Sam’s Town 300 “a personal favorite” for Mark Martin; NASCAR veteran chooses Las Vegas as one of his four 2011 starts
Stock car racing legend Mark Martin will compete once again in the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in what may well be his final season as a full-time NASCAR driver.
The Batesville, Arkansas native will pull double duty during LVMS’s NASCAR Weekend, driving a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the March 6 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 400 and in a new ride – the No. 32 Turner Motorsports Dollar General Impala – for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300 on March 5.
Martin is in his final contract year for Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series.
He will compete in only four NASCAR Nationwide Series events in 2011. Las Vegas, where Martin has visited the Sam’s Town 300 victory lane three times, is one of the select quartet.
He also will compete in a pair of NASCAR Camping World Series events.
Although he is 52 years old, his well-known fitness and nutrition regimen keeps him in top shape and ready for his ironman undertakings.
“I’ve got to get back to victory lane in the Dollar General car so I can keep Kyle Busch from breaking my Nationwide Series record,” Mark explained. “I'm excited to be running back in the Nationwide and Truck Series again. Everyone at Dollar General and Turner Motorsports has been great and I'm looking forward to hitting the track with them this year. Working with Turner Motorsports, I get to extend my relationship with Chevrolet and continue to have Hendrick horsepower under the hood which is really, really good.”
With a career spanning 30 years, he has 40 victories in 794 Sprint Cup Series starts, holds the Nationwide records for most victories (48) and most poles (30), and has seven victories in 23 Truck starts.
“The races we picked for both series are personal favorites of mine,” Martin said.
In five Sam’s Town 300 starts at LVMS, Martin has three victories (1999, 2005 and 2008), four top-fives, five top-10s and two pole awards to his credit.
He also won the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Las Vegas in 1998.
NASCAR Weekend begins on Thursday, March 3 with a full day of NASCAR Nationwide Series practice and a free driver autograph session. Stratosphere Pole Day features practice for both the Kobalt Tools 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and Sam’s Town 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race as well as qualifying for the Kobalt Tools 400 on Friday, March 4. The Sam’s Town 300 is set for Saturday, March 5 and the Kobalt Tools 400 will run on Sunday, March 6. Two nights of World of Outlaws racing will take place on the dirt track March 2 and 3.
Tickets for all of these events are on sale at www.lvms.com or by calling 1-800-644-4444. Follow LVMS on Facebook and Twitter.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Speedway Motorsports, a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. For more information visit www.speedwaymotorsports.com.
