Hendrick Motorsports
NEWS & NOTES
NO. 5 GETS FIVE: Mark Martin and the Kellogg’s/CARQUEST team earned their fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the season Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This is the most wins for Martin in a single season since 1998, when he recorded seven Cup victories.
HIGH FIVE: Five wins in a single season is the most ever for Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Chevrolet, which is the car Rick Hendrick originally fielded when he started his Cup operation in 1984. Prior to Martin, the team record for single-season wins in the No. 5 car was three. Geoff Bodine set that record in Hendrick Motorsports’ inaugural season, and Terry Labonte matched it in 1994 and 1995.
POINTS LEADER: Martin’s victory at New Hampshire extended his advantage in the championship standings, and he now has a 35-point edge over Denny Hamlin and teammate Jimmie Johnson. This is the first year Martin has been the points leader under the Chase for the Sprint Cup format.
FOUR TO GO: Martin has only four tracks remaining on the Sprint Cup circuit where he has yet to earn a victory: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. If Martin is able to cross one of those off his list by winning the season finale at Homestead, it also would mark the first career win for Hendrick Motorsports there.
ELITE GROUP: Martin is now one of three active drivers who have earned 40 or more Sprint Cup victories. Martin’s 40th career victory last weekend moved him into the group with his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon (82 wins) and Jimmie Johnson (43).
CAREER MILESTONE: Martin will make his 750th Sprint Cup start on Sunday at Dover, becoming only the ninth driver in the sport’s history to reach that mark. In his previous 749 starts, he has earned 40 wins, 253 top-five finishes and 411 top-10s. He also has recorded 47 career pole positions.
MARTIN AT THE MONSTER: In 46 Sprint Cup starts at Dover, Martin has earned four wins and 29 top-10 finishes. His 21 top-five finishes and 1,723 laps led are a personal best for the NASCAR veteran at any track.
MARTIN IN THE CHASE: In his three previous Chase races at Dover International Speedway, Martin has earned two top-five finishes. He posted results of second, fourth and 14th in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively.
OF THE CHASERS: Martin’s four career wins at “The Monster Mile” tie him with Hendrick Motorsports teammates Gordon and Johnson for the most of any Chase driver at the track. Martin leads all Chasers at Dover in top-five finishes and top-10s, and he ranks second to Gordon in most laps led.
ALL FIVES: In NASCAR’s loop data statistics for Dover International Speedway, Martin ranks fifth in average running position (9.75), driver rating (100.6) and laps inside the top 15 (2,776) in the past nine races at the one-mile track.
THE NO. 5 TEAM: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the Kellogg’s/CARQUEST team has competed in nine Sprint Cup races at Dover, earning four top-five finishes. In 2005, his first year as crew chief, the team finished second in both races at Dover, leading 90 laps in the spring event.
WINNING CHASSIS: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-527 for this Sunday’s race at Dover. This is the same chassis that Martin drove to Victory Lane at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in May. Martin also drove this car to a 10th-place finish at Dover in June.
QUOTES
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 KELLOGG’S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON WHAT WINNING THE FIRST RACE OF THE CHASE MEANS.): “I said last week in New York City that each race of the Chase only counts for 10 percent. You can’t win one race or have a DNF and think that that one outcome is going to change everything. Whether we did really good at Loudon or not so good, I was still going to leave that track knowing that was only 10 percent. I knew that a lot would be made of that race, but the reality is that you can’t start getting a clear picture of the outcome of all of this until about four races to go. So winning was incredible, and I’m so glad that we got to experience that, but I don’t think it’s telling of what the next nine races will bring.”
