Mark Martin will continue driving the No. 5 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports for the next two years fulltime.
Sponsorship will come form GoDaddy.com, which will be the primary sponsor for 20 events a year starting with the 2010 Daytona 500.
In his first year with Hendrick Motorsports, Martin has won four races and equaled a career best with six pole positions. The team announced May 6 that the veteran driver had agreed to forego a part-time schedule and return fulltime for the 2010 season. He now will race the entire Cup campaign through 2011.
"Mark has been an unbelievable asset to our organization," Rick Hendrick said. "I can't overstate the contribution he's made or the kind of teammate he's been, and we're excited that he'll race with us for the next two years. With his focus and dedication, he will continue to make all of us better."
This season, Martin is tied for the most Cup wins (with Kyle Busch) and pole positions (with Brian Vickers). At age 50, he is the oldest driver ever to qualify for NASCAR's championship-deciding Chase for the Sprint Cup, which begins this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Martin enters Sunday's race with a 10-point advantage over Tony Stewart and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson.
"It's a real privilege to have this opportunity with GoDaddy.com and to work with Rick, Alan and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports," said Martin who has qualified for the Chase in all four of his fulltime seasons since the format was implemented in 2004. "I'm looking forward to building on what we've started and driving some great GoDaddy.com race cars.
"As long as I can have fun, compete at a high level and have the opportunity to win, I'm going to continue to do this. I'm having a blast, and that's always been most important to me and my family."
GoDaddy.com's affiliation with Hendrick Motorsports began in 2008 with a two-race primary sponsorship of the No. 25 Chevrolets, a program that this season expanded to seven Cup events. In 2009, the company also became an associate-level sponsor of the No. 5 team with Martin and crew chief Alan Gustafson.
"Mark Martin is the consummate professional and a very exciting driver, to say the least," said GoDaddy.com CEO and founder Bob Parsons. "He's the sentimental favorite for this year's Sprint Cup championship, and we're stoked to have him driving for Go Daddy next year."
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Comments
Way to go, "old man"! Good for him, and good for NASCAR.
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