TEXAS – “I’ve always loved Texas Motor Speedway for a lot of reasons. I’ve always run pretty well there. We won there in 1998 and had good runs most of the time. That’s been in both Sprint Cup and Nationwide racing. For some reason I just like racing there. It’s fast and will be again this weekend with the new cars. Should be a heck of a show. The track does it up right every race and this weekend will be no different. Bruton (Smith) and Eddie (Gossage) do a great job with that track. It seems every year we go back they have something new and better. They really think of the fans.”
BATESVILLE, ARK. – “The track is about 450 miles from Batesville so I’ve had a lot of support at Texas. When I walk by the fence going out to qualify or in driver introductions I hear from them. I know Saturday we have a few hospitality visits and things like that going on. It’s good. The fans are real enthusiastic down there.”
WORKING WITH MULTI-DRIVER TEAMS— “From my standpoint, it has worked well because I’ve worked with people that embraced it — Tony Gibson and all the guys on that team — Ryan Pemberton and all the guys on that team. Rodney (Childers, 55 crew chief) and all his guys at the 55 — Rodney gave his guys the opportunity to move to a different car when they found out that I was going to do a limited schedule or a split season. Everyone at the 55 made the choice — they wanted to be there. It’s worked really, really well. It’s fun, it’s comfortable — we’ve had great results. They were in contention to win with all three drivers last year. I certainly think that how you approach it and if you approached it with a negative attitude then I don’t think it would work at all. I think it’s important from that standpoint for everyone to be on board.”
NOTES
· TEXAS: In 24 Sprint Cup starts at Texas, Martin owns one victory (1998) and eight top-five finishes. He’s led 208 laps.
· MARK MARTIN FAN APPECIATION DAY: Martin will hold the ninth annual Mark Martin Fan Appreciation Day on May 4 at Mark Martin Ford and Museum in Batesville, Ark. Joining Martin this year is seven-time champion and NASCAR’s winningest driver Richard Petty. Martin will begin signing autographs at 9 a.m. with Petty joining at noon. Both will appear on stage for a question and answer session after the autographs. Fan Appreciation Day will also include a live Sirius broadcast, race cars and tours of the museum. For more information go to www.markmartinmuseum.com
· WINS: Martin owns 40 Sprint Cup, 49 Nationwide and seven Camping World Truck Series victories. He’s led 12,856 laps in Sprint Cup competition. Martin has started 859 Sprint Cup races, 236 Nationwide races and 25 truck events. He also owns 13 IROC wins in 47 starts.
· POLES: Martin owns five poles in 28 races with MWR. He is seventh on the all-time pole list with 56 poles including one in 2013 at Phoenix.
· INSIDER PROGRAM: Michael Waltrip Racing launched its Insider Program in 2013 that offers all race fans sponsor discounts, specials on merchandise, exclusive pictures and video content plus fan giveaways throughout the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Fans can access the MWR Insider Program through the CardStar application available on most smartphones. MWR will work on behalf of the fans to expand the offerings beyond just its current sponsor line-up, aggregating industry-wide deals and discounts. Fans can text MWR to 42828 to get the card for free. Offers include free headset with rental of a FanVision unit ($19.99 value) and 25% off Toyota Racing merchandise at ToyotaRacing.com.
· No. 55 DRIVERS: Martin will drive the No. 55 in 24 races, Brian Vickers in nine races and Michael Waltrip in three races.
· FOLLOW NO. 55 ON TWITTER
@55markmartin
@brianlvickers
@mw55
@rchilders55
@mwrteam
@mwrgirls
@aaronssports
@toyotaracing
· PIT CREW
Crew Chief – Rodney Childers
Car Chief – Steve Channing
Front Changer – Ryan Langley
Rear Changer – Shannon Myers
Front Carrier – Chris Hall
Rear Carrier – Mark Kennerly
Jackman – Tony Cardamone
Gas man – Brian Dheel
2nd Gas Man- Josh Galloway
Spotter – Jeremy Brickhouse
Engineer – Billy Scott
2nd Engineer – Scott McDougall
Tires – Kevin White
Eng.Tuner- Denny Chandler (TRD)
Shocks – Mike (Nook) McCarville
Interior/7th man- Jacen Johns
Truck Driver – Glenn Shano
2nd Truck Driver – John Murphy
Pit Coach – Greg Miller
Dir. Race Engineering—Chad Walter
Ex. VP Engineering- Nick Hughes
Ex. VP Comp.—Scott Miller
· DRIVER SCHEDULE
4/21 Kansas Martin
4/27 Richmond Martin
5/5 Talladega Waltrip
5/11 Darlington Martin
5/18 All-Star Martin
5/26 Charlotte Martin
6/2 Dover Martin
6/9 Pocono Martin
6/16 Michigan Martin
6/23 Sonoma Vickers
6/29 Kentucky Vickers
7/6 Daytona Waltrip
7/14 Loudon Vickers
7/28 Indy Martin
8/4 Pocono Martin
8/11 The Glen Vickers
8/18 Michigan Martin
8/24 Bristol Vickers
9/1 Atlanta Martin
9/7 Richmond Martin
9/15 Chicago Martin
9/22 Loudon Vickers
9/29 Dover Martin
10/6 Kansas Martin
10/12 Charlotte Martin
10/20 Talladega Waltrip
10/27 Martinsville Vickers
11/3 Texas Martin
11/10 Phoenix Martin
11/17 Homestead Martin
