Martin expected to drive for Hendrick next season
News conference scheduled for Friday at Daytona
By Sporting News Wire Service
July 1, 2008
11:51 PM EDT
Hendrick Motorsports is expected to announce Friday at Daytona International Speedway that Mark Martin will drive its No. 5 Chevrolet next season.
Hendrick Motorsports on Tuesday issued a media advisory that it would conduct a news conference Friday afternoon at the track to announce who will replace Casey Mears in the No. 5 car.
Martin has been talking with HMS about driving full time or part time for the team next year and will be part of the announcement, sources confirm. Although Martin has said in previous weeks he wanted to continue with a partial schedule, sources indicated he might run a full season for Hendrick.
Before the June 22 race at Infineon Raceway, team owner Rick Hendrick would not confirm nor deny that he had discussed with Martin the possibility of his driving for the team.
Martin has driven a part-time schedule the past two years after spending 19 seasons driving for team owner Jack Roush. Martin, 49, is scheduled to drive in 26 events this year for Dale Earnhardt Inc. while Aric Almirola fills out the remainder of the schedule in the No. 8 car.
Almirola will drive the No. 8 car full time for DEI next season, the team announced Tuesday.
UPS to #07? UPDATE: hearing UPS could move #07-Clint Bowyer of Richard Childress Racing, if os, no word where Jack Daniel's sposnorship would go, or if they would leave the sport.(7-1-2008)
UPDATE Among the hot but unconfirmed rumors making the rounds in the Sprint Cup garage this week are that Richard Childress Racing will land UPS as a sponsor for Clint Bowyer’s #07 Chevrolet. Multiple sources indicated that Bowyer’s car was the favorite to take the sponsorship over from Michael Waltrip Racing and David Reutimann. One source close to the negotiations said RCR initially offered UPS #31-Jeff Burton, 41, but the delivery company wanted a younger driver with whom it could create a long-term identity and Bowyer is just 29. Burton, instead, will be sponsored next year by Caterpillar.(SPEEDtv)(7-6-2008) Comment here
UPDATE: Tony Stewart is expected to announce a 2009 move to Haas-CNC Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in three weeks. Reliable sources tell Sirius Speedway that Stewart will also announce sponsorship from Office Depot and Old Spice as part of a new, multi-year package with Haas CNC, and that Penske Racing’s Ryan Newman will join him as a teammate, with sponsorship from Jack Daniels. That surprise move comes as the result of an enviable situation at Richard Childress Racing, which now has five potential sponsors for next season, and only four teams. Sirius Speedway has learned that UPS will move from Michael Waltrip Racing’s #44 Toyota to the quarterpanels of Clint Bowyer’s #07 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in 2009, leaving Jack Daniels in search of a new driver. That driver will be Newman, who is set to sign-on with Stewart at Haas CNC.(Sirius NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway)(7-7-2008)
Mears or Stremme to the #12? It appears to be a two-man race for Ryan Newman’s soon-to-be-vacant [#12] seat at Penske Racing, with Casey Mears and David Stremme in the running. Stremme is making a strong bid for the ride, doing yeoman work as Penske Racing’s test driver this season. In fact, Stremme’s name is being linked with as many as three different Cup openings next year.(Sirius NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway)(7-7-2008)
Truex to re-sign with DEI? Mark Martin’s new deal with Hendrick Motorsports will make it much easier for DEI to re-sign #1-Martin Truex Jr. Early Sunday morning, sources close to Truex Jr. said Martin’s release from the team at the end of the 2009 season would free up more than $8 million dollars. That money now appears to be spearheaded for Truex Jr. DEI has said they have an option on Truex Jr for 2009, an option that Truex Jr has discounted. Mark Martin was being paid more than $8 million dollars to drive part-time according to sources within the DEI organization. Now that Martin has agreed to terms with Hendrick Motorsports to drive the #5 car full-time next season and part-time in 2010, this money has become available for Truex Jr. Sources said DEI and Truex Jr. are closer than ever to announcing a contract extension that would lock in the New Jersey native through 2012 in the #1 car.(Captain Thunder Racing)(7-8-2008)
UPDATE: Tony Stewart is expected to announce a 2009 move to Haas-CNC Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in three weeks. Reliable sources tell Sirius Speedway that Stewart will also announce sponsorship from Office Depot and Old Spice as part of a new, multi-year package with Haas CNC, and that Penske Racing’s Ryan Newman will join him as a teammate, with sponsorship from Jack Daniels. That surprise move comes as the result of an enviable situation at Richard Childress Racing, which now has five potential sponsors for next season, and only four teams. Sirius Speedway has learned that UPS will move from Michael Waltrip Racing’s #44 Toyota to the quarterpanels of Clint Bowyer’s #07 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in 2009, leaving Jack Daniels in search of a new driver. That driver will be Newman, who is set to sign-on with Stewart at Haas CNC.(Sirius NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway)(7-7-2008)
Well congrats Tony. You just killed any chance of winning another championship.
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