NEWS & NOTES
POINTS BATTLE: Mark Martin and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team currently rank second in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship battle. Martin, who was the points leader following the first three Chase races, trails teammate Jimmie Johnson by 184 points with three events remaining.
ONCE A COWBOY: Martin wore the famed cowboy hat in Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway on April 5, 1998. He started seventh and led 37 laps en route to earning his second of seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins that season.
TRACK STATS: In 17 career Sprint Cup starts at Texas, Martin has earned one victory, five top-five finishes and nine top-10s. He has led a total of 172 laps there. Martin finished sixth in the April Sprint Cup event at the Fort Worth track.
OF THE CHASERS: Martin is tied with three other Chase drivers for the most top-10 finishes—nine—at Texas Motor Speedway. Of the 12 drivers in the Chase, he has the third-most top-five finishes with five and holds the fifth best average finish at 13.8.
LOOP STATISTICS: According to NASCAR’s loop statistics, Martin has spent 1,902 laps inside the top-15 at Texas Motor Speedway over the last nine races, the fourth-most of any Chase driver. Martin spent 222 of those laps inside the top-15 in the April race at the track this year. He earned the fifth-best driver rating of Chase drivers in that event.
NO. 5 TEAM AT TEXAS: Since 2005, the No. 5 team has earned two top-five finishes and three top-10s at Texas Motor Speedway under the guidance of crew chief Alan Gustafson. Both top-five results came in the fall races in 2006 and 2007.
TRIPLE-5 CHASSIS: Gustafson has chosen Chassis No. 5-555 for Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. This chassis never has been raced nor tested.
HENDRICK AT TEXAS: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, has three wins, 17 top-five finishes and 26 top-10s in 17 Cup events (69 starts) at the 1.5-mile racetrack.
QUOTES
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG’S CHEVROLET (ON TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): “Texas is a great place to race. I have a lot of fans that go there because it’s kind of close to my home in Batesville (Ark.). We have a lot of charged up fans there. It’s a great track and a great place to race. We’re going to go there, try to sit on the pole, lead every lap and win the race.”
MARTIN (ON HIS FIRST SEASON BACK TO FULL-TIME RACING.): “I’m not tired of the racing at all. Everyone at Hendrick Motorsports is first class. They’ve all made this season so much better than I ever imagined it could be. I am tired of the points, though, and I’m not just saying that because of being behind. We were chasing points to get into the Chase, and now that we’re here, that’s all people are talking about. I’m just ready to have a fresh outlook and get back to it just being about the race itself. I’ll be looking forward to Daytona (Fla.) and starting with a clean slate there.”
