You'd have to look long and hard within the NASCAR Sprint Cup garages to find a more respected driver than Mark Martin. There come and go many a driver thru the ranks of NASCAR's elite division, but few have made the mark this Mark has so eloquently and admirably, engraved in our sport.

Born January 9th, 1959, Mark Anthony Martin was meant to race. The 1977 ASA Rookie of the Year, Five time IROC Series Champion, Forty Eight time Nationwide Series winner {a record that still stands tall today}, Thirty Five time NASCAR Sprint Cup Winner, Runner-up to the Sprint Cup title four times; 1990, 1994, 1998 and most recently in 2002,... Martin's accomplishments have been equaled or bettered by only a few.

Like a lot of successful athletes in all walks of sporting history, he's tried a few times to walk away, even had a much ballyhooed goodbye and farewell tour a few years back. One would think Martin would speak the same words of HBO's storied mobster, Tony Soprano .... "Just when I thought I had finally gotten out, they reeled me back in." Not the case here with MM. Martin's come back to the sport full time, because he's wanted to.

The last few years, he's gotten a chance to run part time schedules in some good equipment which first seemed to be a convenient way to keep solidly involved and still in love with what he's done best for the last 34 years. Now, after an offer to drive full time again from yet another man equally as respected as Martin himself, how could anyone in the garages or in the media rooms not agree that Mark Martin in Rick Hendricks machines with teammates the likes of Johnson, Gordon and Earnhardt Jr., - wouldn't be a match made in heaven ????

I agree wholeheartedly and think this is a fabulous opportunity for the mighty Mark Martin and the Hendrick organization too. Besides performance, with Martin - there comes stability, wisdom, experience and "The Will to Win."

Like everybody else that's been in and around the garages living this NASCAR life over the past few decades watching this guy flex his racing muscles like few others could ever do, I am looking forward to see how another stab at the title shakes out for Martin over the full year in Mr. H's cars. At 50 years old, in spite of being in outstanding shape, my guess is that once we get into the stretch of the schedule that throws 17 weeks in a row at us in the heat of the summer, the kids, although armed with less experience and wisdom, will still prevail over the remaining prowlness of Mr. Mark Anthony Martin.

Yes, experience and wisdom will garner Martin many a good finish, but to me this racing we watch today and the talent level of the kids like; Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards will easily exceed the wisdom. These kids are good, they're very good and Martin knows it. And they........well they know they are in the company of greatness and they are blessed that they will have one last chance to fight him off for their Championship, not his.

Mark Martin will not be your 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, but he will go down as one of the best we've seen. One who was good, he was real good, yet he never managed to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship and that's ok.