Top 20 Countdown: No. 7 Mark Martin (Yahoo! Sports)
January 28, 2010
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(Getty Images) 2009 statistics Finish Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10 2 7 5 14 21 The countdownNo. 20: Martin Truex Jr. | Career statsNo. 19: Brian Vickers | Career statsNo. 18: Kasey Kahne | Career statsNo. 17: Clint Bowyer | Career statsNo. 16: David Reutimann | Career statsNo. 15: Kevin Harvick | Career statsNo. 14: Ryan Newman | Career statsNo. 13: Greg Biffle | Career statsNo. 12: Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Career statsNo. 11: Jeff Burton | Career statsNo. 10: Matt Kenseth | Career statsNo. 9: Juan Pablo Montoya | Career statsNo. 8: Kurt Busch | Career statsNo. 7: Mark Martin | Career statsNo. 6: Revealed Jan. 29
Editor’s note: Yahoo! Sports is counting down the top 20 drivers of the 2010 season. The order was determined by a survey, which asked five NASCAR journalists – Jay Busbee and Jay Hart (Yahoo! Sports); Jenna Fryer (Associated Press); Dustin Long (Landmark Newspapers); and Nate Ryan (USA Today) – to predict the final standings for the 2010 season. The countdown will conclude on Feb. 5 with the unveiling of the No. 1 driver.
2009 finish: 2nd
Our 2010 predictions:
• Jay Busbee: 8th• Jay Hart: 5th• Jenna Fryer: 3rd• Dustin Long: 10th• Nate Ryan: 4th
2010 outlook: What does Mark Martin do for an encore?
Regardless of age, 2009 was one of the best seasons of the then-50-year-old’s 27-year Cup career. He won five races, or one more than he’d won in his previous nine seasons, collected a career-high seven poles, finished second in the standings for a fifth time and overall was really, really, really happy.
He can’t do better, can he? Well, maybe he can.
“I can’t know what the competition is going to do, but I do know that physically I’m better,” Martin said earlier this month. “I am more ready today than I was a year ago right now. I know that my race team is more ready than they were a year ago right now. I know our pit stops are faster than they were a year ago right now. I know that we have a better understanding of our race cars than where we were a year ago right now.
“So those things I do know. I’m not Mr. Optimistic, I’m not Mr. Pessimistic. I’m Mr. Realistic. And realistically speaking, I can’t tell you what the result will be in 2010. But … we are better than we were a year ago. I just don’t know how much better our competition is.”
The one aspect Martin doesn’t have to worry about is the Chase schedule. Like Jimmie Johnson, the playoff schedule sets up well for Martin, who’s won at nine of the 10 Chase tracks.
Assuming he qualifies for the Chase, which wasn’t a slam dunk in 2009 no thanks to a couple of early season blown engines, Martin figures to test Johnson and whoever else is in the hunt. And if he were to win it, at 51, he’d be the oldest Cup champion – by six years.
What you need to know: This will not be Martin’s last Cup season. Just before the ’09 Chase began, Martin signed a contract extension that will keep him with Hendrick Motorsports through 2011.
Jay Hart is the NASCAR editor for Yahoo! Sports. Send Jay a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
