Time Flies When You Work At DEI
ESPN seems to be in some type of time warp. See if you can catch their blunder.
NASCAR veteran Mark Martin will have a new racing home in 2009, ESPN.com has learned.
Martin was unavailable for comment Sunday. Officials for Martin’s current team, Dale Earnhardt Inc., would neither confirm nor deny the speculation, but did confirm that young Aric Almirola would run a full-time schedule in 2009.
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Almirola has shared the No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet with Martin for the past two seasons. Martin has been pivotal in mentoring DEI’s young driving stable, especially Almirola and Regan Smith.
Did you catch it?
I’ll narrow it down for you.
Almirola has shared the No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet with Martin for the past two seasons
Almirola has shared the ride in the #8 with Martin for two seasons? Crazy. Didn’t Dale Jr. just leave the #8 at the end of last season? Oh Wow. Yeah. Oops.
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Mark Martin Wins Nationwide Race In Vegas
I was shocked when Mark Martin ran into the back of Carl Edwards with just a few laps to go. That’s just not like him. He proved what a class act he is though when he climbed from the car and apologized before anything else.
Mark Martin took Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Victory Lane by winning the Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, then immediately apologized for an accident he started in the closing laps.
Martin, the winningest driver in NASCAR’s No. 2 series, raced to the 48th victory of his career Saturday in a car owned by Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports. But the win came at the expense of Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski, who races full-time for Earnhardt.
Martin was sixth following a final round of pit stops when the race restarted with 10 laps to go. With four fresh tires on his Chevrolet, he sliced his way toward the front while chasing cars that had only taken two tires.
Edwards and Keselowski were racing side-by-side when Martin quickly closed in on Edwards’ bumper. Slight contact sent Edwards’ car wiggling across the track, and he slid high directly into Keselowski to wreck both cars.
Martin slipped past into the lead, then held in a two-lap shootout to the finish.
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Legend Slips Into A Legendary Ride
With all the attention on Dale Jr. and his move to Hendrick Motorsports, not much attention has been focused on the number 8. I think, of all the drivers they could have tapped to drive the #8, Mark Martin is one of the best choices. I still question whether it’s a smart move to share the seat with a rookie, but I guess time will tell, won’t it?
History is important to Mark Martin, and stepping into the No. 8 Chevrolet has gained added significance for the longtime NASCAR star.
After Dale Earnhardt Jr. decided in May to leave the family team to join Hendrick Motorsports this season, DEI announced Martin would share the No. 8 with rookie Aric Almirola in 2008.
”When I think about driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. and the No. 8, the first picture that comes into my mind is the mid-1980s, Dale Earnhardt driving the No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Late Model Sportsman owned by him and Teresa Earnhardt,” Martin said.
“Dale was a fierce competitor and he gave me some driving lesson in that race car, with his hands and with his bumper. So, heck yeah, it has significance. I’m very proud to be a part of that organization.’”
It’s going to be very different seeing the #8 without Jr. behind the wheel and without Budweiser splashed across the hood.
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