NASCAR veteran Mark Martin may be in his final year with Hendrick Motorsports, but is hardly winding down his career. Martin will race in all three of NASCAR's national series this year, having signed with Turner Motorsports for a limited schedule of Nation Wide and Camping World Truck Series events. Martin will drive Turner's No. 32 in Nationwide races at Las Vegas, Fontana, Michigan and Kentucky, with crew chief Trent Owens calling the shots. He will also drive the No. 32 in Truck Series events at Michigan and Pocono. The team will run Chevy engines built by Hendrick Motorsports, for whom Martin will continue to race in Sprint Cup.
"The races we picked for both series are personal favorites of mine. I've got to get back to Victory Lane in the Dollar General car so I can keep Kyle [Busch] from breaking my Nationwide record," quipped Martin."I'm excited to be running back in the Nationwide and Truck Series again. Everyone at Dollar General and Turner Motorsports has been great and I'm looking forward to hitting the track with them next year. Working with Turner, I get to extend my relationship with Chevrolet and continue to have Hendrick horsepower under the hood, which is really, really good."
Martin brings unparalleled experience to Turner. With a career spanning 30 years, he has 40 victories in 794 Sprint Cup Series starts, holds the Nationwide records for most victories (48) and most poles (30), and has seven victories in 23 Truck starts.
Team owner Steve Turner said the experience that Martin brings with him raises his expectations for his organization in 2011.
"We are thrilled to announce the addition of Mark Martin to our stable of drivers," Turner said. "Mark shares my same passion for helping groom young talent and has expressed interest in helping us get our young drivers to the Cup level. I can't think of a better mentor than Mark Martin."