News & Notes
BRISTOL WINNER: Mark Martin is a two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup race winner at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. In August 1993, Martin started from the pole position and led 67 laps en route to his first victory at the short track. Five years later, he led 190 laps before scoring his second win at Bristol on Aug. 22, 1998.
POLE SITTER: Martin has earned nine pole positions at the Tennessee short track, which is more than any other active driver and ties legendary Cale Yarborough for first all-time. From Martin’s first Bristol pole in April 1989 to his most recent—August 2009—the pole speed has increased by more than 4 mph. Martin’s next Sprint Cup Series pole will be the 50th of his career and will tie him for eighth on the all-time pole winner’s list.
MARTIN AT BRISTOL: In 44 Cup starts at Bristol, Martin has posted two wins, 16 top-five finishes and 23 top-10s. Martin has led 1,200 laps at Bristol, which ranks second for the NASCAR veteran only to the 1,720 laps he’s led at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
POINT STANDINGS: Martin and the GoDaddy.com team are 11th in the Sprint Cup Series point standings, just 22 points behind the leader.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Lance McGrew has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-625 for Sunday’s race in Bristol. This is a brand new chassis that never has been raced or tested.
ONE OF TWO: With Martin’s NASCAR Nationwide Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two weeks ago, he became one of just two drivers to earn a NASCAR national touring series win in each of the last four decades. Martin joins Michael Waltrip, who won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race earlier this year at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
RUNNER-UP RECORD: Martin is tied with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon for the most career runner-up Sprint Cup finishes—59—of any active driver. Both Martin and Gordon are tied with Cale Yarborough for the fifth-most runner-up finishes in the history of the sport.
HENDRICK AT BRISTOL: In 54 events (167 starts) at Bristol, Hendrick Motorsports has earned nine wins, 45 top-five finishes and 71 top-10s. The organization has 11 pole positions at the short track.
APPROACHING 200: With Gordon’s win last month at Phoenix International Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports now owns 195 victories. The organization ranks first in the modern era for wins and second all-time behind Petty Enterprises, which has 268 victories.
Quotes
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON RACING AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY.):
“Bristol is kind of like Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in the fact that anything can really happen. Maybe not to the extreme that Talladega is, but it definitely has that capability. We saw that last March when we had an awesome race car, but got caught up in someone else’s accident. It just happens. And a lot of times there’s no way to avoid it. The best thing to do is be good right off the truck; qualify well; get a great pit box and a great starting position and just stay up front all night. Not only does that help during the race itself, but it also gets everyone’s confidence up and gets them pumped up for the race.”
MARTIN (ON HIS MUSIC CHOICES.):
“I love music. I love finding new music. And when I work out, I love music that makes me work even harder. The reason I like rap music so much is that it tells a story. It’s not just words that rhyme, but words that tell a complex story. I think it’s amazing what rappers can do. Eminem is just incredible. And I love Dr. Dre so that’s why he’s in that mix. But I have a lot of admiration for old school rock, too. AC/DC has been one of my favorites for years. I’ve been to a lot of their concerts. And ‘Whole Lotta Love’ is just a classic with an awesome sound to it. I wanted something that has a good beat that not only represents me, but makes the fans get into it a little bit, too.”
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