INDIANAPOLIS -- He is NASCAR's resident purveyor of gloom and doom, a perennial bridesmaid whose silver lining always turns out to be gray. Mark Martin imparts optimism about as sparingly as misers part with $100 bills. Which is why it was so strange to see him in the interview room last month at Pocono Raceway, boldly telling anyone who would listen that he fully intended to win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"I'm planning on winning the Brickyard in the 8 car," he said in a very un-Martin-like moment. "We've got the stuff. We've got the team. The cars are awesome on flat tracks, Phoenix and Richmond. I have never planned on anything any more than my plan is for the Brickyard. That's the crown jewel, and if you look at how that car ran at Phoenix, I believe we can adapt that setup to work there."

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I'm not sure I did a Mohammed Ali. ... I believe that you can run the same stuff here that you can run at Phoenix. And I believe that we had the fastest car on the racetrack at Phoenix. It's that simple.

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MARK MARTIN

He's not blowing smoke. The 49-year-old Martin had the best race of his abbreviated 2008 campaign in April at Phoenix, a track that's much shorter than Indianapolis but shares the characteristic of very little banking. He led 68 laps that night, but pitted for fuel at the end and placed fifth. That, combined with a season-best, third-place finish two weeks later at Richmond, another short, relatively flat layout, have the NASCAR veteran feeling like he's capable of kissing the bricks Sunday (watch video).

He may have stopped short of guaranteeing a victory Friday, but he didn't back down.

"I'm not sure I did a Mohammed Ali," Martin said. "You know, I do feel very confident that we'll have a car here that will be strong enough to be a contender to win this race. I might say that every week, maybe. But, you know, believing it deep down inside, I usually know that's a bigger challenge than it might be here this week. I believe that you can run the same stuff here that you can run at Phoenix. And I believe that we had the fastest car on the racetrack at Phoenix. It's that simple."

Oh yeah, and he's finished in the top 10 in his past three races at Indianapolis, as well as four of his past five. In 1998 he was the runner-up -- a position he's become unfortunately accustomed to, given his four second-place finishes in Cup championship points, and his two-hundredths-of-a-second loss to Kevin Harvick in the 2007 Daytona 500. Martin's legacy needs no bolstering, given his 35 career victories. But a Brickyard title might help make up for so many of the big ones that have gotten away.

Don't tell him that. "I don't even think about what it would mean to me," he said. But In the garage area, it would be a popular victory.

"I could be an inch off his bumper and at his door for the win, and I'm going to be happy for him. That's the type of guy and driver that he is," said four-time Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon. (Continued)