Martin, Gordon not giving up; look forward to Texas

Talk about hangdog. Mark Martin's car had been flipped and turned into a sparking bottle rocket heading to the white flag at Talladega last Sunday. He finished 28th, and the final thread connecting him to hopes of his first Cup Series championship had frayed to the point of nothingness.

His frustration was evident in his tone, his words and the look on his face. Tough old Mark Martin looked liked all-in; like he would just as soon head home to drink lemonade on the porch.

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The problem is, he can't. There still are three races left in the 2009 season. There still are obligations to team and sponsors and himself, and even the faintest of hopes that he still can catch and pass Jimmie Johnson in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

So this weekend, Martin will arrive at Texas Motor Speedway for the Dickies 500 (2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC) and commence to picking himself up off a deck upon which he now finds himself splattered.

"I am tired of the points," Martin, who is now 184 behind Johnson, said this week. "I'm not just saying that because of being behind. We were chasing points to get into the Chase, and now that we're here, that's all people are talking about. I'm just ready to have a fresh outlook and get back to it just being about the race itself."

At least Martin will not be alone in his boot-strap pull. Hendrick Motorsport teammate Jeff Gordon also went through a major deflation at Talladega. Like Martin, he was in position to gain good ground on Johnson late in the race. Although he did not crash, he ran out of fuel and limped home 20th and now trails the Chase leader by 192 points.

"I can't wait to get back there," Gordon said of Texas.

The pessimists, the quitters, would ask: Why?

Martin's crew chief didn't have to dig very deep at all to answer that question.

"Winning," Alan Gustafson said. "Winning is the biggest thing. It's a huge deal. There are a lot of good teams and good drivers that haven't won a race. We have to stay hungry.

"We have a chance to win at Texas."

That is true for Gustafson and Martin, and it's also true for Gordon.

Martin has a victory at the 1.5-mile track. It came in 1998, the track's second year of existence. But that is not the only time he has been in contention there. Martin has finished in the top 10 in nine of his 17 starts.

And, he has finished on the lead lap in every one of those 17 starts -- something no other driver has done.

Ah, Texas. It's a comfort zone for a driver clearly in need of a little comforting right now.

"Texas is a great place to race," Martin said. "I have a lot of fans that go there because it's kind of close to my home in Batesville [Ark.]. We have a lot of charged-up fans there. It's a great track and a great place to race. We're going to go there, try to sit on the pole, lead every lap and win the race."

Although Martin's love of the Fort Worth track dates more than a decade, Gordon's love is newly blossomed.

For year after year, TMS was known as one of those very few places where Gordon had not won a race.

But in April, that all changed. Gordon, whose only 43rd-place finishes in 578 Cup starts have come at Texas, broke through with a victory and is using the knowledge that he can get another to dust himself off and move forward in the wake of Talladega.

Won't be easy, he said.

"To get another win, though, we'll need to take another step forward," Gordon said. "If we showed up this weekend with the same setup we used in April, we'd run 15th. That's just the way the sport is. Everybody is constantly learning, and the competition is constantly getting better and quicker."

FIVE TO WATCH

Casey Mears, No. 07: So, what woke up this Rip Van Winkle after seven years of slumber? It could be the team has given him good stuff or the threat of unemployment. But whatever, he is driving well.

Jeff Burton, No. 31: The boys from Richard Childress Racing are starting to show a pulse. As are a number of non-Chase, nothing-to-lose guys. Burton is a two-time winner at TMS and has an outside shot at getting No. 3.

Juan Montoya, No. 42: He is toast vis-a-vis the Chase, but he still wants that first victory on an oval. He finished seventh in the spring, and Texas sets up well for him.

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48: He has one victory and one DNF at Texas. If the Chase is to remain a chase, the latter had better increase to two on Sunday.

Carl Edwards, No. 99: Edwards has three victories in nine starts. He swept both races there a year ago. And he loves to shoot those dang guns in Victory Lane.

TRACK CHATTER

Denny Hamlin: "I love this track. ... With the way our intermediate program has improved this season, we like our chances at a place like Texas. Even looking back at Charlotte when we had engine troubles, we had a really strong car -- a race-winning car -- and that was the best we had ever performed at a track that can be tough to figure out. So we are bringing the same car back at Texas, and from my point of view, that gives me a lot to look forward to."

Donnie Wingo, crew chief for Jamie McMurray: "We had a great weekend last week, and my goal is to keep the momentum going. ... Last year, Jamie and the No. 26 team came to Texas and finished third in this race. That finish was followed up with two more third-place finishes to close out the season, so I have a feeling that if we keep this energy going, we could end the season on a great note."

Brad Keselowski: "It sure seems like a lot has changed in one year. The team built me a brand new race car, [and] it is pretty exciting to have a new car for my first start at Penske Racing. This is an exciting opportunity. I feel like we are going to go there and run competitively and hopefully be able to help Kurt [Busch] out at the same time. Texas is like the other mile-and-a-half tracks, similar in a sense to Chicagoland Speedway. We have run very well here in the past. I feel pretty good about it; it's more the past success that makes me feel good here."

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