CORNELIUS, N.C. — If you are a fan of Mark Martin then now is your chance to meet the future Hall of Famer. In two of the next three weeks, the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver will spend several hours signing autographs.
Martin will join Michael Waltrip and Clint Bowyer at the grand opening of Clint Bowyer’s Autoplex in Emporia, Kan. 4-6 p.m. Thursday.
Martin then holds his ninth annual fan appreciation event on May 4 at his Batesville, Ark. car dealership and museum.
Seven-time Sprint Cup Champion Richard Petty joins Martin this year. 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
JOINING BOWYER IN KANSAS: “I’ve never been to Emporia, Kansas so I’m looking forward to going out there to see what all Clint has going on I know he’s really proud to have a Toyota dealership. He used to work there so it is one of those cool stories of starting out at the bottom and working your way to the top. We have a lot of fun together and add in Michael Waltrip and who knows what will happen.”
MARTIN ON FAN APPRECIATION DAY: “This is our ninth year doing it and I’m really excited because we have The King (Richard Petty) coming to join us this year. That’s about as big as it gets. Like everyone else, Richard has always been one of my heroes. I would never imagine Richard would someday come to my fan event and museum. I think that fans will be as excited as I am having him join all of us.
“We’ll do autographs, question and answers, and just have a fun time. It seems like this deal gets better and better every year. I like giving back to the fans and this is our biggest event of the year to give back. We have a lot of stuff at the museum that I think both new and longtime NASCAR fans or fans of any racing would enjoy.”
KANSAS: “Kansas is a great place. It’s almost like a home track because I raced so much up in Springfield (Mo.) and I-70 Speedway and around there, so we should have a lot of charged-up fans. We were a step off in Texas, but we’ll get that back this weekend in Kansas.”
NOTES
· KANSAS: In 14 Sprint Cup starts at Kansas, Martin owns one victory (2005) and five top-five finishes. He’s led 212 laps.
· AARON’S DISPLAY AT KANSAS: Martin will appear at the Aaron’s display at 8:55 a.m. Sunday
· CHASSIS: 765 Backup 720
· 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 860 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 29 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.
· WALTRIP ON TRACKSIDE: Michael Waltrip along with the MWR Girls will appear on Saturday’s edition of Trackside on SPEED-TV at 8 p.m. The show will air an MWR shop tour by Waltrip and a feature on crewmember Christmas Abbott.
· 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
4/27 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
