Mark Martin will run for MB2 Motorsports next season. Credit: Autostock

Martin leaves door open for return to Roush

Final race behind wheel of No. 6 Ford -- for now -- is Sunday

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The stark reality -- and finality -- of separation really started to hit Mark Martin on Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

But before the night was over, Martin said he was leaving the book open on possibly returning to Roush Racing.

Next year, Martin will race 20 Nextel Cup points races in Chevrolets for MB2 Motorsports, plus two Cup special events. He'll also race Chevrolets in a partial Busch Series schedule.

He will, he said, maintain a tie to Fords, which he's competed in for the last 19 years for owner Jack Roush, by way of a limited schedule of "five to 10" Craftsman Truck races in F-150s fielded by Wood Brothers/JTG Racing.

	Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
	Inside the Numbers Mark Martin's career stats Series Races W T5 T10 Cup 673 35 234 374 Busch 220 47 104 141 Truck 17 7 11 15 IROC 47 13 37 44

But after he won Friday night's Ford 200 Craftsman Truck Series race in Roush's No. 6 Ford, Martin said who knew what the future would hold?

"This is sweet," Martin said. "Jack and I have done this a lot together and Sunday is our last chance, for a while anyway.

"You never know what'll happen in the future. I've seen a lot of crazy things happen over there."

After that statement, it almost appeared that Roush, who claimed he was unable to provide a schedule in Fords that was acceptable to Martin, was rationalizing his surrogate son's loss to the organization.

"I listen to Mark and I've learned things that sometimes that he says publicly that I haven't heard privately," Roush said. "I would look forward to negotiating with Mark for a return back to the Ford world and Roush Racing for anything that he would be interested in running for a championship [because] he's a championship man.

"But, 19 years we've been doing this in Busch cars, Cup cars -- of course, Cup cars first and then Busch cars and now trucks, and of course, this year it was all three.

"To win the first race for the F-150, to win the last race with the F-150, and to win six races with the No. 6 truck, there's some kind of karma there.

"I'm not sure what all that means, but it's pretty special. Mark is leaving Roush Racing, but he's not leaving Jack as a friend. We'll be friends as long as we live, I'm sure. It was a particular joy that we were able to share that here tonight with our friends from Ford."

Martin is only one of a number of drivers who are competing in their last events -- maybe forever -- with their teams at Ford Championship Weekend just south of Miami, including Casey Mears, Brian Vickers and Travis Kvapil.

But put together, those youngsters' attachments to Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and PPI Motorsports, respectively, don't come close to approximating the affinity, and the accomplishments that Martin has accrued over the last 19 years with Roush.

So it's on Sunday, when Martin straps into his No. 6 Roush Racing Ford for the final time, when the finality of his decision to leave Roush will really start to sink in.

At least you would think so. But Martin said he had "zero" emotion about his last start in the car.

"Instead of being emotional and broken-hearted, I'm more philosophical like, 'This has been awesome,'" Martin said. "It's been great for [Roush], it's been great for me.

"As far as I'm concerned, I'll always be No. 6, and I think a lot of other people will feel the same way.

"Just because I stayed in the 6 car 19 years doesn't make it wrong for me to move on, it just makes it weird [laughing]. It does make it weird, but it doesn't make it a tragedy."

In a career that includes four runner-up points finishes and 16 in the top 10 out of 20 full seasons, Martin hasn't given up on winning one last race in Sunday's Ford 400.

But he said his standing in the points already rates as totally irrelevant.

"Where I'm at the difference between 10th, ninth, eighth and seventh doesn't really rank on the importance list based on the expectations that we've grown to enjoy at the 6 car," Martin said. "We just go and we run our race and we make our best effort."

In the wind-down phase of his career, all Martin said he ever wanted was a chance, and Friday he took a chance to rave about the efforts of crew chief Pat Tryson and his men.

"It's been a long, hard road, and I would have to say, and with Jack's disappointment, maybe in the outcome of our year, one of my proudest moments was with five races to go, we were five points out [of the championship lead]," Martin said. "That was pretty special to me [because] all I wanted was a chance -- and we had a chance and things turned for the worse.

"I'm very proud of the effort that has been made by Roush Racing and especially by the 6 team all three years. The last three years have been phenomenal.

"We won't finish as high in the points this year as we did the other two years, so on paper it may not look as good, but believe me, the effort was spectacular [and] probably better than the last two [seasons]."

There's no question that Martin evokes championship thoughts, even though he's never achieved that ranking in NASCAR.

For years Martin's insisted he would never know when his final parting shot -- or final victory -- would be registered. And he revisited that thought on Friday evening after he won the Ford 200.

It was Martin's sixth truck victory this season, in only 14 starts.

"This is the way we would have wrote it, if we could have wrote a story-book ending to it," Martin said. "It does mean an incredible lot, to give Jack another trophy, but this is a team effort.

"We had huge horsepower under the hood [Friday] with our Roush-Yates power. This is the way to end it up with the 6. It's a good thing that there's a No. 6 on the side of this truck.

"Like I said, we lacked two feet of winning this Cup race last year, and I know that's asking a lot -- but, we still have Sunday night to go."

	Credit: Autostock
	ALSO On the heels of his sixth Truck Series win of the season, Mark Martin has announced that he will run five to 10 Craftsman Truck Series races next year for the Wood Brothers.  •   Complete story,  click here

There's no telling what emotions the checkered flag of the Ford 400 will bring on Sunday evening, but Roush hinted at what his response might be.

"At any rate, it's been a great run," Roush said. "I'm not going to get a tear [Friday night], but certainly I can tear up. It's been real special, and it's been sad [to part]."

One of the last things on his exit docket from Roush Racing is Martin's listed ownership of teammate Matt Kenseth's No. 17 Ford, which is second in the championship going into Sunday.

In typical style, Martin said that was already taken care of, and well off his radar screen,

"We initiated the process over a year ago for a buyout on that, so that's already been a year in the works on what I would say is a payment schedule," Martin said. "That's already been taken care of, so I don't know what they'll do with [Roush's] name, but technically that's already been in the works and been in process."

NASCAR has initiated rules aimed at limiting team ownership. Currently, Roush is the listed owner of only two of his five full-time cars, those of Carl Edwards and Martin.

Martin "owns" Kenseth's car, Roush Racing president Geoff Smith owns Greg Biffle's No. 16 and Roush's mother, Georgetta, owns Jamie McMurray's No. 26 Fusion.

Even though Martin's "Salute to You" tour of saying farewell to his fans is in its second go-round, he said it was no less meaningful to him this weekend.

"The thing I'm enjoying is the fan support," Martin said. "They all know that this is the last race in the 6 and it's been coming -- it's no surprise -- it's actually been coming for two years.

"It wasn't my plan to be in the 6 car this year, so two nice things about being back for them this year is the way the fans have responded and supported my effort this year.

"I've soaked it in more than I ever have before because I've known for sure that this is the last round in it, and so I've soaked it in more.

"I still will be friends with all my crew and all the people in the garage and with Jack Roush and everything else. Things are just gonna be a little bit different, but they're not gonna change.

"Like, if I was walking away and never gonna drive again, I would assume that I would be somewhat more emotional [but] I'm not prepared to do that as well as I'm not prepared to go truck racing only.

"I still hold my own with these guys on a good day and I still want to go to the Daytona 500 and try to win it, and I think that we can so we'll go after it."