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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, November 22, 2008 NASCAR notes: Martin could give his new Hendrick team an edge Also items on Bobby Labonte and Rick Hendrick By Mike Harris Associated Press Alan Gustafson figures there is at least one way to legally circumvent NASCAR's 2009 testing ban, at least partially. No, the crew chief for the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet isn't talking about private tests at non-NASCAR-sanctioned tracks. His not-so-secret weapon is longtime NASCAR star Mark Martin. Martin, who will turn 50 on Jan. 9, will replace Casey Mears in the fourth Hendrick entry in 2009, joining three-time reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time title winner Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the fans' favorite, as part of the elite team. Both Martin and Hendrick have made it clear that the longtime Cup star is returning to full-time status after two years of running partial schedules to try to get a championship. Martin has finished second four times. With the testing ban, the timing of Martin's return couldn't have been better, as far as Gustafson is concerned. "Going through tough economic times like this, there's no driver I'd rather be working with than Mark Martin and no owner I'd rather be with than Rick Hendrick — he's going to make the right moves," Gustafson said last week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "And Mark's so good in the car, he's had so much experience and seen so many things, that he's kind of like having a 130-pound data acquisition setup in our car. "He's going to be a big help to the 5 team and he'll be a big help to all of Hendrick Motorsports." Gustafson got a sample of what Martin can bring to a team when the veteran racer tested in the No. 5 Nationwide car this fall. "He's so perceptive and understands the cars and how they work, the suspension, the tires, what line he needs to be on. Eventually, everybody gets there, but he gets it just like that," the crew chief said, snapping his fingers. "The minute he runs a corner he knows it, so it gets you five minutes ahead or 10 minutes ahead. There's nobody I'd rather be working with." As far as running private tests, Gustafson isn't so sure that's a good idea — even if he is with a team that can afford to do them. "We've kind of been through this a little bit before," he said. "The way that NASCAR tried to monitor it or regulate it before was to eliminate the use of tires that you would use at Homestead, or Texas or Phoenix, or wherever you choose. So we had to have alternate sources for tires, and everything we do goes to the tires, so that was really a tough thing for us. "We never got a tire that worked well. We ended up making the cars worse, spent a lot of money and a lot of time going the wrong way. From that experience, if you're not going to gain anything out of it, or you can't correlate the loads or the tires doing it, you're really not going to do yourself any favors." Gustafson said there might still be some private testing for specific purposes. "You can go to Greenville-Pickens (in South Carolina) and test brakes, and you can go to Road Atlanta and shake down your road course car, I think that stuff's going to go on and there's some other places you're going to have that happen," he said. "But, just to go test for the sake of testing, I don't see that happening. I don't see an owner out here, or anybody out here in this economy, that's got the money to go do that. "So you've got to be smart. I want to put that money to good use. I don't want to waste money just to say I'm out there testing." UNMATCHED CHAMP: While Jimmie Johnson has now matched Cale Yarborough's record of three straight Cup titles, and Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt both hold a record seven championships, there is still at least one title winner in NASCAR with an unmatched record. Bobby Labonte remains the only driver in NASCAR history to have won titles in both Cup (2000) and the second-tier Nationwide Series (1991). "I have to consider that one of the highest honors of my career," Labonte said. "I mean, no one else has done it. "There have been a lot of great drivers that have competed in both series and I'm sure someone will join me eventually. Carl (Edwards) is coming closer and closer every year. I'm beginning to feel like the '72 Dolphins." Edwards won the Nationwide championship in 2007 and came close to repeating in that series and beating out Johnson for the Cup title this year. But the Roush Fenway Racing driver came up 21 points short in Nationwide and 69 short in Cup. When Labonte won his title in what was then the Busch Series, it was truly a feeder series for Cup. "Back then we were guys hoping to make it," Labonte said. "I owned my own team and really enjoyed racing against Chuck Bown and Rob Moroso and Kenny Wallace. Those are some of the best memories I have. We would really get after it. I learned so much during those years." Labonte still occasionally races in the Nationwide Series, but he concentrates most of his efforts on driving the No. 43 Dodge for Petty Enterprises. The younger brother of two-time Cup champion Terry Labonte finished 21st in the 2008 season standings in Cup. A LITTLE HELP: Rick Hendrick, one of the biggest car dealers in the United States, as well as owner of a race team that has won eight of the last 12 Cup championships, has issued a plea for support of a government bailout of struggling General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. "The Big Three are the back of our country," said Hendrick, whose team races Chevrolets. "With nearly 7,000 people working at Hendrick Motorsports and Hendrick Automotive Group alone, I see their impact firsthand. "The manufacturers play an irreplaceable role in the global economy and support millions of Main Street American jobs. I feel responsible to those people and their families, and our leaders in Washington should, too." STAT OF THE WEEK: Despite Johnson's championship run and the early season heroics of Kyle Busch, it was Carl Edwards who wound up with the best overall statistics in the Cup series in 2008. Edwards had series highs of nine victories, 19 top-fives and 27 top-10s. Johnson wasn't far behind, with seven wins, 15 top-fives and 22 top-10s. But Johnson only had one race in which he failed to finish, while Edwards failed to finish twice. And Johnson also outstripped his closest pursuer in bonus points — five for each race he led and five for each race in which he led the most laps — 195-130. Busch, who stumbled badly in the 10-race Chase for the championship and wound up 10th in the points, finished with eight victories, 17 top-fives, 21 top-10s and 155 bonus points. He failed to finish two races. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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