News & Notes
FIRST HENDRICK WIN: Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, earned his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win with Hendrick Motorsports at Phoenix International Raceway in April 2009. The then 50-year-old driver started from the pole position and led 157 laps en route to the emotional victory. It was his first win in more than three years and the 36th of his career. The victory also made Martin the fourth driver in NASCAR older than age 50 to win a Cup race.
MARTIN AT PHOENIX: Along with his Hendrick Motorsports win at Phoenix, Martin also visited Victory Lane at the one-mile oval in October 1993 after leading 157 laps. Martin has earned 12 top-five finishes and 19 top-10s in 29 Cup starts there.
BEST AVERAGE FINISH: Martin’s average finish of 8.8 at Phoenix is his best average finish at any track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. Earlier this season, Martin crossed the finish line 13th at Phoenix.
LEADER OF THE PACK: Martin leads all drivers in top-five finishes and top-10s at Phoenix. He also holds the record there for lead-lap finishes with 26 and laps completed with 8,907 total.
LOOP STATS: According to NASCAR’s loop statistics, Martin holds the second-best average finish—ninth—at Phoenix in the last 13 races and the eighth-best average running position—11.917. His 99.4 driver rating is the fifth-best of all competitors and his 362 laps led rank as third-most in the Sprint Cup Series. Martin has competed in 12 of those 13 races.
MOST RECENTLY AT PHOENIX: Martin started 23rd and was involved in a Lap 59 accident which caused extensive damage to the right-front of the GoDaddy.com Chevy. The team made repairs, including rebuilding and attaching a new right-front fender. Martin then battled back to finish 13th.
POLE SITTER: Martin earned his 51st Sprint Cup Series pole at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last month. Of those 51 poles, Martin has earned one at PIR in April 2009.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Lance McGrew has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-695 for this Sunday’s race at PIR. This is the same chassis Martin drove at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September.
HENDRICK AT PHOENIX: Jeff Gordon won most recently at the one-mile oval, going to Victory Lane for Hendrick Motorsports in February. In 30 races (107 starts) at Phoenix, Hendrick has nine wins, 31 top-five finishes and 55 top-10s.
APPROACHING 200: With Jimmie Johnson’s win on Oct. 9 at Kansas Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 199 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 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON RETURNING TO PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY.):
“I’m really excited to get out to Phoenix. It’s going to be an interesting weekend because the track is new to everyone. Throw out the old notes and setups. When we tested there earlier this year, our GoDaddy.com Chevrolet was really, really good. I wish we would’ve raced that day, that’s how good it was. I’m anxious to get there, get a few more laps on the track and see what we can get at race time. I’ve got two races left with this Hendrick team, and I really want to go for a win and show everyone what a good group of guys I’ve been working with.”
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