Martin on board with MWR for next two seasons

Autoracing Betting Lines

11/04/2011 - Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Waltrip Racing made it official on Friday that Mark Martin will drive the team's No.00 Toyota in a partial Sprint Cup Series schedule in 2012 and '13.

Martin and team co-owner Michael Waltrip made the announcement at Texas Motor Speedway, where the series is running the eighth race in the championship Chase this weekend.

The 52-year-old Martin will compete in 25 Sprint Cup races each of the next two seasons. He will make his debut with MWR in the February 26 Daytona 500. Martin is presently in his third and final year as driver of the No.5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Kasey Kahne is taking over driving duties of the No.5 car, starting next year.

Martin will join Martin Truex Jr. and recently acquired Clint Bowyer in MWR's three-car stable next season. Bowyer is leaving Richard Childress Racing at season's end.

"It's the perfect schedule for me," Martin said. "It gives me an opportunity to catch my breath and to spend a little bit more time with the fans and with the sponsors. Hopefully, it will give me a bit more time than I'm able to do now with the [Hendrick] team. They've given me an opportunity here to hopefully have an effect on the direction of the program."

Martin also ran a part-time Sprint Cup schedule in 2007 and '08, driving for Ginn Racing/Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Waltrip will drive the No.00 car in both Talladega races, as well as the July events at Daytona and Kentucky, which is his home state.

MWR also announced that it has extended its sponsorship agreement with Aaron's for the next two seasons.

Waltrip said it did not take much convincing for Martin to join the team.

"This whole process from the time it was mentioned to sitting here today has been less than three weeks, "Waltrip said. "It didn't take a lot of time to convince Mark. We got a lot of great things going on at Michael Waltrip Racing. He loves the commitment that Aaron's had made to this sport. It was kind of an opportunity for him to step back a little bit and refresh his batteries by running a limited schedule.

MWR plans to run a combination of drivers and sponsor partners to fill the remaining races when Martin and Waltrip will not be behind the wheel of the No.00.

David Reutimann is the current driver of the No.00. On Thursday, MWR announced that Reutimann will not be return to the team for next season.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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