Martin Ends Streak of 621 Consecutive Starts on Top
Mark Martin closed out the current longest consecutive streak start in NASCAR with a top-10 finish in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. With the finish, Martin maintained his lead in the Nextel Cup point standings, despite the fact that he will not race next week in Bristol. With the finish, Martin opens the season with four consecutive top-10 finishes, for the first time since 2000 and for only the third time in his career. Martin will now bow out of the car next weekend as the oldest driver in NASCAR history to lead the points for more than one week. Martin and the U.S. Army Team started the race fourth after a strong qualifying effort on Friday, but struggled early with a loose race car, dropping as far back as 16th during the race.
"It is really cool and I guess it's kind of a story book way to go out leading the points after chasing those points so hard for the last 20 years," said Martin. "It's definitely the way to do it and I just can't say enough about this U.S. Army Race team. They are a fabulous team and an awesome group of guys and it's just so awesome to finally see them get the recognition they deserve. I sure wish I had been driving their car a little sooner."
"We weren't as good today as we had been the first couple of races," said Martin. "But the guys on the Army team never gave up and we kept getting a little bit better each time. They were able to gain positions on pit road during those last two stops and we were able to bring home a top-10 finish. "They also allowed me to leave here the point leader and I have to thank them for all they have done for me this year," added Martin. "These guys are just fabulous and they give their heart and soul and they are finally getting the recognition they deserve."
Check out that smile on Mark's face and tell me he is not having the time of his life.
Veteran racer finds new life and Nextel Cup points lead
Mark Martin is off to the best start of his racing career and for the first time since Sept. 22, 2002, the veteran is on top of the NASCAR world.
When informed that he was the points leader Sunday night, a humble, but happy Martin said, "That's really cool. This team is awesome. It's just great working with the guys on the U.S. Army team and the guys at Ginn Racing. We've had cars good enough to win in both of the first two races and that really says a lot about this organization and where it is going. We still have a long way to go, but we sure are off to a great start."
"It's really just been an awesome experience," added Martin. "I'm rolling and I'm having the time of my life." The plan is for Martin to run the next two races at Las Vegas and Atlanta, before giving way to rookie Regan Smith at the Bristol Race. Many question the validity of that plan given Martin's early success this season. One of the doubters is Martin's former teammate at Roush Racing -- Matt Kenseth, who is rumored to have a $200 bet that Martin will run a full season , rather than scale back.
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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