Mark Martin News

Mark Martin had nowhere to go, and now he'll have to drive a backup car Sunday at Texas. Martin's primary car was wrecked in the final NASCAR Nextel Cup practice Saturday when he was hit by the car of Tony Raines, who had got loose in Turn 4 and was trying to get to the pits. He drove into Martin, who was trying to pass and couldn't escape contact. ``It's unfortunate for Mark, and the last ...

Mark Martin is the most pessimistic driver in the NASCAR Nextel Cup garage. Through a career that has seen many successes, including four runner-up finishes but no championships, Martin always has been quick to bemoan his fate and accept the downside of the sport. Last Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Martin was taken out by rookie J.J. Yeley, who suddenly darted from the middle of the track toward pit ...

David Ragan was tabbed by Roush Racing on Wednesday to replace Mark Martin in the No. 6 Ford next season. ``David is a driver with outstanding talent and as a result of his actions, he is the young man I selected to fill the seat,'' team owner Jack Roush said. ``The No. 6 is obviously a very special car to me personally, and to this organization, and we are confident ...

Amid distressing news of layoffs, buyouts and factory closings, the Ford brand also is taking hits at the race track these days. Even longtime Ford driver Mark Martin is ditching the Dearborn, Mich., company to drive a Chevrolet in 2007. That leaves the Ford teams in NASCAR _ already smaller in number than the dominating Chevrolet teams _ with precious few big names and lots of question marks just as ...

The announcement on Friday that Mark Martin will move from his longtime home at Roush Racing to a partial Cup schedule with MB2 Motorsports next season was a shocker for many people. But the man who will sign Martin's checks next season, new principal owner Bobby Ginn, said the move just made sense for a team that is trying to move from also-ran to contender. ``It takes time,'' said Ginn, who will change the name of the team ...

Mark Martin won the inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, coming back from a lap down and holding on after series leader Todd Bodine was penalized for passing illegally nine laps from the end. The 94-lap race on the 2.66-mile oval was just as competitive as expected, with plenty of three- and four-wide racing and the outcome in doubt until half a lap from the end when Mike Skinner, just in front ...

A year ago, Mark Martin saw his hopes for a Cup championship all but blink out when he got caught up in a multicar crash just 19 laps into the UAW-Ford 500. He fell from fourth place to ninth in the standings and never got back into the title hunt. That was no surprise to Martin, who liked racing at Talladega a whole lot more before the late '80s, when NASCAR began using carburetor restrictor plates ...

Mark Martin will leave Roush Racing at the end of this season to drive a partial NASCAR Nextel Cup schedule for MB2 Racing, The Associated Press learned Thursday night. Team owner Jack Roush, who has fielded a Ford for Martin in NASCAR's top series since 1988, will make the announcement Friday morning at Talladega Superspeedway, according to a source who asked that he not be identified because all details of the deal have not been finalized. MB2 general ...

Despite having more than a few grey hairs, he still has some competitive gas left in his tank. And his wishy-washy musings about retirement are becoming an annual tradition. Mark Martin, it seems, is becoming NASCAR's Brett Favre. Will he retire? Will he come back? And does his team really want him back? For football fans in Wisconsin, these questions have become as much a part of winter as snowmobiling ...

Mark Martin wants to retire. No, wait, that was last year. Martin wants to only race in the truck series and forget about Nextel Cup. Scrap that. Martin wants to race in trucks and run a limited Cup schedule as long as can run in a competitive car. Close. Martin, sixth in the standings and making a strong run at his first NASCAR championship, said Friday that's he's not closing ...