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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
ALL-STAR: Martin’s Team Seeking Rebound
The month of May has not been kind to Hendrick Motorsports' Mark Martin...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted May 18, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Mark Martin is winless in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
If April was a splendid month for Mark Martin and his Hendrick Motorsports team, May brought some dark clouds.

Martin was on a roll last month, recording three straight top-six finishes at Phoenix, Texas and Talladega. Then the calendar turned to May, and the numbers sagged.

Martin was 25th at Richmond, 16th at Darlington and 15th at Dover – tough finishes at tracks where he is expected to do well.

“It’s been disappointing to say the least,” Alan Gustafson, Martin’s crew chief, said Tuesday. “We haven’t been very good. Unfortunately, we struggled again this last weekend [at Dover]. We seem to be a little off.

“We’re searching for some things and have been for the last four weeks or so. We think the All-Star Race is a good chance for us to work through some things.”

Like many other teams, Martin and the No. 5 crew will be using this weekend’s Sprint All-Star Race practice time at Charlotte Motor Speedway not only to prepare for Saturday night’s All-Star event but also to get ready for the following weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 points race.

“It’s the same track, so you can get valuable information that you can use for the 600,” Gustafson said. “I think, ultimately, everybody is trying to get their cars ready for that.”

For Martin and Gustafson, the goal will be to move on from what has been a difficult stretch.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star Week • The Stars Come Out. The Gloves Come Off. • Saturday, May 22nd at 7 pm ET
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