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 thing we wanted to do
was affect a car in the Chase,'' said Philippe Lopez, competition
director for Hall of Fame Racing, the team owned by former Dallas
Cowboys quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach.
While the extensive cosmetic damage on the left side of Raines'
No. 96 Chevrolet can be fixed, the front right of Martin's No. 6
Ford was a mangled mess.
``It would be tough to fix,'' said Pat Tryson, Martin's crew
chief. ``It wouldn't be so bad if it was just racing, but when
somebody is trying to come on pit road and they're not on the bottom
and they turn into you, it's pretty sad.''
Martin had hopes of winning his first Cup title in what could be
his final season of full-time racing. He is eighth in the Chase, 201
points behind Matt Kenseth, after being involved in a crash with 15
laps left at Atlanta last week to finish 36th. He'll start at the
back of the field in Texas in the Dickies 500.
