'Sky is limit' for Martin in new role, age factor aside

With all the lines marking his rugged face, Mark Martin may look the part of a 50-year-old man. But he certainly doesn't play the role.

As Martin prepares to embark on a new chapter in his already storied career as a NASCAR driver, he's talking a young man's game and makes it clear, along with his new crew chief, that he stands poised to chase a young man's dreams. At an age when most drivers are long retired, Martin thinks he can contend for a championship this year in the No. 5 Chevrolet he will drive full time for Hendrick Motorsports.

Strike that. He devoutly believes that with the support of team owner Rick Hendrick and his organization, and the brains of crew chief Alan Gustafson, all Martin has to do is his part and he will be in the hunt for the title that has narrowly eluded him four times in nearly three decades of pursuing it.

"It's unbelievable to have this kind of opportunity at this stage of my career," Martin said. "Rick has been incredible. I think Alan and that race team are capable of winning races and competing for a championship, and I just hope I can experience that with them."

Talk with Martin these days for a few moments and you quickly pick up on one of his new catchphrases. He wants the No. 5 team "to realize its full potential." So does Gustafson, who is even clearer about spelling out exactly what they believe that is.

"To me, our full potential is winning the championship," Gustafson said bluntly. "Whether we can do that this year or not, I don't know. That's very hard to do. I mean, look at Mark Martin. He's as good as anybody I've been around -- and I've been fortunate to be around some really good ones. For him not to have won it shows you how hard it is.

"There is no reason in the world that man shouldn't have a championship or multiple championships. It's tough to do. We need to win races, we need to get in the Chase, and then we need to compete in the Chase. This team, I think, is capable of doing that. Now we just have to go out and get it done."

Martin is ready to go. He will be driving a full 36-race Cup schedule for the first time since 2006, when he ended a 19-year run with team owner Jack Roush to run a part-time schedule with what was Ginn Racing. That team merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc. before '06 was over, and last year Martin shared a DEI ride with young driver Aric Almirola.

After spending two seasons driving the part-time schedule and reconnecting with family, Martin learned two very important facts: he can still drive with the best, and he missed being around racing every week. While he said he needed some time away to refresh and recharge, he also discovered that there is nothing quite like competing for a Cup championship.

Martin should know. He was runner-up in the championship standings in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002. While driving for Roush, he qualified for the first three Chases -- finishing fourth twice and ninth, respectively, in the final standings in those seasons.

Martin has 35 career Cup victories and 41 poles, but none since 2005. Gustafson has four career Cup victories as a crew chief, all when Kyle Busch was his driver for three seasons at Hendrick.

Those are just numbers, of course. And so is Martin's age.

"You know that there are certain things that diminish or decline with age -- your eyesight, the color of your hair, the amount of your hair. I don't know what they all are. That's not what I do, that's not what I know. I know how to help you set up a race car. I can help you with that," Martin said.

"But certainly, one of the things that really happens to race car drivers when you get to be my age is that it's very common for that burning fire, that desire, to do this stuff diminishes to some degree. That hasn't happened to me. I want this as bad as I did the day I got fired in 1983 [when he competed for four different owners in a total of 16 Cup races], or the day I went broke in 1982, or the first win I got in 1989. I want it at least as bad as I ever have in my life, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

Gustafson chuckled when he inevitably was asked about Martin's age.

"People throw that number out there and I even went to his 50th birthday party. But really, I don't even think about it or consider it. I can't tell the difference between him and a 25-year-old, or a 30-year-old," said Gustafson, who served as crew chief for Casey Mears at Hendrick last year and for Busch the three seasons prior to that. "Mark is Mark. He takes such good care of himself; he's so focused and so determined that age is just a number. It doesn't influence anything, so it doesn't even cross my mind."

Nor does it enter Martin's mind unless someone asks him about it, although he will admit that has happened often since his 50th birthday on Jan. 9. Martin combats the onset of age with a diet and physical fitness routine that would humble men half his age.

"Someone asked me a while ago about my physical fitness routine. Right now, it's insane. I'm obsessive-compulsive, and that's all I've had to focus on," Martin said.

"Alan's got the race team. He's got the pit crew and everybody is all fired up. So he's got that covered -- which means I've been spending eight to nine hours a week in the gym. Physically, mentally, I've done everything I could possibly do.

"I know more about nutrition than I did a year ago, or the year before that. So it's been a major gain in nutrition, a major gain in physical fitness. I feel better than I've felt in years. But there is no denying that at 35, I was 15 years younger. I can only do what I can do, work with what I have to work with."

Both he and Gustafson firmly believe that will be plenty to get the big job done that they have set as their dual goal.

"Anytime I've been asked about Mark, all I can say is that you can't put into words how good he is," Gustafson said. "Until you're around him, I don't think you can appreciate his drive and determination. He just exhumes excellence. He's great in everything he does. It's a huge honor for me just to work with him.

"It's a huge motivator, a driving force, to be able to work with a guy like that -- not only for me, but for the entire team. You know Mark is going to do his job; you know Mark is not going to complain. So it elevates everybody's game instantly. It's very exciting."

Martin added: "I've been waiting to drive the 5 car for about eight months now. The anticipation just keeps building and building and building. It's the most excited I've been for as long as I can remember. It's just an incredible opportunity. ... I think the sky is the limit for this race team."