Mark Martin To Leave Roush For MB2 Team
Reports: Martin leaving Roush Racing for MB2
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Mark Martin will leave Roush Racing at the end of this season to drive a partial NASCAR Nextel Cup schedule for MB2 Motorsports, The Associated Press and NASCAR.com reported Thursday night.
Team owner Jack Roush, who has fielded a Ford for Martin in NASCAR's top series since 1988, is expected to make the announcement Friday at 10:30 a.m. ET at Talladega Superspeedway.
“ We have a man who's not ready for retirement, exactly. I'm pretty sure he's ruled out that this is the time in his life where he's ready to drive [wife] Arlene on her errands every day. ”
— Roush Racing team president Geoff Smith, on Mark Martin
MB2 general manager Jay Frye has scheduled a news conference for later Friday morning at the Talladega track, where the Cup cars will race Sunday.
Martin reportedly will share the ride in the No. 01 Chevrolet with rookie Regan Smith, a 23-year-old regular in the Busch Series, a source told The Associated Press. Joe Nemechek, currently racing in the No. 01, will remain with MB2, but will move to a third team entry, while Sterling Marlin will stay in the team's No. 14 Chevy.
It is believed that Martin will run 22 races for the MB2 team, NASCAR.com reported. Smith will run the remaining 14 Cup races, a source told the Web site.
Martin, 47, has been talking about retirement from the Cup series for the past two seasons. He was set to give up his ride in the No. 6 Roush Ford after the 2005 season, but he was persuaded by Roush to stay another year because none of the team's young drivers was ready to step into the ride.
Earlier this season, it appeared Martin would leave Cup in 2007 to drive a full season -- considerably shorter than the Cup schedule -- for Roush in the Craftsman Truck Series, but he recently began talking about the possibility of running at least a partial schedule in Cup.
Roush team president Geoff Smith said several weeks ago that the team would definitely not field a Cup car for Martin in 2007 and that it was close to completing a deal with Martin to drive a Roush truck. But that deal apparently fell apart after the MB2 ride became available.
One way or another, though, Smith said recently he knew Martin wasn't ready to leave the driver's seat.
more on Mark Martin Leaving Jack Roush
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Mark Martin will leave Roush Racing at the end of this season to drive a partial NASCAR Nextel Cup schedule for MB2 Motorsports, The Associated Press and NASCAR.com reported Thursday night.
Team owner Jack Roush, who has fielded a Ford for Martin in NASCAR's top series since 1988, is expected to make the announcement Friday at 10:30 a.m. ET at Talladega Superspeedway.
“ We have a man who's not ready for retirement, exactly. I'm pretty sure he's ruled out that this is the time in his life where he's ready to drive [wife] Arlene on her errands every day. ”
— Roush Racing team president Geoff Smith, on Mark Martin
MB2 general manager Jay Frye has scheduled a news conference for later Friday morning at the Talladega track, where the Cup cars will race Sunday.
Martin reportedly will share the ride in the No. 01 Chevrolet with rookie Regan Smith, a 23-year-old regular in the Busch Series, a source told The Associated Press. Joe Nemechek, currently racing in the No. 01, will remain with MB2, but will move to a third team entry, while Sterling Marlin will stay in the team's No. 14 Chevy.
It is believed that Martin will run 22 races for the MB2 team, NASCAR.com reported. Smith will run the remaining 14 Cup races, a source told the Web site.
Martin, 47, has been talking about retirement from the Cup series for the past two seasons. He was set to give up his ride in the No. 6 Roush Ford after the 2005 season, but he was persuaded by Roush to stay another year because none of the team's young drivers was ready to step into the ride.
Earlier this season, it appeared Martin would leave Cup in 2007 to drive a full season -- considerably shorter than the Cup schedule -- for Roush in the Craftsman Truck Series, but he recently began talking about the possibility of running at least a partial schedule in Cup.
Roush team president Geoff Smith said several weeks ago that the team would definitely not field a Cup car for Martin in 2007 and that it was close to completing a deal with Martin to drive a Roush truck. But that deal apparently fell apart after the MB2 ride became available.
One way or another, though, Smith said recently he knew Martin wasn't ready to leave the driver's seat.
more on Mark Martin Leaving Jack Roush
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