Driver: Mark Martin
Car: No. 5 Pop-Tarts/Carquest Chevrolet Impala SS
Track: Talladega Superspeedway (Nov. 1, 2009)
Bio: Mark Martin never did like racing at Talladega, or Daytona for that matter, and the AMP Energy 500 in 2009 was an eloquent reminder of why that was. In the thick of a championship battle with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, a few races before the season finale, the legendary Arkansas driver wound up exiting the race on the penultimate lap via the Big One.
Martin was on the low line as the field roared out of Turn 4 headed for the tri-oval on lap 190—already two laps past full distance—when Kurt Busch got shunted out of shape riding the top line. With the field at 200 miles per hour and inches apart, it was like a turbine rotor had detached at full song, and the carnage started right away. As the upper line dodged, it ricocheted several cars toward the inside of the track. One of those was Martin Truex Jr., who arrowed across and into the right rear of Martin’s car.
That sent the No. 5 to its roof in front of the field and eventually head-on into the outside wall in the tri-oval. Bounding back toward the inside, the car was still rolling at a good clip, and Martin managed to steer it to pit road. When he hit the gas to get moving again, however, the damage presented itself and the car stopped with fluid streaming from several sources. His race was finished, a little more than a lap from the official distance. He was fine, but his championship hopes were not. He finished 28th, 22 spots behind Johnson, and that cost him 66 points in the race for the title, which would be Johnson’s fourth straight in a few more weeks. Martin eventually finished second in the final standings, 141 behind Johnson.
That car, which was torn up but good, made its way to the Racecar Graveyard at some point soon after, and the North Carolina elements have not been particularly kind to it. As you’ll see in the photos, the signature bright yellow trim on the original car is a faded, sickly white now. Nonetheless, it is a fitting reminder that old racecars never actually die...they just become part of the scenery. The part where this car rests is a nice one, however, with the soothing creek burbling happily in the background.