"Mark" Martin's Words? Mr. Consistency Thinking Of Another Season

In 1989, a 30-year-old racing star earned his much anticipated and deserved first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in Rockingham, North Carolina driving the No. 6 Stroh's Light Ford Thunderbird by Jack Roush.

20 years later, that racing sensation, now 50 years young and still competitive as ever, Mark Martin, the man who has repeatedly changed his mind about retiring or racing full-time on the circuit, has been giving it some thought to returning for another round of championship racing in 2010.

A 35-time race winner, Mark Martin, who goes by the nickname "Mr. Consistency," has been off to a slow start in 2009.

Mired in 31st spot in the overall driver's standings, Martin looks to start off a streak of top 10 finishes to shake off the sub-par finishes of the 2009 season.

From a March 20th article written by Bob Pockrass on SceneDaily.com, Martin hinted how racing is what he looks forward to with his immediate future.

"I have looked around, and I have found nothing for the next chapter," Martin said last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"There’s nothing else I want to do. I can be on the beach anywhere in the world today and this is where I want to be.

I’m not ready to quit...I want to do what’s right for everybody.”

Although Martin has not discussed his future plans with car owner Rick Hendrick, the thought of keeping the Batesville, Arkansas native on board for another season seems very enticing for Hendrick or for any car owner.

Per ESPN.com article by David Newton, Rick Hendrick said that Martin has "delivered everything I thought and more."

"He's a huge asset to this company," Hendrick reiterated this past Wednesday.

When sponsors are not as willing to jump on board as willingly as in years past with the economy, a big market name like Martin, who still has some racing "fire" in him, is a viable driver to keep for the foreseeable time.

Known as the best driver who has yet to win a championship, Martin has the numbers of a driver bound for NASCAR's Hall of Fame, finishing runner up in the points standings four times in 1990, 1994, 1998 and most recently in 2002.

Hampered by bad luck in the case of engine failures, accidents, and tire problems, Martin gave a preview to fans of the kind of finishes he could give in a Hendrick car with his 6th place finish at Bristol, Tenn.

However, due to qualifying being rained out on Friday afternoon, Martin and the No. 5 Kellogg's/Carquest Auto Parts team, led by crew chief Alan Gustafson, have their work cut out for them in Sunday's Goody's Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Martin's last five finishes at the famed 0.526 paperclip-shaped oval have not lived up to his famous nickname of being consistent, with showings of 12th, 3rd, 34th, 13th and 24th.

If Martin and crew are looking to climb the ladder of the points standings, solid finishes in the coming weeks must be produced. It started at Bristol with a sixth-place result, but that kind of effort must be duplicated on Sunday if the No. 5 team wants to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

(Sources: http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/Mark_Martin_hasnt_had_talks_about_running_full_2010_season.html and http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4015657)

Other Notes:

Shrubbed? - Since the announcement earlier this month of a US-based Formula 1 team, NASCAR star Kyle Busch, along with 2009 Rookie of the Year candidate Scott Speed and current Richard Petty Motorsports pilot A.J. Allmendinger, were speculated as one of the drivers to be picked to drive for the North Carolina based operation in 2010.

However, an autoracingsport.com article published on March 27th said their sources have ruled out the Las Vegas, Nevada phenom, who has captured two wins this season.

Allmendinger, who previously raced in the Champ Car series from 2004 to 2006, would be a suitable fit for the USF1 team, being a stout performer in the open wheel cars.

Speed, however, did not have the most lucrative of Formula 1 results in 2006 and 2007, with no points to show for in his career with the elite international racing series.

But the fact he has experience in that particular brand of racing, along with his congeniality for sponsorship, particularly with Red Bull, makes him a strong candidate for the new ride.

Along with Allmendinger and Speed, rumors have cropped up that IndyCar icons Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick may be considered for the American team.

(Source: http://autoracingsport.com/nascar/source-allmendinger-and-speed-on-usf1s-short-list-patrick-and-busch-are-not/)