Mark Martin Ranks Third
Mark Martin is the third most popular driver in NASCAR, according the 2007 Q Score Ratings. Martin ranks behind only Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon in the rating system conducted by N.Y. research firm Marketing Solutions. According to the firm, hundreds of millions in advertising decisions are based each year on the ratings. The survey is mailed each year to 2,000 people who identify themselves as fans of at least one sport.

Martin’s score is made that much more impressive by his ‘part-time’ driving status in 2007.

“I don’t pay much attention to that kind of stuff,” said Martin. “But it is nice to know that you have fans out there that support you like mine do and that’s what it all boils down to."

"Coming into the year, I didn’t know what the interest would be like," added Martin. "I was with a new team and only driving a part-time schedule, but we’ve found the interest to be really awesome and I think we are proving that you can make this type of scenario work for our team and our sponsors. I think it says a lot about the type of fans that I have and the type of organization Ginn Racing is to be able to come into this thing and be so successful right off the bat.”

Martin’s fast start in 2007 - including a dramatic second-place finish at the Daytona 500 and walking away from full-time action with the Nextel Cup point lead – helped in Martin’s popularity boom.

Martin’s score of 22 ties with him with Danica Patrick as the third most popular driver in all of Motorsports, and is just behind Gordon (23) and Earnhardt Jr. (28). Michael Jordon topped the list with a score of 55.

Martin will take this weekend’s race at Loudon off, before returning to action next weekend at Daytona International Speedway for the Pepsi 400. He will then race in the next three races at Chicagoland, Indianapolis and Pocono before sitting out Watkins Glen as part of his limited schedule in 2007.

Hendrick Won't Appeal Penalties
Car owner Rick Hendrick confirmed today that the sanctions levied by NASCAR on Tuesday against the Nos. 24 and 48 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams will not be appealed by Hendrick Motorsports.

"The penalties are excessive," Hendrick reiterated. "But we're not going to put time and resources into issuing an appeal. Instead, we will direct that energy into our internal processes to make sure we have full confidence that our cars will meet standards when presented for inspection each week.

"We've said from the beginning that this would be a learning process (with the Car of Tomorrow) and there would be a lot of give and take between NASCAR and the teams to figure it out. That doesn't seem to be the case now, and I don't think it's the right direction to go."

Hendrick Motorsports Interim Crew Chiefs Named
No. 24 car chief Jeff Meendering and No. 48 car chief Ron Malec have been named interim crew chiefs for their respective teams beginning with Sunday's NEXTEL Cup event at New Hampshire International Speedway.

"In Jeff and Ron, we have two guys who know their teams inside and out," Hendrick said. "They both have been here a long time, they both know the pressures involved and they both have the full support of our entire organization. We don't expect to miss a beat."

Meendering, 30, began his Hendrick Motorsports career in October 1994 sweeping floors in the chassis shop as a 16-year-old high-school junior. He has since won 10 NASCAR championships as a member of the organization. From Grand Rapids, Mich., Meendering joined the No. 24 team in 2000 under crew chief Robbie Loomis, working as a setup specialist and mechanic before being promoted to car chief in September 2005.

A Franklin, Wis., native, Malec has a long history with driver Jimmie Johnson. The pair met more than a decade ago when Johnson was racing off-road trucks, and they later became roommates when both were involved in the American Speed Association. Malec and Johnson each moved to North Carolina in 1999 and again worked alongside one another in the NASCAR Busch Series before joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2001 as original members of the No. 48 team. Malec has been car chief for Johnson's entire NEXTEL Cup career.

The 32-year-old Malec, also the rear-tire carrier for the No. 48 team, will be supported on race day by veteran crew chief Lance McGrew. McGrew won the 2003 Busch Series championship and has posted victories in each of NASCAR's top three divisions. He is also familiar with Johnson after working as his Busch Series crew chief this season.

Crew chiefs Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus will resume at-track duties for their respective teams at the Aug. 19 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event at Michigan International Speedway.

Statements From Letarte ~ Knaus
STEVE LETARTE, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 24 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET: (ON THE PENALTIES IMPOSED BY NASCAR.) "It's been a great season so far and we have a really strong, championship-caliber team in place. The penalties are unfortunate and severe, but we'll put the situation behind us and focus on winning a fifth championship for the No. 24 team."

LETARTE: (ON INTERIM CREW CHIEF JEFF MEENDERING.) "Jeff is my go-to guy. We have similar backgrounds and we've both been here (with Hendrick Motorsports) a long time. This is a tough pill to swallow for me, but he'll do a great job leading the team and keeping things moving in a positive direction. We'll rally and Jeff will get more support from the organization than you can imagine."

CHAD KNAUS, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 48 HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET: (ON THE PENALTIES IMPOSED BY NASCAR.) "It's definitely disappointing, but we have a very capable and committed team. For whatever reason, we seem to thrive on adversity. We've overcome challenges in the past and I know we'll get through this as well. I didn't feel like we were outside the box in Sonoma, but that's NASCAR's call and they made it."

KNAUS: (ON INTERIM CREW CHIEF RON MALEC.) "Ron is the only car chief I've ever had on the No. 48 team. He knows the guys better than anyone and they all have a ton of respect for him and what he's accomplished. Ron has been our backbone from the beginning and he'll do a terrific job. It's not the way I wanted to see him get an opportunity, but he's ready and more than capable of getting it done. I'm grateful to have talented guys like Ron and Lance (McGrew) available. It just goes to show how deep this organization is."

Martin Could Have Been Docked 100 Points
I've been asked the question many times this week. "If Mark Martin had been driving the No. 24 Hendrick Chevrolet this past week at Infineon Raceway, would he have been been penalized the 100 NASCAR Nextel Cup driver's points instead of Jeff Gordon." As a contingency plan, Gordon did have Martin standing by to drive the car just in case his baby was born on the weekend. Herb Brannam, NASCAR communication manager said "Yes, he would've been penalized the 100 points".

ARCA Champion Tim Steele Retires
If there was ever a natural born race driver, it may be said that Tim Steele fitted into that category like a glove. But for the three-time ARCA RE/MAX Series national driving champion, it just didn’t feel natural anymore.

“It took me nine and a half years to get there,” said Steele. “But the last time I was in a car, it just didn’t feel natural anymore. It seems like I’ve struggled with this decision forever; but I always told myself that if I ever got scared it was time to get out; or that if I ever felt like I had lost my God-given ability, it was time to get out.”

For Steele, 39, that time has come. The Coopersville, Michigan driver has officially announced his retirement from driving.

After a very successful career in the ARCA RE/MAX Series that produced championships in ’93, ’96 and ’97, and more superspeedway victories than any other driver in series history, Steele was on the verge of signing a contract to race fulltime in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Then a crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway on November 5th, 1997 left him with a closed head injury and changed his world forever.

“I was 10 days away from signing a Winston Cup contract when I crashed; and we were going to run for the 1998 Cup Rookie of the Year. My dad and (Green Bay Packers quarterback) Brett Favre were purchasing the team from Bud Moore, and we had Nike and Sony lined up as sponsors. Looking back in ’98 when I was at the Mayo Clinic, I now know the doctors were right when they told me I should probably find a different career.

“I just wasn’t willing to accept that; it was like admitting defeat. Racing was my life; it’s how I earned my living, and the only job I ever had since I was 20. I didn’t know anything else, so it was so hard to walk away from my life. I had worked so hard to get where I had gotten. I just couldn’t give up on it now.”

Unfortunately, there would be ongoing, residual physical and personal issues that would plague Steele during his comeback phase of his career. Regardless, it’s worth noting that despite the ongoing struggles, Steele still managed 11 more ARCA RE/MAX Series victories after the accident.

From 1993 through 2006, Steele, driving his father Harold Steele’s HS Die entries, won 41 ARCA RE/MAX Series races in 146 attempts, which equates to victories in 28% of all the races he entered. Steele is still the all-time superspeedway winner with 24 victories, including nine at Pocono Raceway, which still tops the charts. Through it all, he earned 86 top-five finishes, 101 top-10s and led 5,423 laps in 93 races. That means that Steele led laps in 64% of every race he entered, a feat unmatched yet today. He also won 31 career pole awards.

ARCA President Ron Drager was witness to Steele’s ascension through the ARCA ranks from start to finish.

“Tim Steele, at his best, was as good a driver as there ever has been in the ARCA RE/MAX Series,” said Drager. “His statistics place him at or near the top of nearly every category in the 55-year history of our series, especially in superspeedway competition. While he has had to forgo what was at one time an exceptionally promising driving career, it's great to see that he can continue to participate in the sport, and you can bet he'll prove to be just as competitive as ever in his new role.”

His new role requires the transition from driver to owner. “I’ve tried different things with my Dad, out at his ranch in South Dakota and with all the things he’s got going on while still racing my late model. But doing other work outside of racing didn’t always feel right either. I just didn’t live for it like I did racing. The day we crashed at Toledo testing our late model earlier this year, I was driving my bike home after the wreck and I came to the decision it was time to get out, and that was that. Johnny VanDoorn, a 19-year-old local driver from Coopersville, had just won at Berlin, so I put him in my late model. We went to Dixie and just cleaned up. He had three-quarters lap on the field when the final caution came out. I mean, they were racing like crazy for second, but not for the win. It reminded me of some of my days in ARCA.

“Anyway, that win really lit my fire again. I hadn’t felt that kind of desire since before the wreck in ’97. So now I’m back at it working on racecars 12, 14, 16 hours a day, and I’m loving every minute of it. “Now I can take the energy I used to spend driving and begin developing the skills necessary to build relationships with sponsors. I can orchestrate from the owner’s seat rather than from the driver’s seat, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

VanDoorn is equally excited about the opportunity.

“Teaming up with Tim Steele and HS Motorsports will help out my career, no question about that,” VanDoorn said. “We’ve been at the top of the speed charts ever since we started working out of Tim’s shop and we are looking forward to more of that in the future. HS Motorsports has a long history of running up front and contending for wins and championships, which is what we plan on doing. With the experience Tim and his crew chief Chip Caputo provide, that will only speed up my learning curve.”

Steele added, “Having Johnny in our car will be fun to watch. When I decided to stop driving, I thought I’d miss it. But working with Johnny has been awesome. And seeing him run a car that looks like mine will be great. Hopefully, all the fans that I had along the way will remember that car and follow Johnny, ‘cause he has a bright future.”

The familiar red #16 will carry long time Steele sponsors: HS Die, Visi Cad/Cam, Tooling Software Technologies and Hometown Sunoco of Cutlerville Michigan. Also on board will be Magic Transportation who has backed VanDoorn since 2003. Despite Steele’s newest opportunity in the late model world, his desire to return to ARCA RE/MAX Series competition is still at the forefront of his thoughts.

“I’ve got the name I have because of ARCA,” added Steele. “ARCA’s been very good to me over the years, and I’ve earned a damn-good living doing it, and I’ll do anything I can to support it. If you’re going to bad mouth the series, better not to do it around me. ARCA gave me the chance to get to the big time, but I got hurt. It just wasn’t meant to be as a driver, but maybe as an owner. I just really feel like I can go someplace with my decision I’ve made, and I’m looking forward to it. My dad always said, ‘you create your own luck; the harder you work, the luckier you get.’ Now I finally understand it’s true. And I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.”

Next stop for Steele and his newest protégé VanDoorn will be the CRA Super Series late model race at Angola Motor Speedway Saturday, June 30th.