testing. We've got the two-day test at Charlotte. The teams will be working in the wind tunnel. They've been working with the wind tunnel on the wing consistently, and now they will start working on the spoiler instead of the wing. And there will be some learning and development that goes along with it.
You know, I don't see any -- I just don't see it being something where the race teams are going to go out and test everywhere that we can test because I think you're going to bolt it on and you're going to go race and you're going to go to wind tunnel and you're going to work and develop it along.
Q: On Jimmie Johnson, it was written this week that someone said, well, who would you rather interview, Jimmie Johnson or Danica Patrick.
MARK MARTIN: I know who I'd
Q: Taking Danica out of the equation, is Jimmie ever going to get the due that he's got coming?
MARK MARTIN: It may be after his helmet is hung. Definitely what he's achieved I don't think the sport has absorbed what he's achieved. I've said this a number of times already tonight, but being an outsider, I don't think you really realize how incredible Jimmie Johnson is and what an enormous contribution that Jimmie Johnson makes to the performance of that 48 car.
I'm inside now, and I see that. I didn't see that before. So that's been part of the delay, I think. And the other is we're living it right now. History is what's really behind you, and I think the most significant history to people is further behind you than just a year. And so I think that as we look back on this in history, we'll realize what an incredible feat that they've accomplished, and aren't done yet.
Q: I know you and NASCAR as a whole have always been very appreciative of the fans and your thoughts on what it means to have an event like this to help keep that excitement before the season starts.
MARK MARTIN: Well, it's good to see the fans out. I'm enjoying it. It's good to see everybody out at a standalone event without a race. The environment is a little bit different. We have an opportunity to hopefully take a little bit more time to do some of the things that you might not be able to do in the middle of a racing activity type of a settle. It makes you feel good when you see the kind of support that we have here tonight about where we are today with our sport. Obviously we've got the best fans in sports, most loyal fans in sports.
It's good to see. It's good to see the turnout tonight.
Q: You came closer to doing it last year, and now that you've had a couple months to think about it, how do you beat Jimmie Johnson? How do you beat your teammate for the championship?
MARK MARTIN: First of all, how do we know that Jimmie Johnson is the team to beat in 2010 is my first response to that. You know, you can't really control what other people do and how they perform. What you can do is focus on your performance and strengthening everything in your program. And Alan and I and the team have looked at every piece of it, and we have tried to add strength to every part of it.
When you're performing on the level that we performed in 2009, it's hard to make large gains in any one area. But if you can make just a little bit of gain in most areas, then hopefully that will be you that the field is chasing.
Q: You went into last year with a new team going back full-time after being absent full-time for two years, and you had to have had a lot of questions going into the start of last season, and you answered all those. What does that do for your peace of mind going into 2010 coming back with the same crew chief, the same team, the same organization?
MARK MARTIN: I feel really good. A lot of questions are answered that I was concerned about a year ago. We went to the racetrack this week, tire testing in Atlanta with Goodyear, and it certainly looked like we picked up where we left off last year. We've been working really hard in every single area to strengthen and make our program better, stronger and more productive for 2010. You know, I feel really confident.
On the other hand, you have to put the performance up. So just because we put it up in 2009 doesn't mean that it's done in 2010; it's still all in front of us. All the work is yet to be done, although I feel very confident. I've got my sleeves rolled up, and I'm ready to work.
Q: This may be a short answer. Back at the beginning of the development of the COT, were you part of that group that back-to-back the spoiler against the wing, and if you were, what did you think about the two then, and how would it be any different today?
MARK MARTIN: I wasn't a part of that. The spoiler is going to look like a traditional stock car, and I think that is huge. I think that's big for us all, everyone, fans, competitors and all.
The performance of the spoiler may be a little bit different, but that configuration isn't, I don't think, completely defined yet. So in the end the performance of the spoiler should be similar to what we have with the wing with a much more traditional look, and the effects on the racetrack will be continued great racing with improvement going forward all the time.
If you notice the difference in racing in 2008 to 2009, I certainly saw a huge difference in the development of the race cars and the development of Goodyear tires to go along with the cars that we race now, and Goodyear is continuing to improve and develop the tires to be phenomenal on the durability side, and yet really raceable and drivable from a driver's side as well, fast and racy.
So the cars will continue to get more racy as we go forward in 2010. The spoiler will just be a part of that. It's not a world changer; it is just the right move.
Q: Dale, Jr. was saying earlier that since the naming of Lance as the full-time crew chief of the 88 car that he's sensed a change in the culture of the 5 and 88 shops, that he encountered an optimism there, at least on his side of things, that frankly surprised him. Just wondered if you had had a sense of that as well.
MARK MARTIN: Well, I'm a big fan of Lance McGrew. Lance crew chiefed the Nationwide car when we won Vegas and got JR Motorsports their first win. That's the only race that he crew chiefed for me. I became a huge fan from working with him, not because we won that race, but because of how effective we were together.
And so, you know, I was very excited when he stepped into that position, and Alan obviously feels the same way toward Lance, has a great working relationship, and Alan is very, very committed to making the 5 and 88 stronger. And Lance is a big part of that.
And the way you do that is you make both cars, both teams under one roof stronger than what they were before. That's progress. That's our commitment.
Q: Along with the talk about changing the wing to the spoiler, we've also changed the schedule at Daytona where they're going to do qualifying, ARCA race and the Shootout in one day. They've changed races off of ABC to ESPN, starting times. There's been a lot of things going on here. I spoke with some of the executives at ESPN, and they said they have never -- they have almost daily talks with people from NASCAR where everybody is communicating with everybody and talking and saying, what do we really have to do to make this better, and also with the drivers, talking about the drivers. Do you feel like this is more of a collective effort now, probably more than ever before?
MARK MARTIN: It is more a collective effort, and it's better than ever before, because all the changes that I see coming, almost all, for sure, all the ones I know of are all in the right direction. They're better for the fans, they're better for the sport. The start times are better. I've seen changes in the past where I looked at that and shook my head and didn't understand.
I understand the changes that are being made. They're all for the fans. They're all for the sport. They're all better. And we should all embrace those changes together.
You know, there are still a few things on the table that haven't been decided yet, which way one or two of those things go may or may not be -- you know, I may not be as big a fan of. But as of today, everything that I know of that for sure is going to come to pass are things that I believe are better for all of us.
Q: Following up, you've talked before about how Dale Earnhardt, Jr., is a guy that's got the weight of the world on his shoulders. Given all the changes in the off-season, not just for him but for Hendrick as a whole, what faces him, I guess, going into 2010? I know you can't put more pressure on the guy, but is this sort of like maybe could be a water shed year for him, make or break type of thing?
MARK MARTIN: Well, I think for his sake and for Hendrick's sake both, things have to get better than they were last year. If they only make minor progress in the performance side, and they have the opposite kind of racing luck than they had, they will have a Chase-making and very, very, very respectable season. In other words, they don't have to make a huge jump in performance if they can just get that monkey off their back.
And it's our hope that we're able to make a huge gain in the performance. You know, that's our hope. Everyone's hope is that we can do that. But if we only make a small amount, it will be enough if the monkey gets off their back. They ran better than the 5 car in numerous races, but nobody really noticed because they got wrecked or something broke or -- you know, whatever happened, happened. They had a lot of things happen and go bad for them, when they were faster than we were in the 5 car.
They weren't faster than us enough of the time, you know. I think their hope would be to be 50 percent of the time faster than we were, and maybe we'd be faster than they were 50 percent of the time, and they weren't there yet. So we've got to hopefully bring that up. But it won't take an enormous amount of performance to get them in the hunt. And it will; everybody's luck turns around. Nobody has got the horseshoe forever either. It goes both ways. And certainly Dale, Jr. is due for some good days.
Q: I'm going to probably embarrass your PR rep here, but Kendra Tweeted a little while ago, and she said that you were geared up for this year and you can't wait, and you say your team is better than it was last year. I think that maybe the perception, wrong as it may be, is you finished second for the fifth time last year. How can you possibly come back and take that next step? Are you kind of going into this year saying, hey, don't underestimate me, I'm going to be a lot better than people realize?
MARK MARTIN: First of all, I really don't care what people estimate, and really I don't -- that's no big deal. It doesn't have any bearing on what really happens, whether Daryl Waltrip says that I can't do it again this year. (Laughter) What does that matter at the end of the day? That really doesn't matter.
Here's what matters: And your point is right; we were spectacular last year. I think what you're saying is how can you expect to be better. I can't know what the competition is going to do, but I do know that physically I'm better. I am better. I am more ready today than I was a year ago right now. I know that my race team is more ready than they were a year ago right now. I know our pit stops are faster than they were a year ago right now. I know that we have a better understanding of our race cars than where we were a year ago right now. We didn't know any -- we hadn't even run a race yet a year ago.
So we are better. Alan has put together a very, very strong program, and there's been some people moved around between the 5 and the 88 that will make both of us better and stronger. So those things I do know. I'm not Mr. Optimistic, I'm not Mr. Pessimistic, I'm Mr. Realistic. And realistically speaking, I can't tell you what the result will be in 2010.
But Kendra is very right; we are better than we were a year ago. I just don't know how much better our competition is.
DENISE MALOOF: Mark, thank you very much. We'll see you soon.
Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes Shelby American
GM Racing
February 28, 2010
GM Racing
February 26, 2010
GM Racing
February 26, 2010
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Hendrick Motorsports
February 24, 2010
GM Racing
February 21, 2010
GM Racing
February 20, 2010
GM Racing
February 19, 2010
Auto Club Speedway
Hendrick Motorsports
February 17, 2010
GM Racing
February 14, 2010
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February 11, 2010
February 12, 2010
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 06: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet poses after qualifying on the pole position for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 6, 2010 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
NASCAR.com
February 6, 2010
MARK MARTIN
RICK HENDRICK
ALAN GUSTAFSON
GM Racing
February 6, 2010
Hendrick Motorsports
February 1, 2010
Charlotte Motor Speedway media tour day 3 notes, quotes
2010 NASCAR Preseason Thunder Daytona Fan Fest: Friday news conference transcripts
NASCAR.com
January 15, 2010
