USA TODAY International Edition
Martin retirement off, to keep racing in 2006
Mark Martin talked of retirement all season. But Thursday his Roush Racing team said he will drive in 2006.
Martin had accepted that he’d probably have to race next season but had held out faint hope that Roush could 0 nd a suitable replacement for him in the No. 6 Ford. With time running
out, Roush locked in Martin to
return for a 19th season.
Todd Kluever, who drives
for Roush i n the N ASCAR
truck series, will replace Martin in 2007. AAA, a new company to NASCAR, will replace
Viagra as sponsor of the car.
Jamie McMurray
was
originally tabbed to replace
Martin but has been unable to
gain an early release from his
contract with Chip Ganassi
Racing. When he does, he will
replace reigning Nextel Cup
champion Kurt Busch in the
No. 97 Ford at Roush.
Busch is scheduled to drive
for Penske Racing in 2007, but there’s still a long shot possibility that Ganassi, Penske and Roush can come to an agreement that permits the drivers to swap teams at the end of this year.
Considered one of the best drivers to never win a championship, Martin has 0 nished second a heartbreaking four times in the title chases. He has won 35 times and has started 577 consecutive Cup races.
“ I love my team and Jack Roush too much to leave them with a total empty hole for 2006,” Martin said of his decision to return to the team he co- founded.
uAtlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday hosts the Pro Bass Shops MBNA 500, the seventh race in the 10- race Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. Sections of the grandstand and luxury boxeswere shredded when hit July 6 by a tornado spun off from Tropical Storm Cindy. “ Every single thing on our property, with the exception of the racetrack, had some damage,” track President Ed Clark says. They brought in more than 1,000 workers and completed $40 million in repairs and improvements in time for thisweekend’s races. Mark Martin and Kurt Busch, who tested at the track last week, “ asked us to tell them exactly what was damaged, because they couldn’t tell,” Clark says. “ That’s as good a compliment aswe could have.” Martin: No ready replacement on Roush team.
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