Quotes
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON RACING BOTH NASCAR SPRINT CUP AND NATIONWIDE RACES THIS WEEKEND.):
“This will be a busy weekend for sure for me. It’s been awhile since I’ve run both races, and I’ll have to quickly get used to the running between both garages and the debriefs and all the notes and stuff. I just hope I can transition from car to car pretty easily. I know that some guys have had issues with that before, but hopefully that will come pretty naturally. I look at it this way, it will be busy, but it’s also double the chance at getting a win. If I can score two-out-of-two, now that’s a great weekend.”
MARTIN (ON HIS NATIONWIDE RECORD OF 48 WINS.):
“That’s a record that I’m really proud of and would love to keep for as long as I can. I’ve got to get my wins total up before Kyle (Busch) gets up there and takes it away from me. Running this race at Las Vegas was a given really when we were making the schedule with Turner Motorsports. My last Nationwide win was at Las Vegas with Lance (McGrew, Sprint Cup crew chief and the last one before that was at Vegas, too. With Hendrick Horsepower under the hood we should definitely have something for them.”
MARTIN (ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE GODADDY.COM TEAM.):
“If we ever get a race where our nose stays on, we’ll definitely see how good this team is. (LAUGHS) These guys have really impressed me. We made a lot of changes to the car during the practice sessions at Phoenix, and they worked hard. I worked them hard. And we got better and better. For the second straight week then, they had to completely rebuild a section of our car on pit road. They’re good. And they’re quick. I’m anxious to keep this season going and see what we’ve got for everyone out there.”
News & Notes
VEGAS VICTOR: Mark Martin was the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to visit Victory Lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1, 1998. Martin started seventh and led 82 laps before scoring the inaugural Sprint Cup victory at the 1.5-mile racetrack. Martin counts the victory as one of the most memorable of his 40 career Cup wins.
VEGAS STATS: Martin will make his 14th Sprint Cup start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Along with his 1998 victory, he has posted five top-five finishes and nine top-10s in his previous 13 starts.
MOST RECENTLY AT LVMS: Last year, Martin started eighth and, with the help of a late two-tire pit stop, raced into the top five and secured a fourth-place finish.
LOOP STATISTICS: Martin has the seventh-best driver rating—95.9—among drivers in the last six Las Vegas Motor Speedway races. He also has spent the seventh-most laps in the top 15—1,138 laps of a possible 1,623. His 73 laps led out of those 1,623 are the eighth-most of any Sprint Cup competitor during that timeframe.
FROM THE POINT: 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. Las Vegas Motor Speedway is one of only six tracks remaining where Martin or Hendrick Motorsports has yet to earn the pole position. Martin’s best career start at the 1.5-mile racetrack was third, which he scored in 2008.
POINT STANDINGS: Following a 13th-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway last Sunday, Martin advanced to sixth in the Sprint Cup Series point standings, 15 points behind the leader.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Lance McGrew has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-646 for Sunday’s race in Las Vegas. This is a brand new chassis that never has been raced or tested.
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 LAS VEGAS: In 13 events (50 starts) at Las Vegas, Hendrick Motorsports has scored five wins, 14 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s. The organization has led 828 laps at the 1.5-mile racetrack. Jimmie Johnson owns four of those wins, having gone to Victory Lane at Las Vegas in four of the last six Cup events there, including most recently in February 2010.
APPROACHING 200: With Gordon’s win last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports now has earned 195 Sprint Cup victories since 1984. The organization ranks first in the modern era for wins and second all-time behind Petty Enterprises, which owns 268 Cup victories.
DOUBLE DUTY: Martin also will race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend. Most recently in the Nationwide Series there, Martin partnered with McGrew for a Nationwide win in 2008. Martin led 81 laps on his way to Victory Lane there.
ONE MORE START: With his start this Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martin will have the second-most combined starts in NASCAR history – 1,051 total. After Sunday, he will trail the all-time record holder Richard Petty by 133 starts.
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