NASCAR Cup

Talladega: Martin - Friday media visit

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG'S IMPALA SS, met with members of the media at Talladega Superspeedway and discussed winning at Phoenix, driving for Hendrick Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. TALK ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING A HENDRICK ...

Published: Jun 19, 2009, 7:51 PM

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MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG'S IMPALA SS, met with members of the media at Talladega Superspeedway and discussed winning at Phoenix, driving for Hendrick Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

TALK ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING A HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS DRIVER AND GETTING THE WIN LAST WEEK IN PHOENIX: "Really to have fast cars and have a chance to win. You know, I wasn't sure it would happen, but I hoped it would. Its just been a dream come true man. The opportunity has been great, working with Kellogg's, CarQuest, Chevrolet and everybody from Hendrick Motorsports. Everybody. Its really been special.

It was like icing on the cake. It was already really good but to be able to pull off a win and to really see what it did for the guys that work on the five car, you know, that probably has been the biggest thing to me."

HAVING WORKED CLOSELY WITH DALE JR. AND KNOWING THIS TRACK IS HIS KIND OF PLACE, AND NOW THAT JIMMIE HAS WON, JEFF HAS WON AND NOW YOU HAVE WON, DO YOU THINK IT COMES WITH ADDED PRESSURE FOR HIM? "Oh gosh yeah. But Junior is good at dealing with pressure because he walks around with the weight of NASCAR on his shoulders every day. I really admire Junior for the enormous load that he carries gracefully all the time, with this sport. And like I said last weekend there is nobody on the racetrack driving harder than Dale Earnhardt Jr. So when everything lines up for him those guys are going to win and they are going to have a lot of success."

MARK, THREE WINS IN A ROW FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS. CAN YOU ATTRIBUTE THAT TO ANYTHING OR IS IT JUST GOOD TIMING? "Its good timing for us for sure. You know, great teams, great cars, great equipment and excellent team effort through and through."

NOW THAT YOU ARE HEALTHY AGAIN, DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE PHYSICALLY FIT ENOUGH TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP? "I'm not worrying about a championship right now."

YOU HAVEN'T COME TO TALLADEGA THE LAST COUPLE OF TIMES BECAUSE YOU SAID YOU CAN'T CONTROL YOUR FATE. GIVEN THAT THERE ARE SO MANY UNCONTROLLABLE VARIABLES, WHAT MAKES YOU CONFIDENT WHEN YOU COME TO A PLACE LIKE TALLADEGA? "I'm not confident or unconfident. I am happy to be here because we won last week and I am feeling lucky right now and maybe we will win this week too. Who knows. I don't know."

WAS THAT THE BEST VICTORY LAP OF YOUR LIFE? "Well, obviously the first one came twenty years ago so I remember this one quite a bit better than that one for sure. But you know, the victory is great and all but for me it is awesome to just be happy, so happy. I thought I was the happiest man on earth last year, but I'm even more happy this year just working with these guys and getting a chance to work with Hendrick Motorsports and Alan and everybody on the five team and the sponsors. The quality people and the feeling that it gives me of just being a part of this thing is just big."

-credit: gm racing

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