5 days until the Brickyard 400 There are already numerous parallels between the 2009 Brickyard 400 and the 2010 Brickyard 400 for myself on a personal level. I won two tickets to the ’09 version of the race by listening to a Cincinnati country music station, correctly identifying a song by Luke Bryan (“Do I”). In 2010, Luke Bryan is performing on Saturday at noon in the infield for fans. But will he be singing his newest hit “Rain is a Good Thing” while being drenched by rain?
The forecast calls for a 30 percent chance of precipitation on Saturday, and the temperatures will be through the roof as they normally are for NASCAR’s trip to Indianapolis.
But today’s focus, with just five days remaining until the green flag drops at Indy, is on the driver, car and team that all wear the number 5 on raceday. Mark Martin started on the pole last year, finished second, and looks to improve in 2010.
Like Luke Bryan, “Do I” wish to see Mark Martin improve on the 2009 run? Heck yes.
But this season has been a season of ups and downs for Martin. He started off well, sitting on the pole at Daytona and keeping his nose clean. However, the second half of the opening part of the season has been a downward spiral for the 51-year-old Batesville, Ark., native.
Last year after winning the pole at IMS, he commented, “I can promise you one thing: no matter what, there is nobody in NASCAR having more fun than me. I’m sure about that. Ultimately, that’s really what it’s about.”
This season has been less than fun for Martin, his crew chief Alan Gustafson and his whole team. During the offseason Hendrick Motorsports went through a shakeup of sorts that saw a lead race engineer and a key mechanic from the No. 5 team—who finished second in the points standings last season—to the struggling No. 88 team of Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s most popular driver.
The results have been devastating for Martin. Even though Gustafson blames the midseason slide on his inability to tune the racecar to Martin’s liking after NASCAR made the switch back to the rear spoiler in April, fans and media pundits everywhere have wondered exactly what is holding the No. 5 team back this season.
Jenna Fryer, the Associated Press auto racing writer, commented on this interesting issue a few weeks back. But, she was told by Gustafson that no matter how it seems to outsiders, the shop that houses the 5 and 88 teams is better than it was one year ago.
“If I was somebody who was not involved in this everyday, that is what I would say because that is the most obvious and makes the most sense,” Gustafson said. “I think it’s wrong. I do think our shop has made a net gain, even though we haven’t won any races. The 88 is significantly better than what they were. So I think the team strength is a lot better.”
But for fans of Mark Martin, it’s definitely worse. The 2009 Brickyard 400 was a miracle run for Martin who came up just car lengths short of defeating his teammate Jimmie Johnson (who Martin dubbed, “Superman” after the race). What does 2010 hold in store for the No. 5 team?
If this season is any indication it could be a painful run for the GoDaddy.com sponsored machine, but maybe somehow Rick Hendrick and his teams will pull their brainpower together and find some way to make all four teams run well at Indy this upcoming weekend.
“Crossing the finish line first is very complicated,” Martin said on the Friday before last year’s Brickyard 400. “That’s a very complicated question and I gave you a simple answer. To get there first would be what it takes. That could come in all different sets of circumstances.”
Losing team mechanics was certainly not on the list.
-------------------------------------------------------
Many more posts are on their way to you the readers today. With just five days left until the green flag flies at Indy, I’m getting as fired up as I always do about seeing what I consider the best race on the NASCAR schedule, live in-person.
Chip Ganassi made some interesting comments during yesterday’s teleconference, and I expect to listen in to Jeff Gordon’s teleconference later and get some storylines from that. Keep coming back as we near the weekend for pictures, stories, quotes, opinions and links to my stories on FOX19.com
Thanks for reading.
The forecast calls for a 30 percent chance of precipitation on Saturday, and the temperatures will be through the roof as they normally are for NASCAR’s trip to Indianapolis.
But today’s focus, with just five days remaining until the green flag drops at Indy, is on the driver, car and team that all wear the number 5 on raceday. Mark Martin started on the pole last year, finished second, and looks to improve in 2010.
Like Luke Bryan, “Do I” wish to see Mark Martin improve on the 2009 run? Heck yes.
But this season has been a season of ups and downs for Martin. He started off well, sitting on the pole at Daytona and keeping his nose clean. However, the second half of the opening part of the season has been a downward spiral for the 51-year-old Batesville, Ark., native.
Last year after winning the pole at IMS, he commented, “I can promise you one thing: no matter what, there is nobody in NASCAR having more fun than me. I’m sure about that. Ultimately, that’s really what it’s about.”
This season has been less than fun for Martin, his crew chief Alan Gustafson and his whole team. During the offseason Hendrick Motorsports went through a shakeup of sorts that saw a lead race engineer and a key mechanic from the No. 5 team—who finished second in the points standings last season—to the struggling No. 88 team of Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s most popular driver.
The results have been devastating for Martin. Even though Gustafson blames the midseason slide on his inability to tune the racecar to Martin’s liking after NASCAR made the switch back to the rear spoiler in April, fans and media pundits everywhere have wondered exactly what is holding the No. 5 team back this season.
Jenna Fryer, the Associated Press auto racing writer, commented on this interesting issue a few weeks back. But, she was told by Gustafson that no matter how it seems to outsiders, the shop that houses the 5 and 88 teams is better than it was one year ago.
“If I was somebody who was not involved in this everyday, that is what I would say because that is the most obvious and makes the most sense,” Gustafson said. “I think it’s wrong. I do think our shop has made a net gain, even though we haven’t won any races. The 88 is significantly better than what they were. So I think the team strength is a lot better.”
But for fans of Mark Martin, it’s definitely worse. The 2009 Brickyard 400 was a miracle run for Martin who came up just car lengths short of defeating his teammate Jimmie Johnson (who Martin dubbed, “Superman” after the race). What does 2010 hold in store for the No. 5 team?
If this season is any indication it could be a painful run for the GoDaddy.com sponsored machine, but maybe somehow Rick Hendrick and his teams will pull their brainpower together and find some way to make all four teams run well at Indy this upcoming weekend.
“Crossing the finish line first is very complicated,” Martin said on the Friday before last year’s Brickyard 400. “That’s a very complicated question and I gave you a simple answer. To get there first would be what it takes. That could come in all different sets of circumstances.”
Losing team mechanics was certainly not on the list.
-------------------------------------------------------
Many more posts are on their way to you the readers today. With just five days left until the green flag flies at Indy, I’m getting as fired up as I always do about seeing what I consider the best race on the NASCAR schedule, live in-person.
Chip Ganassi made some interesting comments during yesterday’s teleconference, and I expect to listen in to Jeff Gordon’s teleconference later and get some storylines from that. Keep coming back as we near the weekend for pictures, stories, quotes, opinions and links to my stories on FOX19.com
Thanks for reading.
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