News & Notes
MARTIN AT AUTO CLUB: Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, will make his 20th NASCAR Sprint Cup start at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday. In 19 previous attempts, Martin has earned one win (May 3, 1998), six top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. He has led 324 laps at the two-mile racetrack.
POLE SITTER: Martin’s next Sprint Cup pole will be the 50th of his career and will tie him for eighth on the all-time pole winner’s list. He never has earned the top spot at Auto Club Speedway, and it is one of only six active tracks where he has yet to earn a pole.
LOOP STATISTICS: According to NASCAR’s loop statistics, Martin has the third-best driver rating—102.5 of a possible 150—in the last 12 races at Auto Club Speedway. He also has the fourth-best average running position—9.635—and the fifth-best average finish—11.4.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: Martin and the GoDaddy.com team rank 11th in the Sprint Cup Series standings, just 27 points behind leader Kurt Busch.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Lance McGrew has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-647 for Sunday’s race in Fontana. This is a brand new chassis that never has been raced or tested.
DOUBLE DUTY: For the second time this season, Martin will compete in both the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup events this weekend. Martin’s most recent Nationwide start for Turner Motorsports resulted in a win on March 5 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Martin has raced in two Nationwide races at Auto Club Speedway, scoring a win in 2005 and a third-place finish in 2006.
ONE OF TWO: With Martin’s Nationwide win at Las Vegas earlier this month, 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 CALIFORNIA: Hendrick Motorsports has scored nine wins, 28 top-five finishes and 39 top-10s in 21 Cup events (82 starts) at Auto Club Speedway. Six of those top-five results were one-two finishes by Hendrick Motorsports teammates. Gordon led Terry Labonte to Victory Lane in June 1997. Gordon also won in May 2004, leading teammate Jimmie Johnson across the finish line. In October 2009, Johnson took first and Gordon finished second.
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 RUNNING DOUBLE DUTY AGAIN.):
“I’ve being itching to get back into that Turner Motorsports Chevrolet. After winning at Las Vegas last time, I’m hoping we can make it two in a row and get another one on Saturday. It makes for a busy weekend, but the extra time on the track helps on the Cup side as well. It’s another race and another team to pull information from and having that extra information is always helpful.”
MARTIN (ON SPENDING TIME WITH GO DADDY GIRL JILLIAN MICHAELS.):
“I’m really looking forward to meeting Jillian (Michaels, Go Daddy Girl and America’s Toughest Trainer). She’s intense with her diet and workout routine, and I’m anxious to talk to her about that, because I’m kind of into that stuff, too. (LAUGHS.) I’ll take her out on the track and see if I can scare her a little bit with what we do, then we’ll go the gym and see if she can scare some of these media members with what she does. It should be a fun time for sure.”
MARTIN (ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL FITNESS AND HEALTH.):
“My diet and workout is incredibly important to me. Not just for my career and what we do out on that racetrack, but for my life. I don’t miss a workout. Ever. That’s my time. And as far as my diet goes, I guess the best way to define it is to call it ‘clean’ eating. I don’t need any sauces or sugars or anything added to my food. That just ruins it. Living like this, and feeling this good, it helps in everything I do.”
LANCE McGREW, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON MARK MARTIN’S PHYSICAL FITNESS AND HEALTH.):
“Mark’s dedication to fitness, I think, has been the key to his success and longevity in NASCAR. With all of the conditions that the drivers have to endure, fitness is paramount. He has to maintain 100 percent focus for, sometimes, more than four hours and that takes an enormous amount of physical stamina.”
McGREW (ON KEEPING THE TEAM MOTIVATED AFTER SUFFERING DAMAGE ON THE TRACK.):
“We’ve suffered damage on our car in three of the four races so far this year. When something like that happens on the track, you have to keep a level head and deal with the situation. The damage has been done by that point, now it’s time to make the best of the hand you’ve been dealt. Bad decisions will only compound the problem. And there’s no sense in getting mad about it or trying to get too much accomplished on pit road. We, as a team, just do what’s necessary to be competitive and get the car back out there on the track.”
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