As a famous, or is it infamous, movie once proclaimed: “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”
Or, it’s not over ‘til the fat lady sings.
However, the time is drawing short for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers to solidify their spots in the top 12 in points to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Clint Bowyer is in, and Mark Martin and Jamie McMurray are looking to find a way to take Bowyer’s spot.
Martin and the GoDaddy.com team haven't been able to duplicate the success of their 2009 campaign
After Bristol, McMurray, the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 winner, sits 102 points back of 12th-place Bowyer. Martin is one point behind McMurray, 103 markers back of Bowyer. Only one man can make the 12 car field, and odds are strong that Bowyer will lock up the final spot.
“We’ve got two races to go,” Bowyer said on Saturday night. “Two good racetracks. I love Atlanta – run well there – and I love Richmond –run well there. With any luck at all, we'll be in this thing.”
And while most signs point toward the top 12 being safe and set, McMurray knows that a lot can happen in the final two races at Atlanta and Richmond. “Two races left, a lot can happen,” he said.
For Mark Martin fans this year has been a disappointment, and although many fans noticed that Martin’s performance had been lacking earlier in the season due to changes at Hendrick Motorsports, it took many more months until Jenna Fryer, of the AP, noted it in a Yahoo! Sports column.
Whatever the reason for Martin’s decline, the end result will be nothing like his five-win campaign of 2009. And although McMurray will be completely satisfied with missing the Chase, as he said after winning the Brickyard 400 one month ago, Martin and his team don’t deserve to miss out this year.
McMurray (third from left) noted after winning the Brickyard 400 that, "Everyone wants to make the Chase. Getting to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 means more to me this year than making the Chase. This year or in 10 years, the guy that won that race one time everybody will talk about. The guy that finished third in the points, nobody cares.”
Maybe it’s time to look forward to his last shot in the No. 5 car in 2011. Maybe by then the ship will be righted at HMS, and Mark Martin will be able to contend like he did in 2009.
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