Martin expected to drive Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 in 2009
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Mark Martin (left) and car owner Rick Hendrick were together in 2007 for an announcement that Martin would drive for Hendrick Motorsports in the Busch Series.
Michael Heiman
Getty Images
Hendrick Motorsports is expected to announce Friday at Daytona International Speedway that Mark Martin will drive its No. 5 Sprint Cup Series Chevrolet next season.
Hendrick Motorsports issued a media advisory Tuesday that it would conduct a news conference Friday afternoon at the track to announce who will replace Casey Mears in the No. 5 car.
Martin has been talking with Hendrick Motorsports about driving full time or part time for the team next year and will be part of the announcement, sources confirm. Although Martin has said in previous weeks he wanted to continue with a partial schedule, sources indicated he might run a full season for Hendrick.
Before the June 22 race at Infineon Raceway, team owner Rick Hendrick would not confirm nor deny that he had discussed with Martin the possibility of his driving for the team.
Martin has driven a part-time schedule the last two years after spending 19 seasons driving for team owner Jack Roush. The 49-year-old Martin is driving 26 events this year for Dale Earnhardt Inc. while Aric Almirola fills out the remainder of the schedule in the No. 8 car.
Almirola will drive the No. 8 car for DEI next season, the team announced Tuesday.
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25 responses to "Martin expected to drive Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 in 2009". Post a Comment.
Anonymous said:
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:10 PMLooks to me more and more like his "farewell tour" the year he and Rusty retired was a sham. Can the fans who bought farewell merchandise get a refund?
Chrissie Bennett said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 1:05 AMHendrick is getting rid of Casey Mears because he is not winning so why would he replace him with someone else that is not winning? Just doesn't make sense to me. Mark Martin was good back in the day but I think that day is over. I think that Mark Martin needs to retire for real. He "retired" a couple years back yet he keeps racing.
4da88 said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 1:46 AMI think Mark will be in the #5 part time; like he did for DEI in the #8. At least I hope so. It is so funny how Mark went on and on about DEI and how great it was to be driving for them. Did not take him long to dump them.
Flying Squirrel said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 9:04 AMIf any of you saw the TV show NASCAR 360 a few years ago (great show, wish it would come back) you'd recall the multi-episode feature they did with Mark. Touching moments when his 13 year old son Matt talked about how much he misses his Dad while racing full time & couldn't wait to have his dad full time when he "retired". It's time to hang up the driver suit Mark. Your fans love you & all, but if you had the chance to watch the interview with your son you'd see how much he loves & misses being around you. You can't need more money & let's be real, you're not going to win a championship at this stage... how about being a champion to your family.
James Kilts said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 9:12 AMI don't understand why Rick would do this. I agree there was a time when Mark was one of the best drivers in NASCAR, but as much as I like him, I think those days are behind him.
I would have gone with Smoke.
Dale Walton SR said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 11:24 AMI wish Mark well, but do not think he belongs with the Hendrick Team. Rick should go after Smoke and be done with it.
James Meredith said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 12:13 PMYes, I sure agree with Dale Walton, Chrissie and Anonymous. So much for a farewell tour, and so much for returning for one more year to bail out Jack Roush. What a sham. Come on Rick go after Smoke. What a team you would have.
Dr. Spaceman said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 2:14 PMThis is a good move for both Mark and HMS. Hopefully it's full time. This benefits Mark becasue he'll be able to make on last run at the Chase. This benefits HMS because they will have a very popular and sponsor friendly driver who can still get it done on the track. Having Mark in the car for a year will allow for Rick to find a top tier driver to fill that seat in 2010.
The bottom line is that Rick is a very smart man and doesn't make dumb moves (except for maybe dumping Kyle). This will all work out exceedingly well for all parties.
gayle larson said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 2:25 PMwe all know dei just hired martin to do their pr propaganda and he did well but he also took seat time from almirola who wants to get a career started.
now he is going to take the 5 away from casey mears who is a good driver and just needed some more time to get going.
mark has had his time. now he should let the younger guys get their chance.
casey was just getting known to the fans and was an asset to hendricks.
i am sure he would have done well in the years to come.
mark will be spewing all of his wonderful words of praise now on hendricks instead of dei. what should we believe??? if dei was so great why would he leave?
retire mark and give us all a break from your same old boring"wonderful world" speeches.
Worm Dirt said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 3:08 PMI agree with the doctor.The only way it makes sense to hire Martin FULL-TIME is if Hendrick is making some sort of chess-move for 2010. I guess there is wisdom in having Martin secure sponsor dollars to keep that team healthy next year, BUT.... what if the last remaining die-hard Mark Martin APOLOGISTS finally wake up? I mean... how long can he stretch and market his phony image of "INTEGRITY"... when his actions contradict the very definition of the word?
Pearl Roll said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 5:38 PMWonder who gets kicked to the curb next by Hendrick?? Martin is never gonna get the championship either(another mistake for HMS) Just another "good ol boy" on the Hendrick team who isnt gonna win but hey if its popularity he is after well good going then to HMS. I think Mak should of stayed retired so we don't have to listen to more good ol speeches of his.
emily bagwell said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 9:04 PMGo figure! There must be something we don't know. I thought from all his smoke screen with DEI praise and respect for Teresa Mark would be with DEI forever. Guess it wasn't the bed of roses he would lead us to believe.
Jerome Montez said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 11:02 PMIf you rember Mark Martin was going to teach his son Matt and Rickey Carmichell how to drive but things got messed up Matt decided he didn't want to race.The team Mark drove for was going to sponser Ricky 2007 sold out to DEI that really put a dint in Marks plans;
Mark Willoughby said:
Jul 3, 2008 at 1:31 AMIt is sad when people who do not drive cars sit back and take shots at one of the GREATEST NASCAR drivers in the history of the sport. Real race fans are sitting back laughing at you idiots. NO driver has EVER said a bad word about MARK MARTIN...but now track side wanna-be news reporters want to bad mouth him...THINK TWICE.....YOU ARE MAKING A FOOL OUT OF YOURSELF and EVERYONE is Laughin'. IDIOTS.
Worm Dirt said:
Jul 3, 2008 at 3:45 AMMark Willoughby... I took your advice and "THOUGHT TWICE" but the ONLY thing new that I came up with... is that you have an unhealthy man-crush on Mark Martin AND the argument-style of a scorned fifth-grader!!! You say, "NO driver has EVER said a bad word about Martin". I say, WHO CARES??!! I don't know if that's even true or not, BUT what I do know to be undeniably true is that you absolutely CAN NOT say that about ANY single Cup CHAMPION!!!! If you want to make an omellette, Willoughby... you've got to break some eggs!!!! Sorry to break this to you pal, but Martin isn't going to HMS because he is "One of The Greatest Nascar Drivers in HIstory" as you say, but INSTEAD because the economy is in the tank, and support from you and the other apologists will attract sponsors and help the #5 team weather the storm. Are you still laughing now??
Paul Baumgarten said:
Jul 3, 2008 at 6:38 AMThe newbie's to the sport of auto racing seem to lack perception concerning Mark Martin's deserving to be in the #5 car. If the anti Mark letters were signed by current or past drivers, they would have credibility, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It is sad that Mark still has to wear the title of "best driver to never win a cup championship". With his ride in the #5 car, he has a chance to run competatively for a great team and a great owner. He has achieved the highest level of success in auto racing and has earned the highest level of respect of those who's opinions really matter.
Chrissie Bennett said:
Jul 3, 2008 at 7:37 AMPaul I'm not sure who you are calling a newbie to the sport of auto racing but I have been watching Nascar for meny meny years. I still think that Mark Martin is not deserving of being in the #5 car. Maybe back in the day he was but he has not won a race in a very long time now. I think he should do what he said he was going to do a few years back and retire. Mark Willoughby you are pretty immature calling people names. You are the one making a fool out of yourself.
funktronic said:
Jul 3, 2008 at 10:59 AMall of you are speculating as fans, if anyone of us was in his position and thought we had something left, and like them or not, going to a top notch team like hendrick, we would do it without thought. I know i wouldn't care what all the fair weather nascar fans were saying, id be listening to myself. look at dale jarret the last few seasons, he was running on fumes even before his move to Toyota, but everyone was still praising him. (no offense to dale, just citing) mark is obviously got more left in the tank. if you take marks average points from the races in 2008 he has been in and add those averages to the #of races he missed he would be well inside the top ten in points. and that pushes out somebody else that is supposed to be better. Then hendrick would have all cars in the chase. bottom line is we would do what we want, why blast someone for doing what they want.
Worm Dirt said:
Jul 3, 2008 at 12:29 PMFunktronic.... that's some SHADY and weak math at best! You do realize that Mark Martin HANDPICKS the races that he does and doesn't want to drive in don't you?? Coincidentally, the races he skips usually are tracks that he doesn't like or hasn't performed well at historically. Hmmmm. So.... besides the ridiculousness of you trying to predict something that never happened, if we follow your math and "average" the points he has earned on the tracks he likes to cover the races he skipped on tracks he doesn't like, well...we are hardly getting an accurate number are we? Sorry man!!! Nice try...
brandy kyser said:
Jul 3, 2008 at 1:00 PMi like the idea of mark driving for rick, but i also think if rick would've went w/smoke that would be the best team next year. mark will win races next year. and if he runs full time maybe all 4 hms cars will be in chase and mark could finally have a chance to get a championship
Laura Brown said:
Jul 3, 2008 at 2:24 PMhey group...they way I see it..Mark announced his retirement..Teresa picked him up to drive #8, part time..I really think that the drivers should all drive a full time scheduale or not be involved in the chase or earn points. Teresa used Mark to drive another nail in Jr..by having that #8 on the track
emily bagwell said:
Jul 3, 2008 at 9:01 PMYou are correct, Laura, and Mark ate it up with remarks about what a terrific organization DEI was and how he respected Teresa. That's okay--his choice--junior has weathered worse. I believe that Dale Earnhardt had quite a few remarks to make about Mark and Roush's whining about the Fords not getting the same treatment as other makes. If you don't believe it, watch some old tapes. I respect Mark Martin for what he has given to the sport, but he ain't a saint. We all have the right to express our opinions. After all, he is the one that is wishy-washy. But none of us know what is going to happen---so be it! Chrissie, I'm with you---I'm surely not a newbie!
bud balch said:
Jul 4, 2008 at 12:08 AMwill be glad to have mark back were he belongs racing all the luck in the world mark
Worm Dirt said:
Jul 6, 2008 at 1:34 AMBreaking News.... I heard Mark Martin's new sponsor next year will be 'Yellow Pages Phone Books'? With Martin being 50 lbs under the 200 lb driver rule AND..... also the need for him to sit on something to see over the dashboard, just toss a couple of phone-books in the seat and BAM....two birds....One stone! Ballast AND a booster seat! Not to mention the commercial opportunities of Mark Martin with a straight-face and righteous grin convincing you that thumbing through a lump of colored-paper updated twice a year is BETTER than simply going on-line, tapping a few keys, and getting on with it. I mean everyone is used to phone-books, so they MUST be better than the internet right? Wake up!?!?!?!!!!!?
4da88 said:
Jul 7, 2008 at 9:21 PMAll the words you write and all the words in those yellow pages are not going to keep Mark from doing what he wants to do, RACE.
Teresa is looking for a buyer for DEI, good move Mark.