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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Clock Ticking For Martin
Mark Martin is 14th in points...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted September 05, 2010   Hampton, GA
Mark Martin will start in row nine tonight in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
A year ago, Mark Martin was the Cinderella story of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

PDF > STARTING LINEUP BY ROW: EMORY HEALTHCARE 500 - ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Today, he’s just one of many drivers enduring a disappointing 2010 season, another title hopeful who probably won’t even advance to the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

After two years of driving part-time, Martin had an amazing first year with Hendrick Motorsports in 2009, winning more Sprint Cup races last year than he had from 2000-08 combined, and placing second to teammate Jimmie Johnson in the championship standings. Not bad for a then-50-year-old driver.

This year, though, Martin has fallen back into the pack. Maybe it was the addition of the rear spoiler, maybe it was the movement of some key personnel from the No. 5 team to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88, maybe it was all the Kasey Kahne rumors and rumblings. But for whatever reason, Martin’s results are far below what he accomplished last season.

A year ago at this time, Martin had four victories, seven top fives and 12 top 10s. Now, the scorebook reads no victories, five top fives and seven top 10s. More troubling is the fact that in the last 11 races, Martin has only one top-10 finish, a seventh at Pocono.

So while many people are talking about how Martin is 14th in points, 101 back of 12th-place Clint Bowyer, the reality is pretty bleak right now: Even if he were to somehow make the Chase, Martin likely wouldn’t be a factor like he was in ’09. And he knows it.

“I’m not nervous like I was last year because last year I knew that if we could make the Chase, we could win it,” said Martin. “We almost did (win it) and it would have been a crying shame if we would have missed the Chase, it really would have.”

But that was then and this is now. And now isn’t so pretty.

“This year, it’s a different story,” said Martin. “If we do make the Chase based on where we’re at right now, it will be a long shot to expect to be a contender to win the championship unless things were to just turn overnight. Rather than worrying about all that and worrying about points and everything else, I’m focused on trying to help this race team, trying to be better myself and trying to help this race team climb the mountain.”

The mountain climbing starts tonight at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Martin and 42 other drivers will contest the Emory Healthcare 500. Martin finished fifth in this race a year ago, but in his six prior AMS races, his average finish was a dicey 27.333.

So with little to lose, crew chief Alan Gustafson has thrown some new parts and pieces at the No. 5 Chevrolet this weekend. But the results so far haven’t been an improvement: Martin qualified 17th and was just 23rd in the final Happy Hour practice session.
Mark Martin (Left) and crew chief Alan Gustafson (Right) confer before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

“We’re trying a great deal of new stuff this weekend and we’re interested in placing it in competition and seeing how it fares over the long haul,” said Martin. “We were disappointed in our qualifying trim, but if you’re only going to have one, you would hope to be encouraged with your race stuff. It’s hard to say. Daytime, afternoon practice and racing (Sunday) night — who knows? My race car was more comfortable than usual — you get a lot of long runs here — so that’s good.”

As for making the Chase, it really isn’t much of an issue right now.

“Points tally up how they tally and if you achieve that performance then you score a lot more points,” said Martin. “We’re just working hard every week and every day, and we’re making our best. We’ll see how it comes out. There are two races to go, so we’ll see how it comes out.”

PDF > STARTING LINEUP BY ROW: EMORY HEALTHCARE 500 - ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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