 | | Mark Martin could be Jack Roush's wild card this weekend in the O'Reilly 300 at Texas. Credit: Autostock |
By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM
April 7, 2006
10:07 AM EDT (14:07 GMT)
Mark Martin is jumping back into the Busch Series this weekend, making his first start of the 2006 season in Saturday's O'Reilly 300 (3 p.m. ET, FOX). That may have some people worried. He's sitting pretty as the second-place man in the Cup Series standings, having run consistently enough without winning to be just 59 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, who has two victories. In the Truck Series, Martin is leading the points. He won the first two races, finished second at Atlanta and then ran fourth at Martinsville. But the Busch Series -- that's been Martin's baby. He's the all-time leader in victories (47, if you're counting). And heading to Texas, he's the only driver with three victories at the speedway, having taken the checkered flag in 1997, 1999 and 2000. Remember, he's only run five races there. "I'm excited about going to Texas anytime," said Martin, who qualified fourth in the No. 6 Ford. "It is a great track. I also have a strong fan base there since it is the closest track to my home in Arkansas." Team owner Roush would agree that Texas is great. Like most places the series goes, he's had success there. His cars have won four Busch races and 10 overall. He's making sure there's a good chance he'll be in Victory Lane this weekend, too, no matter the driver. Roush is fielding six cars Saturday: Martin, Todd Kluever, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Danny O'Quinn Jr. and Carl Edwards. His other Cup driver, Jamie McMurray, is also in the field, except he's driving for Rusty Wallace's team. Pretty good odds Saturday will be a decent payday for Roush, especially considering three of his drivers qualified in the top 10. But a posse of other cowboys will be trying to aim their horses in the right direction this weekend -- some of them for the first time. Kurt Busch will don the yellow stripe Saturday as he'll be making his first start in the Busch Series in the No. 39 Dodge that Ryan Newman has frequently driven. The 2004 Cup Series champion completely bypassed the series after jumping from Trucks to Cup in 2001. "I really don't know what to expect, but I'm really looking forward to it," said Busch, whose first time driving a Busch car was Thursday. "I've been told that the way those cars drive falls somewhere in between a Cup car and an IROC car. I guess we'll see if that holds true this weekend." One thing he could do is take notes from his younger brother, Kyle. At Atlanta three weeks ago -- a track that is mirrored by Texas' 1.5-mile configuration -- Kyle Busch had a couple of solid practices, put his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the pole and was cruising out front for 25 laps. Then on Lap 38, he cut a tire, smacked the wall and limped home to a 40th-place finish. But it didn't diminish the strength of his car, so the team is bringing the same chassis to Texas. "It, of course, has a whole new side because of the blown tire we had 38 laps into the race [at Atlanta]," Kyle Busch said. "The car was just as fast to finish the race, so we're excited about this weekend at Texas." With the schedule sandwiching the nearly identical tracks around Bristol, where the younger Busch came out victorious, there's reason to be excited. Kyle Busch's track record there doesn't hurt things, either. Two years ago, he won the pole, led 147 laps and finished second. In last fall's race, he was fifth. On Saturday, he'll have his work cut out -- he qualified 33rd. "Everyone in the shop is pumped up about Texas," said Chad Walter, Busch's crew chief. "I think we have a great shot at winning there, and judging from the team's performance in Atlanta, we should be a frontrunner." | 
