Martin looking forward to time away, Smith's debut

On Friday afternoon in the garage at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, practice for the Nextel Cup Series was winding down. The U.S. Army Chevrolet that Mark Martin drives was already up on jack stands, the crew preparing the car for qualifying.

Next to the car, a smiling, yes, smiling Mark Martin. We said hello. We shook hands. We talked about the first three races. Then I looked at him and didn't even have to ask the question. Mark shook his head.

Bill Weber

"I need a break," said Martin, with an even bigger smile.

"We've been working hard on this since Talladega last year."

"I'll believe it when I see it," I said.

He waved his hand, smiled, and walked back to his car.

Well, I still haven't seen it, but now I do believe it.

Mark Martin will not race at Bristol this Sunday.

For an hour on Tuesday afternoon, Mark fielded questions from reporters around the country on a conference call.

It was a long time. It was a good time.

"I did enjoy that," Martin told me after the call.

"After the announcement at Talladega last fall, I didn't think anyone would ever want to talk to me again," he said with a laugh.

That was when Mark stunned the garage and the grandstands announcing he would drive a limited schedule, in 2007 and 2008, for Ginn Racing, in a Chevrolet.

Anyone of one of those factors would have been a big announcement. The three together? Huge.

"There didn't seem to be a lot of happy people after that. I'm just glad people are noticing," Martin said.

There are numbers we could talk about: 621 consecutive starts, four times a runner-up in the championship standings, 35 career wins in the Cup Series. A series-record 47 wins in the Busch car and five IROC championships (13 wins). But those accomplishments have come at a cost.

"The schedule sucks every ounce of time you have," Martin said Tuesday on the weekly teleconference.

"In my whole life, racing has always come first and then family. I have the opportunity to change that. I am carrying out that plan to cut back. I'm not interested in chasing that championship. I had a great career, but 2007 isn't the year to do that anymore. There are other things I'm interested in pursuing. There are portions of my life that have been passing me by. I hope to pick up a few pieces of that at age 48." (Continued)