News & Notes
NO. 25 THROWBACK: In honor of the 25th year since its debut, Martin will drive Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 25 Chevrolet in Saturday night’s all-star race. The No. 25 has a long history at Hendrick Motorsports, starting in 1986 with driver Tim Richmond and crew chief Harry Hyde. That season, the duo won seven races and eight pole positions. Richmond finished third in the standings.
NO. 25 WINNERS: Of the 12 different drivers who’ve piloted the No. 25 for Hendrick Motorsports, six of them have taken the number to Victory Lane in a Cup event. Those drivers include Tim Richmond, Ken Schrader, Jerry Nadeau, Joe Nemechek, Brian Vickers and Casey Mears. Schrader, Nadeau, Vickers and Mears earned their first career Sprint Cup wins in the No. 25.
ALL-STAR WIN: If Martin can reach Victory Lane in Saturday’s exhibition event, he will be the first Hendrick Motorsports driver to do so from behind the wheel of the No. 25 Chevrolet. In its last 16 appearances in the all-star race, the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has scored 10 top-five finishes and 11 top-10s.
MR. HENDRICK’S RIDE: The No. 25 is the first car number that Rick Hendrick drove for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup series, and it has a special place in the organization as the car first owned by Hendrick’s father, “Papa Joe.” Rick Hendrick made his Cup debut on Nov. 8, 1987, at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. He lined up the No. 25 Chevy from 21st, but was scored with a 33rd-place finish after a transmission issue.
MOST RECENTLY: The last time the No. 25 was on the track was at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October 2009. Brad Keselowski drove the Chevrolet to a 12th-place finish in its most recent outing.
NASCAR NUMEROLOGY: The No. 25 has made a total of 1,320 starts in NASCAR Sprint Cup history. This is the 13th-most of any number in the sport. The No. 25 has recorded 21 wins overall with owners Don Rogalla, Dalley Moyer and Hendrick.
MOST STARTS: The 2011 Sprint All-Star race will be Mark Martin’s 22nd start in the non-points event, which is the most for any driver locked into this year’s field. Martin’s first start in 1990 resulted in a third-place finish. He finished 17th in the 2010 event.
TWO-TIME WINNER: Martin is a two-time all-star champion. Martin’s first victory occurred in 1998 after he started fifth and led 31 laps. He also won in 2005 after starting from the outside pole position and leading 24 laps. He is one of just six drivers to post multiple all-star victories.
ALL-STAR FINISHES: Along with his two victories, Martin has posted seven top-five finishes and 10 top-10s in the exhibition event. While he has yet to secure the pole position, he lined up on the front row in 2000 and 2005.
THE NO. 25 ALL-STAR PIT CREW: The No. 25 pit crew will compete in Thursday’s NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge at Time Warner Cable arena in uptown Charlotte. The pit crew consists of front-tire changer Adam Emmert (McCall, Idaho), front-tire carrier Ben Fischbeck (Waynesville, Mo.), jackman Jeff Kerr (China Grove, N.C.), rear-tire changer Kip Wolfmeier (Kingdom City, Mo.), rear-tire carrier Matt Myers (Ford City, Pa.) and gas man Chris Fasulka (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.). The team is led by pit crew coaches Mark Mauldin (Spencer, N.C.) and Walt Smith (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and strength and conditioning coach Mark Morrison (Loveland, Col.).
CHALLENGE DRIVER: Matt Martin, son of Mark Martin, will get back behind the wheel of the race car for Thursday’s Pit Crew Challenge. Matt previously raced quarter midgets, trucks in the FASCAR Series, and the southern tour of the ASA Late Model Series. Matt ended his racing career in 2008.
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: With their runner-up finish at Dover (Del.) International Speedway last Sunday, Martin and the No. 5 team advanced to 11th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, just four points outside of the top 10.
ANOTHER TOP-10: Martin’s runner-up finish last Sunday was his 432nd top-10. This places him third on the all-time top-10s list for the Sprint Cup Series. He trails second-place Bobby Allison, an inductee for the 2011 Hall of Fame class, by just 14 top 10 finishes.
RUNNER-UP RECORD: Martin’s second-place finish last Sunday also gave him the most career runner-up Sprint Cup finishes—60—of any active driver. Martin now has the fourth-most top-two finishes – 100 total between wins and second-place results—in the history of the sport. With 100 top-two finishes in 805 starts, Martin averages a first or second place finish in nearly every eight races.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Lance McGrew has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-646 for Saturday’s All-Star race. This is the same chassis that Martin drove to a 19th-place finish earlier this month at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway after cutting a tire.
HENDRICK IN THE ALL-STAR: In 75 all-star entries, Hendrick Motorsports has scored six wins, 28 top-five finishes, 41 top-10s and led 565 laps. The team has started from the front row a combined nine times, with three of those times from the pole position. Each of Hendrick’s four current drivers have at least one career all-star victory.
Quotes
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 25 FARMERS INSURANCE “THROWBACK”/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON DRIVING THE THROWBACK PAINT SCHEME.):
“I remember racing against this No. 25 back in the earlier days of my career. Tim (Richmond, driver) was a great guy, and it’s cool to kind of be wearing his same firesuit and taking his car out this weekend. There have been some great drivers behind the wheel of this car, including Rick (Hendrick, team owner). There’s just a lot of history here that I’m real proud to be a part of. The last time I won the All-Star race was in a throwback paint scheme for the No. 6 car. Maybe it’s a good luck thing.”
MARTIN (ON THE ALL-STAR RACE.):
“This is usually one of those throw-down, exciting races that leaves a lot to be talked about on Sunday morning. I love this race. It’s all kind of out there on the line. No points. Just the win. It’s a great race, too, because everyone brings their family out for it. It kind of reminds me of those Saturday night races we were all in as kids. There’s just an excitement to it.”
MARTIN (ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PIT CREWS.):
“When I started, the pit crew guys that performed the pit stops were the mechanics on the race team, and that was their main concern. And although they did practice a little bit, it’s not nearly like it is today. So they were doing four tires in 20 seconds and as the speeds got down to 13 or 14 seconds, they took the second jack away and the third air wrench away to slow it down, and that knocked it back down again. Now you’re seeing 12-second pit stops again. It’s amazing how much athletic ability that these guys have. How much they train, physically train, and the practices they do to do these pit stops. What they do is more critical than ever, because the cars are closer to the same speed on the track, making it harder to pass. So the pit stops have become one of the more critical aspects of what we do.”
LANCE McGREW, CREW CHIEF, NO. 25 FARMERS INSURANCE “THROWBACK”/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PIT CREWS.):
“I really can’t overemphasize the importance of the pit crew. Up and down pit road, all of the crews are so good that if you make one slip, five cars will pass you on pit road. All it takes is one little mistake, and it is so costly. On the flip side, if you have a great pit stop, you’ll gain those five spots that are so hard to make up on the track now. A good pit crew and consistently good pit stops are crucial.”
McGREW (ON THE PIT CREW CHALLENGE.):
“From a pit picking standpoint alone, the pit crew challenge really doesn’t affect a whole lot. But from a confidence standpoint it is absolutely a big deal to those six guys and everyone on the team. A good showing Thursday night can really jack the guys’ confidence up, and that is so important week in and week out. It’s not all physical ability. The mental aspect of this sport, and specifically what these guys do, is such a huge part of it. Being able to get your mind right before you jump over the wall is half the battle.”
McGREW (ON THE ALL-STAR RACE.):
“This race is very exciting. I love it. I love the energy of Charlotte Motor Speedway—especially at night. There’s a certain intensity yet freedom to not racing for points and being flat-out wide open for the win the whole event. I can’t wait until Saturday night. I look forward to this race from the time the season starts.”
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