NEWS & NOTES
50 YEARS YOUNG: Mark Martin and Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s annual 600-mile race are both 50 years old this year. Martin, who celebrated his birthday in January, first competed in the season’s longest Sprint Cup event on May 30, 1982. Neil Bonnett won that day, and Martin, just 23 years old at the time, finished 27th. Martin has raced in 25 of the 49 May events at LMS.
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PREVIOUS WINNER: Martin has won four times in Sprint Cup competition at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, but only once in the Memorial Day weekend event. On May 26, 2002, Martin started 25th and led 44 laps en route to Victory Lane. That win also was his most recent at the 1.5-mile track.
MARTIN AT LOWE’S: In 48 career Cup starts at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Martin has earned four victories, 17 top-five finishes and 22 top-10s. Martin has led a total of 1,168 laps at his favorite track, which ranks as the second-highest for him at any one venue. He has led the most laps—1,722—at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
MILE MAN: Martin has logged more miles—23,205 total—at Lowe’s Motor Speedway than any other track on the Sprint Cup circuit. If Martin circled the globe on the equator in his No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Chevrolet, he would be just 1,795 miles shy of completing his mission. Martin almost could make up the remaining distance with just one round-trip from his home in Batesville, Ark., to the Hendrick Motorsports complex in Concord, N.C.
LOOP STATS STAR: Martin holds an average running position of 14.8 during the past eight races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, which ranks him second only to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson. In the driver rating, Martin is fourth with a score of 92.1. He has spent 2,255 laps inside the top 15 during those eight races, second again to Johnson, who has raced 2,640 laps inside the top 15 there.
THE NO. 5 TEAM: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the No. 5 team has competed in four Memorial Day weekend 600-mile races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. While the team has yet to break the top 10 in that race, it has earned one top-five finish and two top-10s in four October events at Lowe’s.
IN THE TOP-12: Martin’s win at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway two weeks ago, propelled the once 34th-ranked driver to 11th in the Sprint Cup standings. With 15 races remaining until the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Martin has a 52-point cushion over 13th place.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-523, Martin’s favorite car in the stable, for Sunday’s race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Martin drove this car to the pole position at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March and to a sixth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April.
ONE MORE: Hendrick Motorsports’ next win will mark the 180th for the organization. Rick Hendrick leads all car owners in the modern era and ranks second all-time with his 179 Sprint Cup wins.
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HENDRICK AT LOWE’S: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, has 15 Cup wins and 13 pole positions at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Both figures rank as the second highest in each category for the organization. Nine of Hendrick’s wins at Lowe’s were recorded in the 600-mile event.
HIGH MILEAGE: Hendrick Motorsports teams have logged more mileage at Lowe’s Motor Speedway than any other track. In 49 races, Hendrick drivers have tallied 79,656 miles there. For perspective, you could drive the roughly 2,500-mile length of Interstate 40, from Barstow, Calif., to Wilmington, N.C., 32 times.
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