DARLINGTON, S.C. -- On the day before the summer event at Daytona International Speedway 10 years ago, Mark Martin crashed in practice and broke his wrist, his kneecap, and one of his ribs. The next night, he was back in the car. He didn't do it because he loved racing. He did it because he was running for a championship, and he couldn't afford to forsake any points by sitting out.

Chill out

Mark Martin and Kurt Busch explain how they have mellowed out as they have gotten older.

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The single-mindedness of that title quest -- which he would ultimately lose to Dale Jarrett by 319 points -- left Martin with back problems that lingered for a year and a half. Still, he never missed a practice, never missed a test, never allowed pain or physical limitations to interfere with his pursuit of NASCAR's biggest prize. Looking back on it now, he was consumed by it, even though he wouldn't have admitted so publicly at the time. It wasn't about love, it wasn't about passion, it was simply a means to an end.

"I allowed that points thing to affect how I felt about racing," Martin said Friday at Darlington Raceway. "I focused on that more than I really realized how much I loved it. When I finally stepped out of the car and did 26 races in '07, I started gradually to realize how much I love to race, and I'm going to keep it that way. That requires a little discipline for me, but that's how it's going to be. I'm going to continue to race because I love to race, and I'm not going to try to will more points than we can score at the finish line each week."

Which is why Martin, now older and wiser if even still without the championship that has eluded him, these days seems so content. He's still capable of winning races, still capable of contending for the championship, still capable of filling the one notable omission on his otherwise illustrious resume. But at 50, the pressure is off. So when car owner Rick Hendrick broached the idea of another full-time season following Martin's victory last month at Phoenix, it took the driver about one minute to say yes.

Earlier this week the Hendrick team announced that Martin would return for the full Cup Series season in 2010. Martin had originally signed a two-year deal with Hendrick, for a full-time 2009 campaign and a limited schedule the following season. But he's enjoying himself too much to slow down now.

“

It would mean more to me to win one [championship] with Mark than to win four in a row.

”

-- ALAN GUSTAFSON

"I would still appreciate if you didn't write that I'm coming back for one more shot at the championship," said Martin, who's finished second in the final standings an agonizing four times, most recently in 2005. "I did this because I love racing with all my heart. I love this race team, and I'm having a blast driving the race car. That's why I made the decision. I just wouldn't sign up for that. It's what Rick wanted to start with, a year ago, and I just wouldn't sign up for something and then wish I hadn't. We've proven over the first [10] or so races that all that was good."

Martin had some conditions -- he wanted to continue to build on his rapport with crew chief Alan Gustafson, and he wanted to make sure his race team wanted him back. That much was never in question.

"I feel really, really fortunate to work with Mark. Anybody would," said Gustafson, crew chief on the No. 5 car since 2005. "They're going to have to shoehorn me out of there."

For Martin, there's some irony in the fact that he's in the thick of a championship hunt, even in a season where he says the championship isn't his focus. He enters Darlington 15th in the standings, 61 points out of the 12th and final berth in the Chase. His victory at Phoenix was his first premier-series race win in more than three years. Aside from a crash two weeks ago at Talladega, he hasn't finished outside of the top seven since early March.

So the championship is out there as a possibility. Martin may not be thinking about that, but his team sure is.

"I don't think you'd accomplish anything bigger in your professional life than to win a championship at Hendrick Motorsports with Mark Martin. I think that's as good as it gets. I'm going to do everything in my power to do it. If it doesn't happen, then it just doesn't happen. You can't focus on it or dwell on it," Gustafson said.

"You could win four [championships] in a row -- and I'm not demeaning the 48 [team of Jimmie Johnson] and what they have a chance to do, they're phenomenal -- but it would mean more to me to win one with Mark than to win four in a row. That's probably the best way I can put it in perspective."