Harry Who? Martin Keeps Winning At 50

Harry Gant could not have done it better.

Mark Martin, at 50 years of age, turned back the clock once again at last weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Chicago. Once more, he beat the odds.

Once again, Rick Hendrick -- Martin's car owner -- said: "I told you so."

In 1991, Gant won five times at age 50 in the No. 33 Skoal Bandit. He is remembered as the best "50-older" driver in stock-car racing.

But now Martin, who cut back his racing schedule and considered retiring before Hendrick brought him into the Hendrick Motorsports stable prior to this season, is on the brink of surpassing Gant's status.

Saturday's victory at Chicagoland Speedway was Martin's fourth of the season. No other driver has more than three victories to date this season.

Martin said he feels his age in the morning or a day or two after a race. His bones will stiffen, and his body will ache after driving 400 or more grueling miles even though the fitness fanatic is still in top shape.

But behind the wheel, Martin shows no age. And victory helps to keep him young.

"When I'm pumped up driving fast race cars, I certainly don't feel 50," he said.

Martin dominated Saturday's race early and led 195 laps, easily the most of the 400-mile race. He was in so much control of the No. 5 car, in fact, that he radioed his crew to say: "This is easy."

He dropped the lead to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson with just over 40 laps left. Then a frantic finish that saw Johnson and Kurt Busch bump each other on the track and fall out of contention allowed Martin to regain the lead and hold on.

"I don't know how we have won one, much less four," Martin said.

The victory was a great birthday present for Hendrick, who turned 60 years old on Sunday.The owner said he is not surprised that Martin has won, adding that he very much wanted Martin on his team because he knew Martin still had some victories to achieve.

Saturday's victory propelled Martin to 11th in the season point standings, putting him in line for a spot in the 12-car Chase for the championship.

Long known as the best driver never to win a Cup championship, the move to Hendrick Motorsports has rejuvenated Martin -- who has finished as series runner-up four times in his illustrious career. He said he is so grateful to Hendrick for pursuing him and thankful that he was sensible enough to accept Hendrick's offer to join NASCAR's winningest team.

"I can't believe what an idiot I would have been (if I had not come to Hendrick Motorsports," Martin said. "I had no idea it would be this much fun."

Hendrick Durham Auto Mall Supports Bull Moon Ride

The Durham Bulls, Habitat for Humanity of Durham and the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall will work together to present the 2009 Bull Moon Ride on July 18.

The night-time bicycle ride, mapped at just under 17 miles, will be a circuit through Durham and the American Tobacco Trail that will start and finish at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Route committee member Dave Connelly said the participants should have an "extraordinary experience.

"We wanted to ... show off the city of Durham," Connelly explained. "We think it has a lot of character."

Some of the landmarks cyclists will see include Duke University Chapel, the new Durham Transportation Center, Durham Performing Arts Center, American Tobacco Campus, Brightleaf Square, the Durham Athletic Park, the plaza at center city, the Carolina Theatre and the American Tobacco Trail.

The route also will include a ride through Campus Drive, Ninth Street, Main Street and historic Parrish Street.

"We did a lot of fine tuning to the basic route to try to incorporate as many places as we could think of," Connelly said. "It's not a race. We want it to be family friendly, and we will have escorts from the sheriff's office."

The Bull Moon Ride benefits Habitat for Humanity of Durham. In 2008, more than 200 cyclists participated in the inaugural event, raising thousands of dollars for Habitat of Durham.

The 2009 ride will include a pit stop at the plaza in center city sponsored by the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall. Dealership staff will be providing the support vehicles for riders, along with water and facilities at the pit stop.

The 2009 Bull Moon Ride is scheduled for Saturday, July 18, at 8:30 p.m. at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

"One of our core values is to support our community, and Habitat for Humanity of Durham does a great job of supporting this community," said Hendrick Durham Auto Mall service manager Jack Morgan. "As a local business, we want to be a part of an event like this."

Hendrickcars.com Contest Winner Chosen; Hendrick Nominated For NASCAR Hall of Fame

In two big news items regarding Rick Hendrick and his Hendrick Automotive Group, which includes the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall, the Hendrickcars.com Web site has selected the winner of the "Indy Dream Weekend," and Hendrick himself has been nominated for the NASCAR Hall of Fame's first induction class.

The "Indy Dream Weekend" grants one fan and a guest VIP treatment at this month's Brickyard 400 NASCAR race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hendrick owns four NASCAR race teams, 11 championships in NASCAR's three series, and active Hendrick drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have combined for seven Sprint Cup series championships.

Nathan Tilford, of Orangevale, Calif., was chosen randomly from 6,602 entrants who registered on Hendrickcars.com between May 23 and June 30 for a chance to win the all-access weekend made possible by Hendrickcars.com and Hendrick Motorsports.

The best and quickest way to purchase a car online, Hendrickcars.com features more than $90 million in used-car inventory and the largest selection of manufacturer-certified vehicles in the nation. Customers can browse more than 5,000 cars of all makes and models from the 80 Hendrick Automotive Group franchises nationwide. Each comes with a free CARFAX vehicle history report.

"We were pleased with the participation in this sweepstakes," said Chris Little, of Hendrick Automotive Group, "This is a great opportunity for Mr. Tilford to have a behind-the-scenes view of one of NASCAR's most winning and popular teams. Hendrickcars.com is happy to have helped make this trip available to our Web site visitors and NASCAR fans."

As part of the VIP treatment, Tilford and his guest will get to meet Johnson, a two-time Indy winner and three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, and watch the race from a trackside suite during the July 25-26 "Indy Dream Weekend."

Tilford also will receive airfare and hotel accommodations, plus a tour of the garage area and a Hendrick Motorsports team transporter.

Also, if a Hendrick Motorsports team wins the race, Tilford and his guest will join in the Victory Lane festivities.

Hendrick nominated for Hall of Fame

Hendrick was one of 25 nominees named Thursday evening for the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame induction class. Of those 25, five inductees will be chosen via a process that includes a nationwide fan vote on Nascar.com.

The inductees will be announced in October and honored next May at the new Hall of Fame facility in Charlotte.

The nominees were selected by a 21-person nominating committee consisting of representatives from NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame and track owners from both major facilities and historic short tracks.

"This first list of potential inductees is impressive, to say the least," said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, who himself is a nominee. "Now comes the hard part - choosing only five to be inducted. Every single person on this list is worthy to be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame."

The HOF's first inductees will be determined by the Voting Panel, which has 50 members – the entire Nominating Committee, 14 media members, four manufacturer representatives, nine retired competitors (drivers, owners, crew chiefs – three each) and two recognized industry leaders. In addition, the fan vote will result in the Voting Panel's 51st and final ballot.

Busy Month Ahead For Hendrick Durham Auto Mall

Another busy month is on tap for the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall after a record month in June. Sales are brisk and community involvement is continual.

Outside of the showroom doors, dealership personnel are busy promoting community events, beginning this month with a star-studded pro-am summer basketball league at N.C. Central University.

The event will feature NBA players such as Jerry Stackhouse, Chris Paul, Raymond Felton, Josh Powell and local college and high-school stars. Hendrick Durham Auto Mall will be one the proud sponsors of the event, which starts July 2. Last year, the event's championship-winning coach was our very own Eric Free.

On July 10, the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall will be a major sponsor of the John Avery Boys and Girls Club GOLF FORE KIDS. Come out and support the kids in the golf tournament to be held at The Preserve at Jordan Lake located off of Highway 64.

Later in the month, the dealership will participate in the No Greater Love Christian Church's third annual Community Day/Youth Extravaganza. Please come out and experience the fun and excitement.

The 2009 Bull Moon Ride will be held on July 18. Join Wool E. Bull and Hendrick Durham Auto Mall personnel for the night-time bike ride to benefit Habitat for Humanity of Durham. The 17-mile ride for cyclists of all abilities starts at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park at 8:31 pm.

The coming holiday weekend should get the month off to a celebratory start. The Hendrick Durham Auto Mall will be open all weekend, showing off the new 2010 Equinox and Camaro and offering unprecedented deals. Help us get the month off to a good start as we look to keep our communities moving in a positive direction.

June Exciting Month At Hendrick Durham Auto Mall

The Hendrick Durham Auto Mall has had an exciting month. Dealership personnel have been a part of some exciting events. Nationally-known celebrities and athletes have come by to say hello and purchase vehicles.

Meanwhile, sales have soared as much as the outside temperature.

There is plenty more excitement that can be generated in the last week of the month.

No question, the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall is catching people's attention. Just last weekend, for example, the dealership showroom was visited by a local newspaper reporter wanting to capture all the excitement in the print, a local radio station that broadcast live from the front steps, and by football standout David Garrard.

Garrard, who played quarterback for Southern High School and East Carolina University, now starts for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL. He asked the dealership to be a sponsor for his football skills camp and his effort to raise money to fight Crohn's Disease, and the dealership was proud to accept.

Equally impressed by the dealership was another famous David -- David Hartman, who came to take advantage of the great deals being offered and buy a Tahoe.

Hartman, you may remember, was the original host of ABC-TVs "Good Morning America." He appeared right at home mingling with staff and putting the final touches on his transaction.

Also this month, dealership personnel attended a party hosted by the Pittsburgh Steelers' Willie Parker, a UNC graduate. Among those attending were former UNC great and Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers and former Duke basketball star and current Duke coach Chris Carrawell.

Former UNC and Denver Broncos quarterback Scott Stankavage came to the dealership this week to enlist the dealership's help with supporting and promoting the Durham Eagles youth football squad. Also this week, the dealership was asked to be a sponsor the local Latino Festival to be held in August.

So, all the recent activity goes to show that the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall has become an intgral part of the local community, not only for offering the best deals on vehicles but also for its infolvement in area affairs.

The hot incentives to buy vehicles will remain through the Fourth of July weekend, so the activity should remain high in and around the dealership for the remainder of June. Come be a part of the excitement yourself.

Surprised Martin Finds Himself In Victory Lane

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- The most surprised person to find Mark Martin in Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday may have been the driver himself.

The 50-year-old NASCAR star -- who drives the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports and owner Rick Hendrick (who also owns the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall) -- has run well this season but also has had to deal with considerable bad luck. He appeared to be unlucky again Sunday after the battery in his Impala SS began to fail before the halfway mark in the LifeLock 400 Sprint Cup race.

Martin turned off everything in the car that he could, nursing the vehicle as best he could. Then he realized the race was going to be a fuel-economy run.

He could either keep the petal to the medal, push the car as hard as he could and gamble that the car would not run out of gas before the finish line, or he could drive conservatively and try to conserve fuel.

"I always, always come up short in those gas things," Martin said. "I'm probably about 2 (wins) and 25 (losses) in these things."

Make it 3-25.

Martin saved just enough gas to hang on for his third victory of the season and the 38th of his Cup career. He won after Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson and Ford-driver Greg Biffle both ran out of gas during their duel for the checkered flag in the final laps.

The victory moved Martin to eighth place in the points standings with 11 races remaining until the postseason begins and gave Hendrick three drivers in the top 10.

Martin said crew chief Alan Gustafson told him he could race hard for about 10 laps after the last pit stop of the 200-lap race. But Martin said he began to conserve fuel after two or three laps.

"It was important we finish this race," Martin said. "If we were in the top five in points, we'd have run out today because I'd have gone for it.

"The battery had been going dead since lap 75, and I turned off all the fans and stuff. I turned it off after we crossed the finish line and coasted all the way around. Then I tried to start it up to drive it to Victory Lane, and it wouldn't even turn over. It ran exactly as far as it was going to run."

Johnson dominated most of the race and took the lead from Biffle six laps from the end. Martin, in third place at the time, saw Johnson run out of gas two laps from the finish and Biffle run out of gas on the final lap.

That cleared the way for Martin to take the lead. He also had an empty tank on the last lap but was able to coast to the finish line almost three seconds ahead of runner-up Jeff Gordon, who also drives for Hendrick Motorsports.

"My car was good, but I couldn't run their pace and save gas," Martin said. "When Jimmie ran out, I said: 'Heck, we're this close. I'm going to run hard.'"

Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by Carl Edwards, Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya and series points leader Tony Stewart.

Last year's race winner and Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., finished 14th.

Johnson took the lead on the ninth lap and led 141 of the next 142 laps. He was not even challenged during that stretch, building big leads after each caution flag bunched up the field.

Biffle and Johnson were side-by-side -- using up gas and driving hard -- on lap 194, and Johnson managed to get past the next time around. Biffle immediately sped up and tried to re-pass Johnson -- again causing both to use more gas -- with Johnson remaining ahead.

Biffle said he and Johnson made a mistake in trying to race each other while trying to conserve fuel.

"The 48 (Johnson) came up there and ran like we weren't on a fuel-conomy run," Biffle said. "I messed with him a little bit. It made me use too much throttle and burned up the gas.

Johnson managed to get his car to the finish but wound up 22nd, the last car on the lead lap.

"I'm trying to look at the bright side," Johnson said. "We had such a dominant car, and we passed second and third, and we went up to get the lead. It's unfortunate we ran out of gas, but that's how it is."

Hendrick Has Plenty To Smile About In Spite Of GM Woes

As far as Rick Hendrick is concerned, last weekend was beautiful, and the future is bright.

Hendrick, owner of four NASCAR Sprint Cup race teams as well as the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall,was happy as a clam after one of his drivers, Jimmie Johnson, won Sunday's race at Dover, Del. He also was pleased that another of his drivers, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., had a respectable run in his first race with a replacement crew chief after Hendrick released former Earnhardt crew chief Tony Eury, Jr.

Even though a poor performance by Hendrick driver Jeff Gordon dropped Gordon out of first place in the season points standings, and even though General Motors was about to file for bankruptcy protection, Hendrick left Dover feeling good.

Johnson, three-time defending Sprint Cup champion, moved up to third in the point standings after his second victory of the season Sunday. Only 20 points behind second-place Gordon entering next weekend's race, Johnson moved to within 64 points of new points leader Tony Stewart.

Earnhardt, Jr., also moved up in the standings -- to No. 18 -- with his best finish in a while. Junior had struggled with Eury for the last year and a half, and Hendrick replaced Eury with Lance McGrew last week.

The Hendrick team came out of Delaware looking strong and ready for more success in the future.

The future of General Motors, meanwhile, seemed up in the air.

Hendrick said he was as confident of GM's future as he was the future of his race teams and automotive dealership group.

"The products General Motors offers are the highest quality and most fuel efficient in its history," Hendrick said. "I have an unwavering faith in the company's leadership team and our government's commitment to support this reorganization.

"After all of the efforts of the past several months, it's unfortunate that bankruptcy has become the only option. But we at Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick Motorsports are certain that GM will emerge from this stronger and better equipped to compete than ever before.

"Hendrick Automotive Group can say with confidence that the customers of our 27 General Motors franchises can expect the same high level of care and service that our dealerships have always provided, and that the full range of warranties and parts will be available.

"From a racing perspective," Hendrick said, "our heritage is with General Motors. In 25 years together, Hendrick Motorsports has won eight Sprint Cup Series titles with Chevrolet, which has more NASCAR championships and wins than any other auto manufacturer.

"Since I was a kid, Chevy has represented the highest level of performance. I've never wanted to race anything else, and I have every confidence that we will continue to celebrate victories together for many more seasons to come.

"Speaking for the more than 6,000 teammates at Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick Motorsports, it has been a great privilege to be a small part of GM's rich history, and we are looking forward to an even brighter future together.

"I've got a lot of faith in GM and especially Chevrolet," Hendrick said. "I've been with them for a long, long time. Our business is good; the products are good. And this economic downturn we've had has hurt everybody. It's hurt every manufacturer - Toyota and everybody else. But I think some people, maybe their pockets were deeper than others. But I feel like we're going to be good, and we're going to be O.K."

Hendrick was asked if he would need to come up with a "Plan B" if Chevrolet were to say that it could not provide him any more funding for racing. He replied that: "My Plan A is Chevrolet. My Plan B is Chevrolet. My Plan C is Chevrolet."

Based on last weekend's race results, there would be no reason to switch.