Mark Martin expected his car to be damaged at Talladega, not Charlotte. Credit: Autostock

Martin: Championship not meant to be for me

Veteran suffers first DNF of season, drops to 102 behind leader

CONCORD, N.C. -- On a night when his No. 6 Roush Racing Ford, his body and his hopes in the Chase for the Nextel Cup took a ferocious hit -- all Mark Martin could do was giggle.

Mark Martin ran near the top 10 all night until he tangled with J.J. Yeley and collected Robby Gordon. Credit: Autostock

Bank of America 500 Official Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Kasey Kahne Dodge 2. Jimmie Johnson Chevy 3. Jeff Burton Chevy 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 5. Bobby Labonte Dodge 6. Kyle Busch Chevy 7. Tony Raines Chevy 8. Carl Edwards Ford 9. Joe Nemechek Chevy 10. Brian Vickers Chevy • Complete results, click here • Official standings, click here Victory LaneKasey Kahne celebrates his Bank of America 500 victory Hard HitYeley clips Martin sending him full speed into the wall Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Martin had just exited Lowe's Motor Speedway's infield care center with about 75 laps remaining in the Bank of America 500, to explain the facts and his feelings after he collided with rookie J.J. Yeley exiting Turn 4 and speared the frontstretch wall.

"I'm having fun," Martin said, a crooked, goofy grin on his face. But when he continued, he sang a tune we'd heard many times before from the Arkansas veteran.

"The championship is not really something that was meant for me ever, probably isn't this year and it's not going to get me down," Martin said, going back to grinning. "I'm having a good time -- having a blast."

Martin's remarks and his demeanor caused a media center wag to question whether Martin ought to be checked for a head injury after his vicious Lap 242 crash.

But in fact it was the resolute Martin's way of dealing with his latest frustration, on a night in which he ran in the top 10 for 164 of his 242 laps -- only to end up 30th with a destroyed racecar.

Martin said Yeley tried to get to pit road from "the middle of the racetrack." Even though Yeley -- who fell out of his third consecutive race due to an accident and his sixth of the season -- protested that he was vigorously signaling out his window, Martin said it was a moot point.

"We had brand new tires [and] we were probably coming faster than they knew, or his spotter knew or whatever," Martin said. "We were on brand new tires. Having fun."

Martin said he was trying to follow Roush Racing teammate Matt Kenseth during the green-flag pit cycle and couldn't imagine Yeley was pitting.

"From my viewpoint, he let [Kenseth] pass him on the inside," Martin said. "I was coming too and I didn't know he was gonna pit [because] he was up on top in the middle of the track.

"Usually when I pit, I get on the inside of the racetrack and then come off. It's just one of those things that happens. I thought he was leaving the bottom lane open for the cars that were coming."

Mark Martin, despite his troubles, fell only one spot in the standings. Credit: Autostock

Chase Standings After Lowe's Motor Speedway (5th of 10 races) Pos. +/- Driver Behind 1. -- Jeff Burton Leader 2. -- Matt Kenseth -45 3. +1 Kevin Harvick -89 4. -1 Mark Martin -102 5. +1 D. Earnhardt Jr. -106 6. -1 Denny Hamlin -137 7. +1 Jimmie Johnson -146 8. +1 Kasey Kahne -160 9. +1 Kyle Busch -195 10. -3 Jeff Gordon -216 • Complete standings, click here Race RewindWatch a condensed version of the Bank of America 500! Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836 SUPERSTORE •   2006 Chase driver hats!

"I had my hand as far out the window as I could," Yeley said. "I know everyone is in a rush trying to pick up as much time as you can and that's the downside to running these small fuel cells.

"But at the same time, I've got to try to get in [the pits] as fast as I can. I don't know if he didn't see me or whatever, but I can only wave off so much. I just think he should have run on the outside of me."

The crash ended Martin's league-leading string of 37 consecutive races running at the finish.

On the one hand Martin, who was running in the top 10 when he crashed and unofficially was second in the championship chase, only 23 points behind leader Jeff Burton, is still fourth, 102 points out.

But before he wrecked out, Martin had also unofficially swapped the championship lead with Burton. In the end, he was simply thankful.

"I want to thank [track president] Humpy [Wheeler] and [track owner] Bruton Smith and God for the soft walls," Martin said. "That was a bad one. I wasn't ready to meet my maker tonight."

After the safety workers extricated him from the remains of his car, Martin took a moment to climb on its windowsill and raise both arms in a salute to the frontstretch fans.

"I want to thank all the fans and I thank the team for giving me a pretty good racecar," Martin said a little later, when asked about his early race point swapping with former teammate Burton.

He never frowned, even though his words told a different tale.

"It don't matter," Martin said. "I'm having fun, man. You know, it wasn't meant to be and if it was, I'd already have a Cup. I'm not worried about it. I wasn't before and I'm not now, I'm having fun now."

"I had a better chance before I wrecked. They tell me that a lot of people were having trouble anyway but we didn't need to throw that away. We had a good car and a good run and were having fun and we had an accident."