RICHMOND, Va. -- Now that no one is asking him any longer if he's really going to stick to his part-time schedule as a driver for Ginn Racing this season, Mark Martin is, if possible, even happier than he was earlier in the year. And man, he was happy even then. "I'm pretty sure Arlene is getting about sick of my good news and enthusiasm and exuberance," Martin said of his wife. "I think she's about sick of hearing 'Mr. Happy-Bubbly.'"
Well, Mr. Happy-Bubbly is back behind the wheel of the No. 01 Chevrolet ride he shares with rookie Regan Smith this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. It didn't look like he lost anything during his latest respite from the racetrack: he was 14th-fastest among 50 cars participating during Happy Hour practice Friday and ended up qualifying in the ninth position. Martin said Friday that he isn't even sure what's better: taking some time off during the race season, or running up front in the 01 car when he does participate in a race. "I think that's a tie," he said, grinning.
This week's hot-button debate focuses on Ginn Racing and whether or not the three-car organization is a real contender in the Nextel Cup Series. Ginn has seen successful results with Mark Martin behind the wheel of the No. 01 Chevrolet, but he is racing part time. Veterans Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek have been up and down, while rookie Regan Smith tries to acclimate himself to the Cup level. Read both sides of the argument and then weigh in with your take.
It was July 26, 2006, when Ginn Racing went from pretender to contender. On that date, real estate developer Bobby Ginn purchased majority ownership in the race team formerly known as MB2 Motorsports and started dumping truckloads of money into what had been to that point NASCAR's top mediocre team. Since then no Ginn Racing driver has won a race. No billionaire sponsor -- aside from Ginn himself -- has stepped in to help write checks. No prognosticator has spit that Ginn Racing is the future of NASCAR. But that day is coming.
At first glance, Ginn Racing is having a pretty impressive 2007: Four top-fives, six top-10s and a car in fifth place in the owner standings. But take Mark Martin out of the equation and things begin to look quite ordinary, especially when compared to many of the other three-car teams in Nextel Cup. Ginn has fared better this season than the established three-car teams of Evernham and DEI. However, two of the Ginn teams are right on the edge of the top 30, as Joe Nemechek is 26th and Sterling Marlin 30th. Ganassi's overall numbers are about the same, but two of the three Ganassi cars reside in the top 20. Then there's Childress, which has all three of its drivers in the top 12, and Gibbs, which is no worse than 21st. That places Ginn pretty much in the middle of the pack at best.
FONTANA, Calif. (Feb. 23, 2007) - Driving a No. 24 DuPont Cromax Pro Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, captured his career-second pole position at California Speedway on Friday. He will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday's Auto Club 500. "This DuPont Cromax Pro Chevrolet has been awesome ever since we unloaded off the truck," Gordon said. "We do that because of a lot of hard work by the guys at the shop on this race car, from the aerodynamics to the geometry, and of course under the hood with this Hendrick Motorsports horsepower.
Riding a wave of momentum from last week's Daytona 500 runner-up finish, Mark Martin and the U.S. Army team will start Sunday's Auto Club 500 on the inside of the second row. Martin's 01 Chevrolet laid down the third fastest lap in Friday's qualifying session at California Speedway. Kasey Kahne was second at 185.519.
For a while, the accomplishments of Kyle Bush were attributed to precocious driving. His mistakes? Simply youthful error. Now, starting his third Nextel Cup season and approaching 22, Bush is ready to be judged strictly on his merits. Bush had a good week at Daytona, but a rookie-like miscue on the last lap of Sunday's Daytona 500 ruined everything he had built to that point. Bush will start 12th on Sunday and looks to have a better finish in Fontana.
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