News & Notes
NEW RECORD: Martin now has the most top-10 finishes in the Sprint Cup Series of any driver in NASCAR’s modern era. With his 10th-place finish in the Daytona 500 last Sunday, Martin has 429 career top-10s in 795 career Sprint Cup starts.
POINT STANDINGS: Martin enters the second race of the Sprint Cup season ranked ninth in the series standings. This is the highest points standing Martin has had at this point in the season in his three years with Hendrick Motorsports.
FIRST HENDRICK WIN: Martin earned his first Sprint Cup win with Hendrick Motorsports at Phoenix International Raceway in April 2009. At the time, Martin, 50, 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 only 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 there in October 1993 after leading 157 laps. Martin has earned 12 top-five finishes and 19 top-10s in 28 Cup starts there.
HENDRICK TRIO: Martin, the only driver who has raced in all 28 events at PIR, leads all drivers in top-five finishes and top-10s, while his teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon occupy the second and third spots. Martin owns 12 top-five finishes and 19 top-10s. Johnson ranks second with 10 top-five finishes and third with 13 top-10s. Gordon owns nine top-five finishes, which ranks third in that category, and 17 top-10s, which ranks him second at the racetrack.
BEST AVERAGE FINISH: Martin’s average finish of 8.6 at Phoenix is his best average finish at any oval track on the Sprint Cup schedule. Only Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International road course has been kinder to the driver, who owns an 8.3 average finish there.
LOOP STATS: According to NASCAR’s loop statistics, Martin holds the second-best average finish—8.6—at Phoenix in the last 12 races and the sixth-best average running position—11.61. His 100.8 driver rating is the third-best of all competitors and his 362 laps led rank as third-most in the Sprint Cup Series. Martin has competed in 11 of those 12 races.
MOST RECENTLY AT PHOENIX: Martin started 28th in his No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet last November at Phoenix International Raceway and benefited from a successful fuel gamble in the final laps. He crossed the finish line eighth.
POLE SITTER: Martin’s next Sprint Cup Series pole position will be the 50th of his career and will place him eighth on the all-time pole winner’s list. Martin has one career pole at PIR, which he earned in April 2009.
CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Lance McGrew has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-643 for Sunday’s race. This is a brand new chassis that never has been raced or tested.
HENDRICK AT PHOENIX: In 29 events (103 starts) at Phoenix International Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports has earned eight wins, which leads all other teams. The organization, which has led 1,805 laps, also has 29 top-five finishes and 52 top-10s.
RUNNER-UP RECORD: Martin is tied with 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.
Quotes
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY.): “I love racing at Phoenix. I’m a big fan of short track racing. I grew up racing on short tracks, and it’s just always been something I’ve enjoyed. I’ve had a lot of success at Phoenix, too, so that gets me pretty geared up when I get out there.”
MARTIN (ON HIS 2009 PHOENIX WIN WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS.): “There comes a time when you really aren’t sure you’ll ever get a win again. I was at that point. I knew our team was capable, but I hadn’t won in so long. That night was incredible. I was just so happy. Beyond happy. And to see the guys, Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the crew guys, to see their faces. I’ll never forget it. Then to have as many of the other drivers and owners in this sport come to see me. It will be one of the most memorable wins of my career for sure.”
MARTIN (ON HIS 10TH-PLACE FINISH IN LAST SUNDAY’S DAYTONA 500.): “When we went three laps down, there probably wasn’t a lot of expectation for us to have a shot at winning. But in the end we did. The guys did a great job of fixing the car. We basically were missing half of our splitter at one point. And Lance (McGrew, crew chief) made the right call to gamble on the wave-around when he did. We got back on the lead lap, and we knew we were fast enough to get a run. I thought on that last green-white-checkered finish that we could win it all. But when the middle lane came up there, it took any momentum Tony (Stewart) and I had away. It’s a great start for this team though and a great feeling to know we can overcome something like that. It’s a good start to build on.”
LANCE McGREW, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET (ON HOW THE TEAM’S TOP-10 FINISH LAST WEEKEND AT DAYTONA BUILDS MOMENTUM.): “There is so much work that goes into building the cars for Daytona. So many late nights over the entire offseason. So, to come out of that race with a solid finish, it’s just an instant reward for those efforts. That good finish just builds excitement for the rest of the races that are coming up.”
McGREW (ON THE TEAM OVERCOMING A THREE-LAP DEFICIT TO EARN A TOP-10 FINISH AT DAYTONA.): “David Bryant (car chief) and all of the guys did a fantastic job repairing the damage that the GoDaddy.com Chevy received in that early accident. Half of the front splitter was completely ripped off. We made quick repairs and also learned a lot that will help us if we’re ever in a similar situation. All you can hope for at the end of every race is that you put yourself in a position to have a shot at the win. This team accomplished that, and did it from three laps down. I’m really proud of the entire effort.”
McGREW (ON THE UPCOMING RECONFIGURATION OF PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY.): “I’m not sure what their motivation is to reconfigure Phoenix. But with any new surface a lot of new questions come up. What’s the new tire going to be like? When will the testing happen? How is the new surface or configuration going to affect the cars in the Chase (for the NASCAR Sprint Cup)? There are a lot of questions that will have to be answered once this happens.”
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