Mark Martin Returns to Full Time Racing For Hendrick Motorsports
After two years of semi-retirement. Today Mark Martin has announced his plans to return to full time racing for Hendrick Motorsports. He will be running for a chance to win the championship next year.
Martins signed a two year deal with Hendrick. This will keep him in the 5 car until 2011. 2009 will be a full year of driving. While 2010 will be a shared ride year with a new driver to be named later.
Martin will be teaming up with four time champion Jeff Gordon, two time champion Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Martin will be taking over the number 5 car from Casey Mears.
I wish Mark the best of luck in his efforts to win a championship.
Darlington has received the nickname of "Too Tough To Tame" and "The Lady in Black" for a reason.
This Southern Lady loves to tease a suitor (driver) into thinking they are taming her. And just when that suitor (driver) thinks he has the Lady on his side, she reaches out and slaps him into the wall.
Photo by AP Photo/Virginia Postic
This lady does not care who she slaps. Whether he is the points leader, a veteran, the current champion or a young rookie. If she feels that you are getting to confident in your run. She will put you into the wall.
This year the lady has a new shiny surface. She is looking alot better than she has in years. Though she is looking alot better, she still has the same old attitude.
Granted her surface is alot kinder to the tires. But her curves (turns) are still very hard on all those suitors (drivers).
Every race there is usually one suitor (driver) who treats her like a true Southern Lady and she in returns allows him to be victorious.
Last night in the Nationwide race there was many who thought they had this savvy old Southern Lady on their side. But there is only one she had taken a shine too. (Could it be because he said on his radio show* on Tuesday, that he likes older women? lol)
She was courting him all the way to Victory Lane. She took care of any of his opponents who might try to steal away his thunder.
Some she didn't allow to even get into the show: Denny Hamlin. Others she allowed to make it. But when they got too close to her suitor, she used her turns and walls to slap them out of the race: Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Mark Martin were just among of the few of the suitors she took care of.
Last night her chosen suitor was the driver of the #20 Old ####e Toyota Camry, Tony Stewart. Many times before he had tried to charm this lady. But each time she chose someone else.
But last night Smoke wooed this lady and she liked the way he treated her. And she allowed him to be the Victor of her.
But this lady is fickle, like most Southern ladies. She likes to be the center of attention. And tonight there will be 43 more suitors who will come a calling. Trying to woo her into letting them be the one who stands in Victory Lane.
Smoke will try again tonight to win her heart. Will he be able to charm her once again or will he do something to make her mad? Will someone else be the victor? Only time will tell.
But for at least one night, Tony Stewart won this lady's heart and he stood in Victory Lane. A winner at Darlington.
Update on Father in Law: Things are still pretty much the same. The swelling is becoming more of a problem. His feet are staying swollen all of the time now. His feet look like they could burst. The swelling in his stomach is becoming larger as well. His feet appeared to me today that they looked bluish. But this could have been do the swelling.
But to look at him and hear him, you would think he was doing well. He is still eating well. But we all know that any day things could change for the worse.
He told my husband last week that he was coming home next month. But the doctors are telling him, he will not be coming home again. He needs 24 hour medical care. So today when we went to see him, he was talking as if he realizes know that he is not coming home.
Thank everyone again for all the prayers, kind words and your thoughts. They really do help to get us through these trying times.
I will try and do justice to the rest of the 2006 season. As the first review has shown the first six months of Cup racing was very active. Some of the activities were on the track, some where not.
But I am not sure that anything set off a firestorm like the one that Tony Stewart set off at Pocono in July when he took out Clint Bowyer and innocent bystander Carl Edwards. (Well except the wreck Tony caused with Matt Kenseth at Daytona in February.)
Everyone had their feelings about this one. And I am still not sure that anything was every completely settled between these three men. If these three find themselves in a similar situation in 2007, wonder if anyone will give a little more or if it will be all taking.
SMOKE MISSES THE CHASE THEN GOES ON A TEAR
The unbelievable happened at the fall race in Richmond. Tony Stewart missed the chase by a mear 16 points. Just when the media was starting to say that Tony was going to run and hide, he decides to show why he is the Champion that he is.
Smoke went on to win 3 of the 10 Chase races. Two at tracks in which he has never won at. Smoke might not have been in the chase, but Smoke sure stole the limelight from the Chasers.
2007 should be a fantastic year for Tony Stewart. Don't be surprised if he doesn't walk away with a 3rd championship this year.
DENNY VS. POCONO Denny Hamlin had never seen Pocono (except on a video game) when he first set foot there in June. But to watch this young man on this track, one had to be impressed with his skills as well as his car control and his team's desire to win. This desire was proven by the way they fixed his car after he went spinning through the grass.
It seems that J.D. Gibbs has put together a championship team. Just as his father, Joe, did with both former driver Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart's teams. I see only good things for this young man and his FedEx Team in 2007.
CARL EDWARDS, BAD BOY IN TRAINING? Carl Edwards in 2006 did not have a banner year. He went through the sophmore slump big time. But when you go after the fan favorite, you become NASCAR's Bad Boy in Training.
Just to refresh your memory, Dale Jr. spun Carl Edwards out in the Busch race at Michigan to take the lead. And Edwards retaliated by running into Earnhardt on the ensuing caution lap, which could have been very costly to Jr. For Jr. had his left hand outside of his window netting trying to get some air. When Edwards hit him. Fortunately, Jr.'s window was higher than Carl's front end.
Then Edwards shows how unsportsmanlike he is. He goes into Victory Lane where Jr. is celebrating and confronts Jr. Even Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt never went into victory lane to confront a driver after a race. That is just not done Carl.
So Carl becomes NASCAR's newest Bad Boy in 2006.
MAYFIELD VS. EVERNHAM Not going to take up too much time with this one. This one has been rehashed enough for one year. But the most interesting thing that came out of this to me was that these two were suppose to be really good friends. But yet, they allowed a friendship to be destroyed over what, a young girl? One felt his friend was not paying enough attention to his Cup teams, while the other one felt he was paying enough attention to everything.
But somewhere, along the way, these two forgot one important lesson, Never let a girlfriend get in the way of a friendship. Girlfriends come and go, but friends are forever.
JEFF BURTON ENDS WINLESS STREAK When the last race of September rolled around, Jeff Burton was quietly putting himself in position to end a streak, that had been around since 2001. A winless streak.
Burton finally found himself back in Victory Lane. It was a win that was much welcomed not only by Burton, but by the Cingular team and Richard Childress as well.
CHILDRESS RACING HITS ITS STRIDE Richard Childress Racing was having a banner year in Cup and Busch racing. All three of his drivers were performing very well in both series. Harvick and Burton got wins in the Cup series and all three drivers got wins in the Busch series.
Childress Racing is proving that they have finally pulled themselves up from the disaster that befell them in 2001. They have finally come full circle. They are winning again and they are setting the world on fire. 2007 should be another banner year for Richard Childress Racing.
MARK MARTIN LEAVES ROUSH RACING
This is probably the most shocking news of the 2006 season. Who would have ever thought that Mark Martin would not end his career with Roush Racing.
But Mark shocked the whole racing world with the news that he would return in 2007 to run a limited Cup schedule with MB2 Racing. He will also be running a limited truck schedule for the Woods Brothers.
Mark might be slowing down, but he is still not quiet finished with Cup racing just yet.
FAREWELL TO TEXAS TERRY Terry Labonte raced his last Cup race in Texas on November 5, 2006. The Iceman finally decided to step away from Cup racing for good. Terry will be greatly missed in Cup racing, not only by his fans, but the by the 42 other drivers he raced against.
Terry Labonte was a hard racer, but he was a clean racer. People knew that Terry would not take any #### off anyone, but he also didn't give it. But if you had the nerve to cause him to have a bad day, you had better be sure to come and make amends before the next race. Because the Iceman took names and he didn't mind putting the bumper to anyone he needed to. He wouldn't wreck you, but he would let y ou know he was there and he had your number. Even the legendary Dale Earnhardt knew this.
THE 48 TEAM FINALLY BECOMES CHAMPIONS Well I started this review of the 2006 season with the 48 team and now I am going to end it with the 48 team.
With all the controversy that surrounded this team at the beginning of the year, I would have never thought that they would be champions at the end of the year. But here we are.
They gathered up the pieces of their team in Daytona. Went on to win the Daytona 500, the All-Star Race and The Allstate 400, along with wins at Talladega, Las Vegas and Martinsville.
So the 48 team was the best of the best in 2006. Congratulations for the final time to the 48 team for their championship.
So who will be the best of the best in 2007, well, come February 18, 2007 we will begin to solve that mystery. But unfortunately it will take 36 weeks before we find the answer to that mystery.
So until then rest, your minds. Rest your remote controls. Because Daytona will be here before you can say..."Gentlemen, Start Your Engines".
