Mark Martin Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes – Shelby 427
GM Racing

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 POP TARTS/CARQUEST IMPALA SS, Qualified 8th : "That was a 10 man, that is what I am in for right there. Man I want to thank Alan Gustafson and everybody on the Pop Tarts/CARQUEST Impala team for letting me drive that car. Thank you. Thank you. Thank the fans. That was awesome. I know the draw might not help us out any, I don't care where we wind up. That was one heck of a race car I just drove and a great lap and that is what I live for."

Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview - Shelby 427
Las Vegas Speedway
Hendrick Motorsports
February 24, 2009

VEGAS VICTOR: Mark Martin was the first driver to visit Victory Lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1, 1998, exactly 11 years ago. Martin started seventh and led 82 laps before scoring the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at the 1.5-mile racetrack. Martin, who will drive the No. 5 Pop-Tarts/CARQUEST Chevrolet this weekend, counts the performance as the most memorable of his 35 career Cup victories.

MARTIN AT VEGAS: In 11 Sprint Cup starts at LVMS, Martin has posted one victory, five top-five finishes and nine top-10s and has led 259 laps. Last year, he started third and finished 10th at the 1.5-mile track. His average start is 14.2, and his average finish is 11.1.

POP-TARTS ON THE HOOD: Pop-Tarts, Kellogg's most popular morning food product, will be on the hood of the No. 5 Chevrolet during this weekend's events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Pop-Tarts will join CARQUEST as the co-primary sponsor three more times this season -- at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in August, Lowe's Motor Speedway in October and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in November.

MILESTONE RACE: Sunday's race at Las Vegas will be Martin's 725th career Sprint Cup start. During his 27 seasons of full- and part-time competition, Martin has earned 35 victories, 243 top-five finishes and 396 top-10s. He has driven more than 266,000 miles, which is roughly 30,000 miles farther than the moon is from Earth.

THE NO. 5 TEAM AT VEGAS: Under the direction of crew chief Alan Gustafson, the No. 5 team has posted two top-five finishes and three top-10s in five starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The team posted a career-best runner-up finish in March 2005. In 11 total Cup events at Last Vegas, the No. 5 team has scored two top-five finishes and four top-10s.

TIRE TESTERS: The No. 5 crew was one of four Sprint Cup teams chosen to participate in a Goodyear tire test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in December 2008. With NASCAR's new testing policy, the test session helped the No. 5 team transition to its new driver prior to the start of the 2009 season.

HENDRICK AT VEGAS: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, has scored four wins, 11 top-five finishes and 15 top-10s in 11 Cup events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Most recently, Jimmie Johnson won at the 1.5-mile racetrack in 2007.

THE BREAKFAST AISLE: Martin and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates currently are being featured on Brown Sugar Cinnamon flavored Limited Edition NASCAR® Printed-Fun Pop-Tarts. The pastries will be available throughout the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season at major retail outlets across the country.

WEST COAST CHASSIS: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-523 for Sunday's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This chassis never has been raced, but was tested during the Goodyear tire test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in December and at Lowe's Motor Speedway last fall.

MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 POP-TARTS/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON HIS 1998 WIN AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): "That was a new deal for the team I was with at the time. For all practical purposes, it was a brand new team. Granted, we looked the same. Same number, same crew chief -- it didn't look new. But, we had just moved from Liberty (N.C.) to Mooresville (N.C.). All of the team personnel were new. It was a big change for us. Vegas was the third race that year, and I was still a little uneasy about the changes made. When we won, it was like we overcame a huge obstacle. It was a big moment for us, and it still means a lot to me. That night, when all of the pictures and media deals were done, we took off on a helicopter. It was dark out, and I looked down and saw the lights from the track. It was probably the first win ever in my career when I realized what I had accomplished -- that I won a race in the highest level of motor sports. Before that night, all wins were just wins to me. They weren't special. But ever since then -- that was 11 years ago -- every win has been important to me."

MARTIN (ON HOW THE ROUGHNESS OF THE LAS VEGAS TRACK AFFECTS THE CAR.): "It's definitely surprising how rough the track is, seeing as how they just repaved it a few years ago; it's actually almost rougher than it was before, especially going into Turn 1. It's a great racetrack, though. No one likes new pavement, but as the years go on, the asphalt ages and gets more conducive to racing. The track gets more forgiving and the groove widens out. Rough racetracks are a big part of my racing history. (LAUGHS.) Most of the ones I raced on were rough. But I like that. It gives the track its character."

MARTIN (ON HOW THE DECEMBER TIRE TEST HELPED PREPARE THE NO. 5 TEAM FOR LAS VEGAS.): "The test was definitely a help for us. It gave us the opportunity to work together and start getting comfortable with each other. That was a process that had to take place prior to the season starting. Now, when I strap in, the car feels like my car, my space. And working with the team, it all feels right now, instead of foreign. The test at Vegas last year was a big contribution to me getting to this point, so from that standpoint the test was very important. Since that point, we have found different ideas we want to work with and work on than what we used in the test anyway. It will give us a good starting point when we unload, though."

MARTIN (ON WHY HE LOVES THE CITY OF LAS VEGAS.): "I hate schedules. I hate being on a schedule, probably because I have been since I was a teenager. But I do like being entertained. So for me, Las Vegas is perfect. There's no planning involved. It's completely spontaneous. At any time of day, I can say, 'Let's go,' and we can walk out of the hotel and find something fun to do. I don't gamble at all. But I like good food. And I like all the action. There's something cool going on all the time."

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 POP-TARTS/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON HOW THE TIRE TEST AT LVMS LAST YEAR WILL BENEFIT THE TEAM.): "Anytime you can get on the racetrack, it's an advantage. We were extremely happy to be chosen to be a part of that tire test. With NASCAR's new testing policy, those tire tests have become invaluable. Tires have become an increasingly important part of the race and play a huge role in the setup of the car. So getting the chance to learn the nuances of the tires for that particular track is also a benefit."

GUSTAFSON (ON HOW IMPORTANT GETTING A HANDLE ON 1.5-MILE TRACKS IS WITH THE CUP SCHEDULE.): "Every race is important to us, not just the intermediate tracks. Because those are so prevalent on the schedule, I can understand the importance of getting started on the right foot. A good start to the season is important, not only for the points situation but also for the team's confidence. A good finish this weekend would just make everything a little easier and gives the team confidence that we're going in the right direction."

DOUG DUCHARDT, VICE PRESIDENT OF DEVELOPMENT, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS (ON THE ENGINE TROUBLES THAT AFFECTED THE NOS. 5 AND 88 CARS AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY.): "Both cars had valve train failures that were related to a specific batch of parts from a vendor. All of our engines, lease programs included, had parts from the same batch, so we're glad it wasn't more widespread. It's always extremely disappointing when something like that happens, but, fortunately, it's a problem we can quickly address and fix. Our engine team did a great job identifying the root cause, and it shouldn't affect us moving forward."

Mark Martin Post Race Notes and Quotes – Auto Club 500
GM Racing
February 22, 2009

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S / CARQUEST IMPALA SS

Sidelined with engine problems:

"A big thanks to all our fans out there; Kellogg's and CARQUEST, and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. It was a whale of an effort and I think we had a decent race car. I think we could have gotten to the top five."

"We had a great race car tonight. It was fast; faster than the leaders most of the time. We were really trying to be careful and get up there when it counts. Then, after that caution, about two laps after, we had a valve break. We tried to play the weather game and it wasn't in our favor this weekend. And once we restarted, there was just nothing we could do.

"I'm so proud of this race team and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. Our guys worked so hard this weekend and really took a good car and made it great. I hate this for all of them." Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Preview – Auto Club 500
Auto Club Speedway
Hendrick Motorsports
February 17, 2009

MARTIN AT FONTANA: Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, will make his 16th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Auto Club Speedway this Sunday. Martin won the 1998 Sprint Cup event at the track after leading 165 of 250 laps. He has posted four top-five finishes and seven top-10s at the two-mile oval.

GROUNDBREAKER: With a Camping World Truck Series win in 2006 at Auto Club Speedway, Martin became the first NASCAR driver to win a Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Camping World and IROC Series race at the same track. Martin won the Nationwide Series event in 2005 and the IROC races in 1997 and 1998.

HENDRICK DEBUT: In his first two weeks as a Hendrick Motorsports driver, Martin earned a career-best second-place starting position for the prestigious Daytona 500. He also paced 36 laps of the 60-lap Gatorade Duel qualifying race before finishing second.

LOOP STATISTICS: Although he finished 16th in the Daytona 500, Martin held an average running position of ninth throughout the 152-lap race, ranking him fourth out of 43 drivers in NASCAR's loop data statistics. The No. 5 team also spent more than 90 percent of the race in the top 15 -- the most of any team.

POINT STANDINGS: Martin and the No. 5 team enter the second race of the season ranked 15th in the Sprint Cup Series standings. This is the highest point position the team has left Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in since 2000, when Terry Labonte finished seventh.

WEST COAST CHASSIS: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-527 for Sunday's race at Auto Club Speedway. This chassis never has been raced, but was run during a Goodyear tire test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in December.

FIRSTS FOR GUSTAFSON: Crew chief Alan Gustafson earned his first career Sprint Cup victory as a crew chief in September 2005 at the Fontana, Calif., racetrack when the No. 5 team led 95 laps. Earlier that season, he captured his first Sprint Cup pole position as a crew chief.

THE NO. 5 TEAM AT FONTANA: Under Gustafson's direction, the No. 5 team has scored one win (2005), one pole position, two top-five finishes and five top-10s in the last eight Sprint Cup events at Auto Club Speedway. In the 17 total events that have been held at the track, the No. 5 team has scored one win, one pole position, four top-five finishes and nine top-10s.

WINNING HISTORY: Rick Hendrick's drivers have won more races at Auto Club Speedway (seven) than at any other track on the West Coast -- six at Phoenix International Raceway, five at Infineon Raceway and four at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports has won seven events out of the 17 the track has hosted since 1997, when Jeff Gordon won the first race held there.

HENDRICK AT FONTANA: Gordon won the first Sprint Cup event held at Auto Club Speedway on June 22, 1997, and teammate Johnson captured the most recent race there last August. Overall, Hendrick drivers have tallied seven wins -- the most for any Sprint Cup owner at the Fontana racetrack -- 21 top-five finishes and 29 top-10s. Hendrick Motorsports drivers have finished in the top-five or better in 15 of the 17 races that have been held there.

JUST DOWN THE ROAD: In its first four seasons, Hendrick Motorsports competed at nearby Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway nine times and won three events. Geoff Bodine took the checkered flag in November 1984, while Tim Richmond went to Victory Lane twice -- November 1986 and June 1987. Overall, Hendrick drivers combined for two pole positions, seven top-five finishes and 10 top-10s at the now closed racetrack, which was just 18 miles southeast of Fontana.

Mark Martin Race Notes and Quotes - Daytona 500
MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST IMPALA SS
Rain delay comment, Finished 16th
GM Racing
February 15, 2009

MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET (ON GETTING PAST THE DAYTONA 500.): "I do feel a bit of relief getting past the Daytona 500 for lot of reasons. First of all, our performance was awesome at Daytona. So, it feels good knowing that. Even more than that, though, you can control your own destiny at the next tracks that are coming up. So I'm excited to get out there and get down to business week in and out with Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the team. I feel like we can control things in the coming weeks more than we could at Daytona, and we don't have to rely on our buddies as much."

MARTIN (ON THE NO. 5 TEAM.): "I feel really good and really comfortable with this race team, but certainly there are a few more lessons to learn. From my standpoint, I've really found areas that I may be able to help with. The team is so strong and has so much depth. Initially, I didn't think I could bring anything to the table, but now with last week behind us, I see areas that I should've been more engaged in. As we move forward, Alan (Gustafson) will find areas where he can help me a little more as well. We're not at 100 percent yet, but I certainly feel we're at 90 percent and will make gains as we go. We'll just take one race at a time and learn more about how we can complement each other."

MARTIN (ON RAINY WEATHER HALTING THE DAYTONA 500.): "It was Tuesday morning before I got over my frustrations over the Daytona 500. My biggest frustration was that, because of tire trouble throughout the week, we played a more protective and conservative approach to the race. We wanted to make sure that we were in a position to use the hammer when it came time to do so. The time, we thought, had come right there before the rain came and we got ready to use it. Before we got that chance, though, the rain came. So, to me, we didn't show our full potential based on the race strategy we played and having it cut short. We knew rain was coming, but we didn't realize it would come when it did. Otherwise, we were seventh with a definite shot to win. With that late pit stop, we moved to the back and got in a position to do even better, we just needed 25 laps to get it done instead of 10."

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG'S CHEVROLET (ON LEAVING THE DAYTONA 500 BEHIND.): "Anytime you can get out of the Daytona 500 unscathed and in one piece, it's an accomplishment. We would normally look at a 16th-place finish in the race and feel good about that. But, this year, that's a tough pill to swallow. The way we ran all week, 16th place is disappointing for us. I feel that we were deserving of a better finish and that we left a lot on the table there at the end. It's definitely frustrating, but overall it could've been a lot worse."

GUSTAFSON (ON HOW THE TEAM HAS MESHED THE PAST TWO WEEKS.): "I honestly feel that we're right on track with where we need to be. All of our race sequences in Daytona went well. We never faced any major issues and really never had any of those 'growing pains' that new teams tend to have. On the flip side, we didn't face any adversity either. Everything went well for us. I imagine that when we face an engine issue or a major handling issue, that we may struggle finding the best ways to work through that. That's to be expected, but the best teams are the ones that face adversity and come out of it in a better position."

GUSTAFSON (ON WEATHER INFLUENCING THE DAYTONA 500.): "Sunday night I was definitely frustrated. I was upset over our finish and some decisions I made throughout the race. But Monday morning, when I walked into the office, I had to leave that behind me. My mind is strictly on California now. We have a lot of opportunity this weekend and the rest of the season for success. That's what this team is focused on now. There's nothing we can do to change last weekend's outcome, but there's a lot we can do to affect the finishes of future races."

DO YOU WANT TO GET GOING AGAIN?

"Oh yeah. We've got a lot. We pitted there on that last caution and we're banking on a little bit more time. We've got an awesome race car. We've been trying to take care of it, trying to take car of the right front tire and everything. You know we got out of sequence but if the thing went a little bit longer we were heading toward the front with our buddy Jeff Gordon there."

SO YOU'VE GOT A SHOT TO WIN THIS THING IF WE GET GOING AGAIN?

"Yes."

ON DAYTONA OVERALL

"First I have to congratulate Matt Kenseth. He's a good friend of mine and I'm happy to see him in victory lane. The Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet has been great all week. Nearly perfect. The team made a call to pit and it would have been a perfect call had we just gotten a few more laps in before the rain started falling so hard. I have never had this much fun before and I am positive that the rest of the year is going to continue this way. It's a hard way to see the weekend. We were so good. But we're good as a team; we succeed as a team and we finished 16th as a team. It's on to more fun at California now."

Mark Martin Post Qualifying Quotes
GM Racing
February 8, 2009

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S /CARQUEST IMPALA SS

"I can't wait to get this Kellogg's / CARQUEST Chevy out there in the draft. It's so fast. Everybody on this race team is so charged up. It's just so fun to go to work every day and I'm glad it's just about ready to start.

"There are a couple-three cars that are really blistering fast out there. But what an incredible job that everybody on the Kellogg's / CARQUEST Chevy had done here. I know Alan and all the guys that rubbed on this car really hard; and we didn't have any on-track testing. So we're excited about getting out there. But it's just such a thrill for me to be a part of Hendrick Motorsports and get an opportunity to drive a race car with a race team like this, and with this kind of power under the hood is pretty exciting for me."

Mark Martin Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes
Daytona 500
GM Racing
February 8, 2009

MARK MARTIN, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 KELLOGG'S / CARQUEST IMPALA, WHO QUALIFIED SECOND TODAY.

WHAT'S IT FEEL LIKE TO BE ON THE FRONT ROW?

"It's an amazing feeling -- I feel so grateful to Rick Hendrick because that's where it all starts. What an incredible person that he is for giving me this opportunity. Alan Gustafson and this entire Car Quest team because everybody works hard in this business. They just worked a little smarter think with the time that they had. They put me in a really fast race car and it's all about them. It's so much fun to go to work everyday with a group that is so fired up and excited as these guys. I actually wish that we were starting in about five minutes. It would just give me enough time to get strapped in and start the 500."

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF MARTIN TRUEX JR.'S TEAM TO GET THE POLE?

"I want to say that working closely with the 1 and the 8 last year, they are racers. When I was saying about how much fun it was to go to the race track and work with the group with such a great attitude, we had that last year as well. I think that shows so much because the 8 is right up there as well. That 1 team, they just buckled down and kept the blinders on and worked on their program, worked on their cars and kept everything together. That's impressive, but those guys are impressive. That was really a group of die hard racers over there that I worked with and I obviously admire that."

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT MARTIN TRUEX JR. BEATING YOU FOR THE POLE?

"I'm just Mr. Outside Pole -- if I'm not mistaken I sat on the outside pole six times last year and didn't get one so I'll take that because I have sat on the back pole a few times in my career and I don't like that at all. I'll take second. This is my first time -- I don't know how many Daytona 500s I've done, but I think its 25, that's a good, close number anyway or in the ball park. I've never been on the front row. It seems like, my memory may serve me different, but it seems like it time trials it was a very rare occasion when I had a top-10 in time trials car. My guys always told me after time trials were over with that I would race good and 'don't worry about it.' I always said I would race better if that thing was fast. We've got a fast race car -- I'm really excited."

WHAT HAS CHANGED TO MAKE YOU ENJOY RACING AT DAYTONA NOW?

“To be real honest with you, its trying to get my arms around the crown jewel and I didn't let that eat at me a lot, but when it started dwindling down to where you could count on one hand your shots at the Daytona 500 and then it started going down -- four, three, we don't know anymore. In '07, really what I wanted to do was win the Daytona 500 and-or the Brickyard. We got close here and we went to the Brickyard and ran sixth with a broken transmission. Mission was almost accomplished and those are crown jewels. I put the focus on that rather than worrying about points or anything else. To answer your question, this is the crown jewel of stock car racing and I've had a little bit of success in it. Everything else that I've done in my career would fit around this. I'm a one-step-at-a-time guy, but this is definitely the best stuff that I've had -- the best group of people and the best stuff that I've had. I'm grateful for that and as you remember in 2007, I was thankful for the opportunity. I wasn't mad because I didn't win -- I was glad that I had a chance. If things go our way then maybe we'll have a chance again here Sunday."

DOES THIS CHANGE YOUR WEEK FROM WHAT IT HAS BEEN IN THE PAST?

"Absolutely, but its even more than that because things have changed so much without testing. Feeling like the odd-man out with the Shootout and I haven't driven Alan's (Gustafson) cars at a place like this -- we've done limited testing a few times in a race car at a few places, but nothing like this. Missing Friday and Saturday's practices in race trim I feel is spotting our competition and boy, I don't like doing that. It probably won't make a hill-of-beans difference after 15 minutes on the race track we'll probably be read to go. But I still, right now, we are behind. After 15 minutes or 30 minutes or an hour or whatever, we may not be behind anymore, but right now we are and it takes a lot of pressure off of Thursday. We can go out there and I feel a lot more comfortable about going for the win. Meaning fuel mileage or tires or no tires -- heck, if we're running fifth we would have to stay out maybe at the end on a deal where now maybe we can come in and get tires and it doesn't matter. It just takes the pressure off because of the pit selection and the starting position we would have to race for and be more conservative if we had to start where we finished up there. Even bigger than that, I can't even remember all the really cool things that Rick Hendrick has done in his career in racing, but to give me this opportunity is as huge to me as when he gave Tim Richmond an opportunity to win a race again after he got sick -- that was a big deal. He's done some other very big deals in his career like winning the Daytona 500 with Darrell Waltrip and putting Benny Parsons in the 25 car years ago. For me, this is just the start. This is just the first competition that we've had -- just the first one of the year and already it's turned out really sweet. I hope that we can continue to have some really bright days together."

IS IT GOOD THAT FORMER DEI CARS DID WELL TODAY?

"I'm really happy for Aric (Almirola), he qualified great and he will do a great job here Sunday I'm sure. I'm happy for all those guys. That is a group of hardcore racers and today you see less of that. You see more career guys and career racers rather than just the hardcore racers. It's special to me just to see them do well and I know they're going to be fun to watch this year -- all of them. I'm happy for them. Still would have liked to have been on the pole, but I'm not going to complain. It's a big deal to be on the front row for me because I've been down here so many times and went home after qualifying mad. Someone's always up there and I'm in the back end and I have to race my way in on Thursday. This is just the other side of that coin."

IS YOUR MOTTO 'IT'S NIFTY TO BE 50?'

"I've seen that and it beats the alternative. I'm loving it. I think everybody goes through all sorts of experiences in life, but it is really, really critical to be really happy with what you're doing. In the way you see thing and the way you perceive things and the way you feel about life. It's the best it's ever been for me. I wish that for everyone."

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM HARD TIMES IN THE PAST?

"I think that whatever your life experiences are shape you. My failing and going broke in 1982 was important. I was on track to be one of the young guns in the sport at 23-years old or 22-years old and already sat on a couple poles. I'm glad I didn't succeed the first time, I'm glad that I had the hard times because that's what humbled me and that's what made me. That had an impact on who I am today. We have seen a lot of different things. We've seen the sport grow so much for so long that with a minor contraction or even a good size contraction that we're seeing right now, it's still not bad. There's still 10-times as many great sponsors out here as there were in the 1980s. There's still nearly 10-times as many great opportunities to drive for great teams as there was in the 1980s. In the 80s, it happened all the time -- third-place was five laps down or three laps down or whatever. In Martinsville in 1981, I ran third one-lap down. Darrell (Waltrip) and Harry (Gant) were first and second and I was a lap down in third. The racing is way better than it was in the 80s; I don't care what anybody says. It's way more competitive, it's way better, we have a lot more sponsors, and we have a lot more jobs. There's a lot of things positive in this thing even though we maybe have lost some sponsors and have lost some jobs. We're not experiencing anything different than the whole world -- everybody is feeling the pain, every person, I don't care what they do feels the pain of the economy right now to some degree. To be real honest with you, I think NASCAR is feeling less of it than the average."

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING IN 2007 IN THE CLOSING LAPS WITH KEVIN HARVICK GOING FOR THE 500 WIN?

"Well, I hesitate to really comment on that, because if I did, I don't want to advertise it. I wouldn't want the competition to know that I did and I might do something different next time. I think keeping everyone guessing is the best thing that you can do on those things. The thing about it is, and I have always had a problem with so and so made a brilliant move at Daytona and Talladega. That move would not be brilliant if the guys out there did something different. You can't control what everybody else does. And that is what makes what you do right or wrong is what they do. I am going to tell you right now that I am thrilled to have a fast race car, but I will take luck come Sunday. If I could be lucky, you watch the finish of that race last night, it was similar to '07 and sometimes there is not anything you can do. But, I look forward to the challenge and if I did learn anything, I really wouldn't share the details with you."

WHAT MAKES THIS A HAPPIER TIME THAN YOU WERE FIVE OR TEN YEARS AGO? IS IT ACCURATE TO SAY YOU REALLY SENSE THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY?

"That is probably what makes me happy. I had to have a break. I was tired, burned out and frustrated. I'd put every ounce that I had in to my career from the time from the time I graduated high school until the last day at Homestead in '06 in the No. 6 car. I had to step back and catch my breath and let myself out from under that gun and do some things that I really wanted to do that I felt like racing was standing in the way of. And I did those. And I caught my breath. And it took a year or a year and a half for me to get caught up and get in the right frame of mind. But mentally right now, I am in so much better frame then I was then. I have experienced some disappointment, I don't know how much but your expectations are pretty high when you have as much success as I had. I worked as hard as I could possibly work. It seemed like it was just time. I had to have a break; I had to get out from under it because I wasn't having fun. I was tired, I was burned out, I was wanting to go racing with my son and help him do that. I wanted to spend time with my family and I needed a break.

"After I got that and I looked around and I figured out that really racing is my life and I am in deep trouble when I can't do it any more, I have no idea what I want to do when I can't wheel one of these things any more. The No. 8 car gave me a shot to win about three times last year. I could taste the blood, I wanted it so bad. When I realized that I might have a chance to win some races in the No. 5 car. I am all over it. That is what I really want to do. I took the time to do the things I wanted to do and now, once again, I am doing what I really want to do and that is I want to go to the race track. Drive these race cars, work with this race team and be around these people. That is what I have done since I was 15 years old and I don't know what I will do when I can't do it.

“I try not to get too far ahead of myself right now. We have drafting practice on Wednesday. We will see how it goes on Thursday then we have got a few more practices. If you put me in a position that I was in with 20 to go in 2007, I was willing that race, I could taste it, and I was willing to wreck to win. I felt like I was very close there a few times. I did everything there I could possibly do. I am very motivated. Probably more motivated than I was in 2000 or 2005 because I know that there is only, it started five, four, I don't know, I don't know. So every time I get a chance to do this, the Daytona 500 for example, I don't know how many more I will get.

"In 2000 I thought, I didn't know, I thought I was going to get to do this stuff forever. You don't think about it. You know? You are in the middle of a haze of just racing and digging and racing and doing everything you can do. Now I can see as clear as a bell I don't know how many more chances I will have like this. So I am going to try really hard to make the most of it."

HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO TALK TO BRETT FARVE OR ANY OTHER ATHLETES WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH WHAT YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH?

"I haven't. But I am not a football fan or any other sports unless it is racing. But, I have watched Brett deal from afar, because I identified with him. I was really happy when he got released so he could go do what he really wanted to do because I could identify with that. It is one thing to try and keep doing something when you are really in a steep decline let's say, but when you can perform like he can perform. Or when you can drive a race car like I was able to get the kind of results I got in 2008 in the No. 8 car, there is absolutely....it is all I have done since I was 15 years old. Why in the world would I want to go sit at home?"

Mark Martin NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Preview
Daytona 500
Hendrick Motorsports
February 8, 2009

HENDRICK CUP DEBUT: Mark Martin will make his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start for Hendrick Motorsports when he lines up for the 51st Daytona 500 on Feb. 15 in the No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet. Martin, who is competing in his first season of full-time racing since 2006, announced his plans to join Hendrick Motorsports last July.

REVIOUS SUCCESS: This isn't the first time that Martin has raced in a Hendrick Motorsports-owned Chevrolet. Martin drove the No. 5 NASCAR Nationwide Series Chevy owned by Rick Hendrick three times in 2007, posting a season-best second-place finish at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. In 2008, he won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1 for JR Motorsports, which is co-owned by Hendrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

NOT THE OLDEST: Martin, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Jan. 9, would become the second-oldest driver to win the Daytona 500, should he accomplish that feat on Feb. 15. The record-holder is Bobby Allison, who was 50 years, two months and 11 days old when he won on Feb. 14, 1988. Martin would be 50 years, one month and six days old after the 500-mile event on Feb. 15.

MARTIN IN THE 500: Martin nearly won his first Daytona 500 in 2007, when he crossed the finish line just .020 seconds behind Kevin Harvick. The margin of victory is the closest ever recorded during the 500-mile event at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Martin has started the Great American Race 24 times and has earned five top-five finishes and nine top-10s.

MARTIN AT DAYTONA: In 47 Cup Series starts at Daytona International Speedway, Martin has yet to find Victory Lane. The NASCAR veteran has scored one pole position (July 1, 1989), nine top-five finishes and 17 top-10s at the historic track.

LEARNING TOGETHER: Martin has tested with the No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST team four times heading into the 2009 season. He spent one session with the team at Lowe's Motor Speedway last September and then participated in two Goodyear tire tests -- at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October and Las Vegas Motor Speedway in December. Two weeks ago, the team spent two days testing at New Smyrna Beach (Fla.) Speedway. The Daytona 500 will mark the group's first points race together.

STARTING POINT: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, started its operation in 1984 with Geoff Bodine driving the No. 5 Chevrolet. Bodine made Hendrick's Cup debut on Feb. 19, 1984, posting an eighth-place finish in the Daytona 500. Since then, Hendrick's all-time drivers in the No. 5 Chevy have combined for 27 wins, 179 top-five finishes, 329 top-10s and 35 pole positions.

HOMETOWN CREW CHIEF: Martin now lives in Daytona Beach, but his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, considers the area home for another reason. Gustafson grew up in Ormond Beach, Fla., just seven miles north of Daytona International Speedway. After graduating from Seabreeze High School, he enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which is located less than one mile east of the track. Gustafson has earned one victory at Daytona -- the Nationwide Series event in July 2007.

BIGGEST FAN: As a teenager, Gustafson's favorite race car driver was Mark Martin. The future crew chief decorated his bedroom in Ormond Beach with Martin collectibles and hero cards.

A DECADE: The 2009 season marks Gustafson's 10th year at Hendrick Motorsports and his fifth as crew chief of the No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet. Gustafson, 33, initially worked in the chassis department at Hendrick before joining the No. 5 team's road crew as a shock specialist. In 2002, he was named the team's head engineer. Three years later, he became the crew chief.

THE NO. 5 IN THE 500: During the last two Daytona 500 events, the No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet was running in the top five with less than 10 laps to go. Both times, the car was involved in late-race accidents, which cost the team position. The team scored a 23rd-place finish -- its best at Daytona under the direction of Gustafson -- on Feb. 19, 2006.

DAYTONA SUCCESS: Gustafson and the Kellogg's/CARQUEST team scored their best finish at the 2.5-mile superspeedway during the 400-mile events in July 2006 and 2007. The No. 5 team took runner-up honors both years, leading a combined 20 laps.

DAYTONA MAGIC: Hendrick Motorsports made history at Daytona in 1997 when its three drivers finished in the top three spots. Jeff Gordon won the 1997 Daytona 500, followed by teammates Terry Labonte (the No. 5 Chevy) and Ricky Craven (No. 25 Chevy). For Gordon, who led 40 laps in the No. 24 Chevy, it was his first Daytona 500 win.

DAYTONA DOUBLE: 1997 marked the second time that all of Hendrick's drivers finished in the top five of the Daytona 500. On Feb. 19, 1989, Darrell Waltrip drove the No. 17 Chevy to take the checkered flag, leading teammates Ken Schrader (second/No. 25 Chevy) and Bodine (fourth/No. 5 Chevy). Waltrip (25 laps), Schrader (114 laps) and Bodine (nine laps) combined to lead 148 of the event's 200 laps.

AT DAYTONA: Bodine earned Hendrick's first win in the Great American Race when he drove the No. 5 Chevrolet to Victory Lane in 1986 after leading 101 laps. In 25 years of running the Daytona 500, Hendrick drivers have tallied six wins, 19 top-five finishes, 34 top-10s and six pole positions. Hendrick drivers have finished in the top-10 or better in all but three events.

DAYTONA CHASSIS: Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-472 for the 51st running of the Daytona 500. The chassis never has been raced.

ONE FOR THE FANS: Martin will participate in the NASCAR Real Fan of the Year contest announcement in the Daytona International Speedway infield Fan Zone on Feb. 14 at 9:45 a.m. local time. Details of the contest will be provided at that time.

MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON STARTING HIS FIRST NASCAR SPRINT CUP RACE WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS.): "I have been waiting for this day for nearly eight months now. The season could've started up the day after Homestead, and that would have been fine with me. I've gotten to know these guys through some tests. And I've been to the shop and really have gotten to see how they work and what all goes into this race team, and it's just incredible. These guys are working so hard. I'm just ready to see something come out of it all and so are they. I'm just so excited. Getting into that car at Daytona can't come soon enough."

MARTIN (ON WINNING THE DAYTONA 500.): "I came so close in 2007 and had a great car that year. This year, I think I'll probably have the best car I've ever had for Daytona and probably the best opportunity to go out there and win it. I want to have a great race car, and I think that's important. But there will be about 10 really good cars out there, and only one guy will have all the luck. I'd rather be lucky than good when it comes to the Daytona 500."

MARTIN (ON CREW CHIEF ALAN GUSTAFSON.): "I can't say enough about this guy. Alan has just really impressed me from the time we worked in the Nationwide Series together back in 2007. It was awesome at Darlington (S.C.) and awesome at Michigan with him. He's such a brilliant guy. Technically speaking, he is incredibly smart. I don't even ask what he's doing any more, because I trust him and know what he's doing is right."

MARTIN (ON HIS PREPARATION FOR THE SEASON.): "I feel more prepared for this season than I ever have before. This team is really prepared, and they've been together for a long time, so there's nothing that I have to go and check up on, to ask about, to confirm. They have it all figured out. So, for the first time really, I only have to take care of myself. I've been able to really concentrate on working out. Eating healthy has always been important to me, so I've been paying a lot of attention to that -- getting the team a little healthier, too! I can't imagine anybody being more ready for 2009 than I am."

MARTIN (ON HIS GOALS FOR THE 2009 SEASON.): "People want me to say championship, but that is so far out of my mind right now. I want to win a race -- singular. When that gets accomplished, we'll start talking about multiples. And I want to contribute to this race team. Short term, I want to get Alan (Gustafson) and the (No.) 5 team's confidence up and get them performing on a level they're capable of. But as a whole, I just want to make a contribution to Hendrick Motorsports."

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON HOW TESTING HAS HELPED COMMUNICATION.): "There's no real replacement for racing, and there never will be. But Mark (Martin) has so much experience. While some drivers would concentrate on single lap times, Mark focuses on what he needs during the race. Getting used to each other's language may take some time. But new teams have to work through that. We'll both learn that pretty quickly, though. Actual race time will be really important to us."

GUSTAFSON (ON HIS ADMIRATION FOR MARTIN.): "Mark focuses on the competition aspect of the sport. He is so incredibly dedicated, and that's what I've always admired about him. To see what he has already accomplished, and the things that he still pushes himself to accomplish, it's all very motivational to me. Professionally, I'm impressed with how efficient he is. He wants to see results right now, and I like that about him. When I see him around the shop or with the guys, it's so obvious that Mark Martin is always Mark Martin. There's no personality for the TV or a different one for the fans, or a different one for the sponsors. Mark is Mark."

GUSTAFSON (ON EARNING A DAYTONA 500 WIN.): "It's hard to think about winning the Daytona 500. We've been so close, and I think right at the end there, your heart is pounding because you know how tough this race is to win. And you're right there, but right there isn't good enough. The last five laps of the Daytona 500 -- anything can happen. The gratification of winning it, though -- just for everyone who has put so much time in here at Hendrick and especially on the No. 5 team -- it would just be amazing."

GUSTAFSON (ON CELEBRATING HIS 10TH YEAR AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS.): "I can't believe it's been 10 years. It's a nice feeling. I love Hendrick Motorsports, and I've put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to help make it successful. We haven't quite reached our goals with the Kellogg's/CARQUEST team yet, but I feel like we, as a team, are in a good position to do so. I am extremely fortunate to work for this company, and I'm looking forward to many more days here. I have a lot I want to accomplish so I plan on being here awhile."

GUSTAFSON (ON NOT RACING IN THE BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT AT DAYTONA.): "Not being in the Shootout is obviously a disadvantage for us. Anytime you can get true on-track race time is a benefit, especially the week before the Daytona 500. Fortunately for us, Jeff (Gordon), Jimmie (Johnson) and Junior (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) are in the race, so we'll get a lot of information from them and their crew chiefs. That information will be a huge help for us, but it's still no substitute for actually being in the race."

Martin's desire still burns hot
Associated Press
February 9, 2009

Daytona Beach, Fla. —- Mark Martin works out almost daily and scrutinizes everything he eats —- dedication that has the 50-year-old driver in top physical condition.

He knows that focus on personal health won’t stave off the affects of aging forever. Eventually, his eyesight might fade or his coordination will drop just a tick.

For now, the veteran is at the top of his game and ready to make another run at that elusive NASCAR championship.

Only this time, he’ll be in the very best equipment and surrounded by every resource imaginable. After two years of easing his way into retirement with limited Sprint Cup schedules, he was lured back to a full-time job by an open seat at elite Hendrick Motorsports.

It was an opportunity too good to refuse, perhaps the last chance to win the title that has escaped him during his remarkable 26-year driving career.

No one involved in the effort —- team owner Rick Hendrick, crew chief Alan Gustafson, or teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. —- doubt Martin will be a legitimate contender this season.

“There’s not a single time when Mark has gotten into one of our cars where I haven’t said to myself, ‘Wow, this dude is crazy good. How has he not won 10 championships?’ ” Gustafson said. “This guy might be the best to ever do this, or at least one of the top five stock car drivers in history.”

Never mind that Martin has five years on Bobby Allison, the oldest driver to win a championship when he did it at 45 in 1983. Richard Petty was 42 when he won the last of his seven titles. Dale Earnhardt was 44.

And, since Dale Jarrett won the championship at 42 in 1999, no driver over the age of 36 has claimed a Cup title.

But age is just a number to Martin. It’s the desire that actually means something.

“Certain things diminish with age: your eyesight, the color of your hair, the amount of hair,” Martin said. “One of the things that really happens when you get my age, to race car drivers, is it’s very common for that burning fire and desire, it seems to diminish to a degree. That hasn’t happened to me.

“I want this as bad as I did the day I got fired in 1983 or the day I went broke in 1982 or the first win I got in 1989. I want it as bad, at least as bad, as I ever have in my life, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

Martin proved he’s still at the top of his game in Sunday’s qualifying for the season-opening Daytona 500. With the second-fastest lap of the day, he earned a front row starting spot for the biggest event of the year.

The significance is not lost on him. He’s never won a Cup race at NASCAR’s most famous track, and his only shot at a Daytona 500 victory ended in a 2007 photo-finish loss to Kevin Harvick.

Only 10 drivers have won a race over the age of 50, none since Morgan Shepherd at Atlanta in 1993.

“This is the crown jewel of stock car racing. Everything else that I’ve done in my career would fit around this,” Martin said. “If things go our way, then maybe we’ll have a chance again here Sunday.”

Mark Martin Media Day Visit
GM Racing
February 5, 2009

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
DAYTONA MEDIA DAY
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Impala SS, met with members of the media at Pre-Daytona media day and discussed anticipation about full-season with Hendrick Motorsports, the 2007 Daytona 500 finish, Joey Logano, older drivers and other topics.

COMING IN TO DAYTONA THIS YEAR, DO YOU THINK ABOUT HOW CLOSE THE FINISH WAS IN 2007?

"It doesn't until you force it in there -- you just shove it right back in there. I try not to think about 2007 that much. Probably just as much as I try not to think about some other year when things even went worse than that. To answer your question, does it cross my mind coming into Daytona this year? I'm going to be driving a Hendrick Motorsports car and working with the brightest crew chief. I had no idea how incredibly bright Alan Gustafson was until I had a chance to go testing with him a few times -- absolutely undiscovered by the media. He has not been discovered yet -- he has not been discovered and do yes it does cross my mind every once and a while, but I try to keep that at bay because really that -- to me it is silly for me to think about that. What's smart is to think about how do I make the most out of this opportunity? How do we get our car good? What are the things that I can do to make the most out of it instead of getting all giddy about this might be the best car I ever had at Daytona."

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO ON THE TRACK IF THE CHAMPIONSHIP WERE ON THE LINE?

"Are you saying would I turn a guy to win a championship? Is that what you're asking me? I haven't seen Jimmie (Johnson) knock anybody out of the way to win races. I don't feel like changing who I am is necessary to get the job done. I don't feel like it's necessary. I've done what I've done in the past and I will do what I do in the future based off of split second decisions so I really can't tell you. Do I understand that I only have so many more opportunities? Yes, I do, but every decision I make will be made split second and all those things might weigh into my psyche, but at the end of the day I really can't tell you.

"I can tell you that I have had a couple of wins where accidents were a part of -- like the Busch race at Bristol with Davey Allison where Davey was passing me for the win and moved up before he got clear of me and he wrecked and I won the race. That race didn't mean anything to me because that's not how I wanted to win the race. I didn't feel good about that. So many of the others I can be proud of and feel good about. It's how I feel when I lay down at the end of the day that matters the most -- its how I feel about it. I can tell you that I want to win really, really bad. I can't tell you what I'm going to do. I won't be able to answer that question until it's over with."

IS THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF WINNING A CHAMPIONSHIP THE REASON YOU CAME BACK FOR ANOTHER FULL-TIME SEASON?

“No, that was not what drove me to take this. What drove me to take this was Rick Hendrick, Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff (Gordon), Jimmie (Johnson) and Dale Barnhart Jr. as supportive teammates, Alan Gustafson, an opportunity to drive a blazing-fast race car that could win a race. That's why I did it. All this other stuff we'll see about -- we'll see about that. You have to climb some hills before you can stand at the top of the mountain. I got hills to climb this year before we talk about standing on top of the mountain. You have to understand that in 2009 we have plenty of hills to climb before we can even discuss all that. Obviously it would be incredible -- it would be incredible if we could just make the 'Chase' because then we have a chance. We have to make the 'Chase' first. We're starting a little bit behind as a race team. We haven't had an opportunity to work together before. We didn't work together last year. We're not in the Shootout, which puts us at a major -- I feel really left out because there are 28 cars -- more than ever and this is the first time in 20 years that I haven't been in that race and we won't even hit the race track in race trim until Wednesday. They all hit it tomorrow so we have a lot more important things to be worried about than trying to worry about whether or not we can win that Cup."

QUESTION INAUDIBLE

"He's (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) as big of a super star as there has ever been in NASCAR from that stand point. Do I think I have my work cut out for me? I don't want to get embarrassed. I really want to be able and I want them to be able to say -- would love for them to be able to say that I brought something to the table. That's my challenge. I'm going to have to find a way to be able to bring something to the table for these guys. They're some of the greatest there's ever been."

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE CARRYING THE BANNER FOR "OLDER" DRIVERS?

"I do feel like I'm carrying that banner right now. I think that's part of the appeal to some of the race fans is that they want to see -- some of them are aging themselves and they love the idea of being able to still hold their own against a 25-year old. Whether it be playing softball or whatever it is -- let's face it, there's a huge difference physically and we've all experienced that. There's some great advantages, but when it comes to playing a game of softball, but after not doing that for a while and you go out and you play a little game and you wake up the next day and you can't hardly move. You say, 'wow, things have really changed because back in the day I could do that and never even feel it.' Things have changed and we are the contrast to all that and hopefully I can bring a little balance. There was a lot of emphasis put on young drivers, which I was the one out here talking about it first and everybody thought there was something wrong with me and then a few years later it caught on and now I hope to bring a little balance to that. I hope it gives some fans a reason to cheer that way because the young ones can go and identify from this way and that just brings a lot of balance.

"A lot of people don't know a lot of things and even I don't know everything about everybody in the sport and their history and where they came from and what they did. In 1981 I was doing things that most 22-year olds hadn't done in NASCAR."

ARE THINGS HARDER OR EASIER NOW?

"They were real different, but I don't know that they were harder back then than they are now. I was a kid then as well and some of the guys -- the hardened crew chiefs like Jake Elder said that I was too little to drive these cars. I didn't believe it then and I don't believe it now. I ran third at Martinsville with no power steering and with single piston short track brakes - without all the good stuff that everybody had. It was actually before power steering and I was 130 pounds back then and didn't even lift weights. I wasn't on any kind of physical fitness program at that time. My point is that if the cars were ill-handling we made them work as good as we could. We made the steering work as good as we could. We had negative caster in the left-front so they would turn left by themselves easier. We did a lot of things. Now what we do because we have power steering is we've put all this positive caster in the left-front and you can't steer that car a lick without power steering. The competition is fierce today -- much more fierce than it was back then. A 500-mile race you would ride for 400 miles and race the last 100 and now you race that first lap of the 500-miler is as intense as any lap. There's differences -- it's way different, but I certainly wouldn't say that you couldn't do it then and I wouldn't say that I wouldn't have done it."

WHAT KIND OF ADVICE HAVE YOU GIVEN JOEY LOGANO?

"He's (Joey Logano) gotten a lot of advice from me already and I'm very proud of him. My biggest concern for him was -- I'm certain that he will be a Cup champion so my biggest concern was for him to stay humble because when you're as good as he is it's not always easy. He appears to be hanging on to that fairly well. I was very proud of him in his recent interviews. He appeared to be humble and that's not always easy.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO JOEY AT IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY IN THE RECENT RACE?

"I don't get involved in judging NASCAR's -- the move he (Joey Logano) made appeared to be called for and just based on what had happened to him five laps earlier, if that's what you're asking and you want my opinion."

QUESTION INAUDIBLE

"It sure is going to be in that No. 5 car. I had the time of my life last year driving with Tony Gibson in the No. 8 car. It was so much fun and I've been so happy and I've been excited since June to be getting in this 5 car and I can't wait any longer. I may have had an excitement breakdown if I had to wait any longer. It's built more and more and more in the last couple weeks -- the last three weeks I have just been really stir crazy and ready to go. "That's one of the great things about it is that it doesn't feel like work -- it feels like a real privilege."

IS DAYTONA TESTING AN ADVANTAGE FOR TEAMS YOU WON'T HAVE THIS YEAR?

"It's always been an advantage and I've recognized it in the Shootout, but not nearly as much as when you have three days of testing and you're with an existing team. This is a new team for me to work with and they are incredible, but we do have to figure each other out and an hour and 45 minutes is not a lot of time to do that."

DOES IT BOTHER YOU THAT THE EXPECTATIONS ARE SO HIGH?

"The first thing that pops in my mind is to look the other way. I've done a lot of looking the other way in my career -- a lot. I've read a lot the last month and expectations are very high and I'm talking about from you guys (media). Falling short of that because the line is so high, it would be easy for that to happen. I love this sport -- this is my whole life. This is what I think about all the time. I check Jayski at least once an hour everyday and I check that and all the links to every story. This is it -- that's why for me to go sit on the couch for the rest of my life is not really -- I thought that's what I wanted to do. I was pretty happy there for a month or two -- all of 2007 I was fine, but in 2008 I was having more fun at the races than ever before, even more fun than 2007. It came more and more clear to me. I understand that expectations are high, they're very high for Mr. Hendrick and they're very high for my three teammates and they're very high from Alan (Gustafson) and my team and so if you're asking me how I manage all that internally I'm going to tell you that I'm just going to look over here instead of look at that because I'm obsessive and compulsive and I don't need to be obsessing and compulsing over whether or not I'm going to be able to meet their expectations. If I drive as well as I drove last year and they give me the kind of race cars that I had part of the time last year, which were really incredible part of the time last year and they give me those kind of race cars -- the kind of race cars that Alan (Gustafson) and that group are capable of producing then bad luck or not I should be able to hopefully meet those expectations. I can say that for me mentally and physically I have never put so much into the preparation. I know I'm not 25 -- I know where I'm at and I know for a fact that probably no one I'm racing against in 2009 have taken the time and had the time because I had a limited schedule and I didn't even run Homestead -- we did all our promotional stuff for Kellogg's and Car Quest back in October so I have really been caught up and I have worked. Just like checking Jayski every hour -- I have put hours and hours into my physical and mental and nutritional program to prepare myself because I don't have to worry about little things when it comes to the race car. I've never been around anyone that was thinking as much and as prepared as Alan (Gustafson) has been. That's let me put a lot more time. I've learned a tremendous amount of stuff from nutrition and about nutrition. I learned some more about physical fitness and I've expanded my horizons in that area -- I'm doing more. I'm not taking anything away from what I was doing, but I've added a lot more. Yesterday for example I spend from seven till 12 AM -- it was not all working out. The weights and the cardio took an hour and a half, but after that, from 9:30 to 10:30 I did something else and then did something else. I'm doing other things than just the weights like I did for a long time."

An Interview With Mark Martin
2009 NASCAR Preseason Thunder Daytona Fan Fest
Saturday news conference transcripts

RAMSEY POSTON: We're now joined in the infield media center by driver of the No. 5 Kellogg Chevrolet, Mark Martin. Tell us, you've got a lot of new things going on. Tell us about the off season, the new team, and what you're looking forward to in 2009.

MARK MARTIN: Well, it seems like the off season has been a year. Knowing since June that I was going to drive that 5 car has just been a lot of anticipation. I can't wait. I've been in the car three different occasions since about September, got in it once in September, once in August and once in December. Wow, it's cool.

I have to say that, you know, for me taking two years of a limited schedule has given me a chance to completely recharge my battery and completely having a different mindset on what it is that I really what's important to me and what I really want to do. I know that my buddies that are race car drivers, I thought it was pretty funny last fall, they were all in a bad mood and tired and grouchy and all those things that I used to be, and I never felt that.

I come into this year with tremendous enthusiasm. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to you know, that Kellogg's and CARQUEST and Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Alan and the 5 team and the confidence they've had in me would give me a chance to drive for an operation like that. Every time I come home from the race shop I have a huge smile on my face.

Q: I want to read you something that Carl Edwards said yesterday. He said, "you put Mark Martin in the Chase with ten races to go, it's going to be tough. You're going to have to beat Mark Martin to win the championship."

MARK MARTIN: That's nice of Carl to say. Carl is a, he's treated me with some tremendous respect, and that's nice to see out of a young man, especially as successful as he is.

Let's see if we let's see. We have more immediate things to focus on first of all, and that is to get Alan and the 5 team, get the results that they're so capable of, and if we can go out and start getting those results, that would really be cool. And if we could win a race, that would really be cool. And then if we could put one behind us, then we'd go to work on multiples.

Of course then if we could make the Chase, then we'll be, we will see, but rather than putting great expectations, I would much more prefer the more immediate task at hand, and that will be just coming out of the gate and seeing those guys. I want to see those 5 guys excited and smiling and happy. I'd like to take a picture with them in victory lane.

Q: Obviously once it gets into the season every week will be about the next week and being at that track, but like you were saying, as far as looking ahead, when you're at home in the off season and you're looking at the upcoming season as a whole, are you allowing yourself to dream about how good it could be? Can you go there in your mind, or do you kind of just, like you were saying, to say, well, let's win a race first? Do you not let yourself go there, or how do you view it?

MARK MARTIN: I think I understand your question, and if it is what I think it is, it's very insightful. You kind of know me.

I think that it would be I've got a lot of experience, a lot of experience at a lot of stuff in racing, and I understand the disappointments in racing just like I understand the success.

And I think it would be setting yourself up for disappointment if you expected that end result, I'm talking about that way end result, the one you guys always want to talk about, it's not time to talk about. That's not what I need to do. What I need to do is come in here and go to work with these guys and do like I said. It can be incredible. It could be incredible. Everything is there. But that's a very delicate balance to get those results. You can only guarantee effort, and the effort that I'm going to give is going to be the degree of my commitment is greater or as great as I've ever given. I know that the 5 team is ready. I mean, those guys are excited, they're charged up and they're ready to go.

Results we can't guarantee. We can guarantee the effort. That's what I really like to focus on rather than focusing on some kind of expectated (sic) results because I can't completely control those results. But I'm excited about the effort and I'm excited about being part of the thing, and I think there's potential for us to especially after having such a great year last year, which has a lot to do with it. I had a great year last year driving the 8 car. I had the time of my life last year, and I hope to have the time of my life again in 2009.

Q: You talked about how happy you've been and kind of the smile on your face. Did that start right from when you made the decision to go to Hendrick, or was it as you started kind of getting into the organization, seeing what it's like to be a part of?

MARK MARTIN: It has grown. The momentum has built. You know, first I started getting happy in 2007. I was having fun, I was racing when I wanted in a fast car, working with a bunch of guys, having fun.

And then in 2008 and also in 2007 I got a chance to drive Rick Hendrick's Busch Car, Nationwide car, and that was a really, really cool experience. And then in between also in 2007 I had a chance to win Jeff Gordon was going to have their baby, there was a possibility I might drive the 24 car at Sears Point. So I went over to their shop and fit a seat and everything in case something were to come up where they needed me to go do that so Jeff could be there to see his baby born.

So I learn, ed a lot about Hendrick Motorsports I didn't know because I was inside the walls there, not only driving the Busch Car some but actually found out a lot about the 24 team and got to know those guys and everything. So it sort of built momentum from there. Then in '08, in June, we made the deal. So I've known I was going to drive that thing since then, and I've spent more and more time there. Every time I go to the shop, I get more excited, not less, because I find out more and I see more about just what an incredible organization it is. Rick Hendrick has treated me, I can't describe it. And so have all the other employees there. It has built. I'm ready. I wish Speed Weeks was starting tomorrow. I mean, I really, really do. I am so ready to go to the racetrack with these guys and be a part of this thing. I can't imagine anybody being more ready for 2009 than I am.

Q: As a guy with a keen eye for talent in a race car, could you talk just a little bit about what you've seen in terms of David Ragan's progress over the last three years and what you might expect from him this year?

MARK MARTIN: Yeah, I mean, I'm easy to put expectations on other people, just not on me. I expect David to win this year. I'm incredibly proud of the young man he is, as well as the race car driver that he is, and I'm proud that he is driving the 6 car. That makes me proud. I think that he's a good representative for that car that I drove for 19 years. I always knew that he was a fine young man. I just didn't know that he could drive a race car like that until he did the "Gong Show" there with Roush and those trucks, and I still didn't believe it. I just couldn't believe that he could be that good and never have done it. He had done it, but he had very limited experience driving race cars. He did a fabulous job. He's a great kid.

Q: What would it mean to you to win the Daytona 500, and how do you size up your chances to do it next month?

MARK MARTIN: Well, everybody wants to win it, and everybody thinks they're going to win it. Every one of them thinks they're going to win it. You know, it would certainly be the crown jewel of my career, you know that. Rick Hendrick loves winning Daytona 500s. I think it would be real special for him and for the 5 car to win it on their this is their 25th anniversary of being in NASCAR, and it all started with the 5 car. I think it would mean a lot.

Of course it would mean a lot to him to win with Dale, Jr., as well, along with the 24 and 48, Jeff and Jimmie, as well. But it would be pretty cool. Yes, when I cut back to a limited schedule in '07, I said Daytona and Indy, and I don't, I care more about those than the other races. The first time we took a crack at it, we nearly did it.

I'm very grateful for the kind of cars that I've had the last two years for the Daytona 500, even though we didn't have a great result last year. It was definitely an awesome effort, and I believe that I will have the most awesome effort ever this time. But so will many other great race car drivers.

With all that said, I'd rather be lucky than good. I'd feel real confident with the lucky part. The good part, there's a bunch of goods out there, but there's only one really lucky one, and I'd like to be the lucky one.

Q: You've always had a good eye for talent, and a lot of us had not heard of Joey Logano until you talked him up in 2005. What was it about him then that you were impressed with and how do you think he'll do this year, and have you found the next Joey Logano?

MARK MARTIN: First of all, no, I haven't found the next Joey Logano. But he's out there and I just haven't seen him. But those are very, very rare. I started watching Joey race when he was ten, so it wasn't that probably dates back to 2002 or something. I'm not sure exactly how it figures up. But it's somewhere that far back.

You just have to watch. You don't have to be a brain surgeon. You know I'm not that bright. All you had to do is watch and you could see how incredible of a talent that he was. I love his dad really to death, but his dad ain't no genius. They won all them races, and it was easy to look at it and think that his dad fixed the coolest, best cars on the racetrack. But I got close enough to the situation to find out that it wasn't Tom Logano that was winning those races, it was his driver making him look good. Obviously he takes no offense to that.

He's a cool guy. I really like Tom. But Joey was the real talent there.

Q: How much does it bother you to see that sponsor problems might keep Aric Almirola from working toward that rookie season he's been working for and waiting for?

MARK MARTIN: Well, it's really disappointing, it really is. But we are where we are right now with the economy, and it's tough times. I hate it for Aric. He's a really, really fine young man and he's a great race car driver, and his day will come. Just because you trip and fall down doesn't mean you won't make it. You know, I can testify to that. I tripped and fell down for pretty much the same reason in 1982.

You know, the days of going and plucking a kid out of a go kart and plugging him into a Nextel Cup car or a Sprint Cup car, those days have changed a little bit for right now. Maybe they'll come back in a few years. But it's going to be tough times right now for upstarts to get in.

But if you have a long memory, it was tough for upstarts when we got into it, myself and Rusty Wallace and Alan Kulwicki. Times have changed, and they'll change again. He's a great race car driver and a great talent, and if it doesn't work out for him in 2009, it will work out for him.

Q: You didn't expect to be this competitive at this point in your career. I think you said that's one of the reasons you planned an exit strategy. How much has your competitiveness come as a surprise, and why do you think you're still able to get it done?

MARK MARTIN: Well, I think that having a great breakfast helps. No, seriously, I think that taking good care of yourself, I think it all makes a difference. You know, your nutrition program, your physical fitness program, and there's also no substitute for desire. You can't really, that has to be affected by your age. Some guys at 40 or 45 have started a decline in their desire, and some go beyond that. My desire has not declined at all. As a matter of fact, the opportunity to drive the 8 car last year and have a shot at winning a couple of races really made me more hungry than I could ever remember. I want to win a race right now so bad so that I can experience that again that I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I'll work as hard as it takes.

I've learned so much about nutrition. My physical fitness program is on another level from where it ever was. And I must be lucky. I really must be lucky; I don't know. I thought in 2004, 2005, that my performance had declined beyond my that I couldn't control what was happening and that I wasn't going to be able to be competitive very shortly. That's how I felt about it.

I've just had a really good year in 2007 and a really good year in 2008, and I have a lot of people that have a lot of confidence in what I can do, and that's what I want to do in 2009. There's nowhere in the world I'd rather be than behind the wheel of the 5 car. I've tried the car and I enjoyed it, but that's not where I want to be.

When I can't do that anymore, I don't know what the hell I'm going to do, because there is nothing like it. There's nothing like being able to go out there and race like we raced at Phoenix in the 8 car in the first race or the second Pocono race last year. When you drive to the front and lead that race, there's no feeling like it in the world, and I don't know what I'll do when I can't do that. But I still can right now, and so I'm really appreciative for the opportunity.

Q: I've got kind of a two parter. On a personal level is there any pain to see what the guys you've raced with for the last couple seasons are going through in this financial market and just the uncertainty there at Earnhardt Ganassi? And the driver market as a whole, you've got to be concerned with your own stuff, or do you have, again, some affinity for what these unemployed guys are going through trying to find rides?

MARK MARTIN: I've seen this before. You know, it's just that I've seen this before. A lot of people in the sport haven't because it hasn't been so bad. It's been this we've had this incredible run for the last five, six, seven years where the growth has just been astronomical and everything.

But yeah, it does tug at me to see Dale Earnhardt, Incorporated, especially struggling, and Aric, because I'm emotionally involved. I have emotions toward that and toward him because he's such a great kid and all.

We're in a reset period where there's things that have gotten tougher and things are contracting some, and I'm just I'm fortunate I'm one of the guys that could have afforded to not have a job, and I think that's kind of ironic that I got one of the best jobs in the business. So it's kind of weird; I don't know.

I think for right now, experience is back to a premium, and for a period of time it was not a premium, but now it is. The world goes around. The economy will change and things will loosen up. It may take a while.

I'm not in a panic mode like so many people, and maybe I should be. But I think this will come and this will go, this economy problem. There will be changes and some contraction. It won't hurt us any. This thing used to be simple back in the day, very simple and very small, and it's grown to be the coolest racing in the world, and we'll figure out how to smooth up the edges and make it work and conform in today's economy, and then when the economy gets better, it'll morph again, you know?

Q: The other one concerns Hendrick Motorsports, and I dare say this is something that never occurred to you, but the 5 car, and before that when it was the 25 car I think was often seen as the other Hendrick car. It didn't achieve as well as the others. What's your thought on that, and I'm sure you probably see it as a Hendrick car and you're going to win?

MARK MARTIN: It is a Hendrick car, and all the tools are there. Alan Gustafson is the coolest guy I've ever I mean, he is so technically over my head that I don't even want him to stop and explain. He's wasting his time explaining. You know, they have underachieved at times, the 5, or the 25, but it's not because they didn't have a great team.

This is the year that I hope that Alan and the 5 team get recognized for their incredible group that they are and for their potential, and that's all I can say. That means more to me than what I get, or if I get a trophy or not.

If they do that, then I'll probably get some hardware, if they're able to achieve and get the recognition that they are capable of.

Q: You're a great guy to ask this question. I ran into a fan that he's a four decade NASCAR fan, and he says I was a fan back when drivers didn't have to be pretty. He's still a great fan, but could you comment on the dual role that drivers have to have now? Obviously you experienced that whole thing.

MARK MARTIN: Yeah, that's kind of a cool statement. You know, it grew when I was talking about this thing being simple, I mean, it was around a long time before I got here, and when I got here, if you built your engines in house, your team consisted of a dozen people. If you were like I was and you leased your engines, or we gotten gins from prototype, there was me and five full time employees, and my mom ran the office.

You know, the driver certainly wasn't a business person. Me, I was a mechanic, you know, for the most part, that did a few interviews. Certainly there was a lot of great racing and a lot of great times prior to then, '81 or '82. But today it's a big business, and with the marketing and the representative that you have to be to carry the kind of sponsors and financial commitment that goes with a Cup car, you have to clean up well, and you have to be able to speak on camera. You have to be able to be good with the fans, have to be able to relate with the fans. You have to be able to put a suit and tie on, and you have to be able to go to a corporate headquarters and carry yourself well like a businessperson.

You've got a lot of caps that you have to wear on top of if you want to be the best in the business, you have to be physically fit and be a great driver, too. There was a time when being a great driver was really enough, but it's different now. To be real honest with you, it's a lot of pressure. There's a lot of pressure and there's a lot of competition for these jobs. There was a lot of competition back then, too, but it's really tough now. So when you say, oh, these kids get a chance to go drive Joe Gibbs' best cars, the best of everything, and all these people helping them, Rick Hendrick, Jack Roush, whoever, well, yeah, that's true, but there's a lot of competition for those jobs and there's a lot of pressure on those kids. And they're kids; they haven't been there and done that. Only the ones that are really spectacular make the cut.

All of us forget that. The young guys that are in this sport are phenomenal, and we get used to it. We see them every weekend, and we forget how phenomenal they are in really every respect. I know that I'm guilty of that. Sometimes I forget how phenomenal they really are in all different ways.

RAMSEY POSTON: Mark, thank you for your time. Thanks for coming down. See you in a few weeks.