News & Notes
CARQUEST: The No. 5 Chevrolet will sport the red, white and blue colors of CARQUEST Auto Parts this weekend at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. CARQUEST, a longtime partner of Hendrick Motorsports, is on the hood of the No. 5 Chevy for eight races this season.
SUPERSPEEDWAY STATS: Mark Martin will make his 100th superspeedway start on Saturday. In 99 previous superspeedway NASCAR Sprint Cup starts, Martin has posted two wins—both at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway—20 top-five finishes and 42 top-10s.
AT DAYTONA: Martin, driver of the No. 5 CARQUEST Auto Parts/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, will make his 53rd Sprint Cup start at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. This ties Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway as the track where Martin has made the most Cup starts. In his previous 52 starts at Daytona, he earned nine top-five finishes and 18 top-10s.
MOST RECENTLY: In February’s Daytona 500, Martin started 17th and suffered heavy damage to the nose of the No. 5 Chevrolet in a multi-car incident on Lap 29. The team went three laps down, but recovered to finish 10th on the lead lap.
TANDEM TEAMMATES: In the most recent superspeedway race, Martin pushed his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon for the majority of the day at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 17. The duo battled for the lead on the final lap and crossed the line with Gordon third and Martin eighth.
ONE OF FOUR: Daytona International Speedway is one of just four active Sprint Cup tracks where Martin has yet to earn a victory. The NASCAR veteran also is seeking his first win at 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.
POLE SITTER: Martin earned the pole position for the 2010 Daytona 500, marking his 49th career pole and the first time he started from the top spot in the Great American Race. The NASCAR veteran also started from the pole at the speedway in July 1989. Martin’s next Sprint Cup pole will be his 50th and place him eighth on the all-time pole winners list.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Lance McGrew has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-632 for Saturday’s race at Daytona. This is the same chassis that Martin drove to top-10 finishes at Daytona and Talladega earlier this season.
POINTS: Martin and the No. 5 team currently are ranked 14th in the Sprint Cup standings, 32 points behind 10th-place Ryan Newman.
HENDRICK AT DAYTONA: In 55 Cup events (175 starts) at Daytona, Hendrick Motorsports has scored 10 wins, 43 top-five finishes and 77 top-10s. The organization also has recorded 12 pole positions at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
APPROACHING 200: With Gordon’s win at Pocono Raceway last month, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 197 Cup victories. The organization ranks first in NASCAR’s modern era for wins and second all-time behind Petty Enterprises, which has 268 victories.
Quotes
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON THE NEW STYLE OF RESTRICTOR-PLATE RACING.):
“I can honestly say that I like this style of racing way better than those big 35-car packs that we used to race in. There is just so much more that goes into this. It’s finding the right partner; finding which is better pushing. There’s got to be so much trust there. And then your spotters have to be working together and, most likely, one of them will do all the work for both teams. It’s tough. It’s mentally tough. That’s one of the reasons I like it so much. There is a huge challenge that goes into this style of racing that we don’t typically see every weekend. I know it’s a lot to get used to, but I love it. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and working with Jeff (Gordon) again.”
LANCE McGREW, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 CARQUEST AUTO PARTS/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON WHY CERTAIN CARS WORK BETTER TOGETHER IN THE NEW STYLE OF RESTRICTOR-PLATE RACING.):
“I don’t think anybody knows why some cars work better together. It’s always seemed to be that way, in this style of racing or in the older, bigger packs. The same could be said for deciding which car is a better pusher and which is a better leader in this tandem style. The smallest detail can swing a car one way or the other. We scrutinize everything on these cars and there are differences that dictate what a car is better at; they are virtually undetectable.”
| 
|