Mark Martin: 'time to open a new chapter'

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- After racing parts of 31 NASCAR seasons, Mark Martin might take his final checkered flag next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Martin told reporters Friday at Phoenix International Raceway that while he's unwilling to use the word "retire," the 54-year-old has no racing planned for next year and has declined offers on every level of NASCAR racing.

After 40 wins in NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup Series, 49 more in the Nationwide Series and five championships in the now-defunct International Race of Champions, Martin said it was "time to open a new chapter."

He plans to stay active in the sport by helping Stewart-Haas Racing with testing next season, including driving Tony Stewart's No. 14 car in preseason Daytona activities while the team owner continues to heal from a broken right leg.

"We've known this for awhile, we just kept it to ourselves and to our friends and stuff," Martin said of his decision. "If I get through Homestead without a scratch, it will be pretty cool. It will be one tremendous career that we did some really great things and I got out of it without paying a big price."

Martin, a lock for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, has been known as one of racing's greats on and off the track. He finished second in the Cup standings five times but never won a championship or the Daytona 500.

When he finished third in this year's 500, he said, he drove away with a smile on his face knowing it would be his last.

Martin said he was excited about the future and not scared to get out of the car because he's "100% comfortable and ready." He could work with Danica Patrick and SHR's other drivers to help get the program turned around, though he said nothing formally has been signed yet.

Stewart is expected to return in the No. 14 Chevrolet for the Great American Race.

"I'll manage to stay competitive (by being associated with SHR) and have great people around me and great cars for longer than anybody in the sport has for a long time," Martin said. "I'm not having to quit before I'm ready. I squeezed every ounce of the good stuff out of my driving career."

Despite those definitive-sounding statements, Martin deflected questions about whether next week's race would be his final one. He said it was "not of any major consequence" even if it was and said he had no interest in a farewell tour. Martin referenced George Jones' I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair.

Sunday's Cup start at Phoenix will be career No. 881.

Martin said he was previously burned when he decided to step away from a full-time Cup schedule after the 2006 season and Roush Racing put together a "Salute to You" tour. But when he accepted a part-time Cup schedule at Ginn Racing, there were howls over his indecisiveness.

Some rolled their eyes again two years later when he accepted a ride with Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 car and returned to a full-time schedule.

But Martin insisted all along he never used the word "retire."

"I might've, should've set the record straight when people said I was retiring, because I never said I was retiring," he said Friday. "I hate that word now, and I'm not retiring now."

This time seems different, though, because Martin hasn't wavered about his decision all year. Whatever the term for his future is, Martin said he made the decision in January or even earlier.

After he joined Michael Waltrip Racing last season and came close to winning races – with four pole positions along the way – Martin said he "felt very satisfied and at peace."

But there was another year on his contract, and Martin intended to finish this season and then step aside. He moved to SHR when Stewart broke his right leg in a sprint car accident in Iowa in early August and the teams worked out an arrangement.

"Man, I've lived the dream," he said. "At one time, I ran pretty good – and that's beyond a dream for just a little kid from Arkansas that went to Daytona and was awestruck.

"I never dreamed I'd have the opportunity to come within three feet of winning that (Daytona 500) race or a chance to race with Richard Petty and David Pearson and Cale Yarborough and Benny Parsons and all those greats – Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip – and collect a little bit of hardware along the way.

"And (I made) a lot of friends, which is even more important than the hardware. That's what's important, is the friends and the experiences."

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