Bradenton Motorsports Park

Who can forget the Knight's effort to win his first Daytona 500 in 2007, which led the last lap charge only to be pushed by Kevin Harvick noses? His most recent missed opportunity it more popular and appreciated than ever, and he still had to ride off into the sunset.

grizzled veteran Mark Martin has 35 Cup Series wins a career that spans 25 years. Never champion, four times he finished second in the final point standings, the last time in '02. He finished third four times and three times coming in the fourth as recently as '04 and '05. His last points win at NASCAR's highest level came in '05. He retired and un-retired twice before. In or out, limited or full time, he remains one of the coveted driver in the sport.

Martin, 49, currently share the seat with rookie Aric Barreto in the No. 8 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc. He drove in 24 races of your choice and Barreto takes the wheel for the remaining 12th Martin Barreto, and also mentor rookie Regan Smith, and is responsible for DEI officials to keep the organization moving forward, after the collapse predicted from skeptics, who said that the team would never survive without the company namesake.

when he wants to ride on trails and he prefers a nice arrangement for aging runners, but DEI Barreto wants to go full time in '09. And Martin was, according to John the story, the team's vice president of motorsports, I do not want to return to the office full time.

Barreto will drive the 8 cars in each race next year, the story says. Smith has trouble luring sponsors, which could make DEI three car operation next season. If Martin Truex Jr. leaves a year earlier, and Paul Ménard gets the boot, there is no free space for Martin to practice their well-honed craft to the amount of time he likes.

In an interesting twist, ESPN reports that Martin was actually interested in returning to full-time status of Hendrick Motorsports, at the age of 50 years, that last run at the elusive championship. The story contradicts ESPN, insisting that Martin wants a part time gig, and rejected a full driving priliku.Jedini reason for the uncertainty, he says, DEI is the desire for Barreto to get more seat time. Martin "retired" from Roush Racing after the '06 season, because he wanted a shorter schedule through their middle years. Spend more time with his large family was his primary motive in the last two seasons.

The second scenario is similar to Martin in next year's slate of HMS-in No. 5 car soon left Casey Mears-with promising Nationwide driver Brad Keselowski getting the rest of the schedule. In this way, Hendrick could find out whether this is a car or driver, as Mears had too many bad finishes, and Martin's reputation was established.

Martin already has links with the Hendrick team. He ran three Busch Series races before the year for HMS, and drove in two Nationwide events this season for JR motto, which is supported by a Hendrick engine as part of operations '07 merger with Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose former number 8 share a ride now and Martin Barreto.

U.S. Army is clearly on the road as a sponsor of the 8 cars, with nothing definitive at this point. Martin's next employer could be wherever the army decal winds in '09.

Keyword Martin to this development is slow coming.