Hendrick says No. 5 car is Martin’s ride, Martin’s call

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(July 25, 2010)

INDIANAPOLIS—Team owner Rick Hendrick knows better than to talk in absolutes.

Though he knows NASCAR racing is a changeable sport and wouldn’t say definitively that Mark Martin would be in the No. 5 Chevrolet next year, Hendrick did say the No. 5 is Martin’s ride and his call to make.

Ray Evernham, who won three championships with Jeff Gordon as a crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports, raised questions about Martin’s status Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when he suggested that Martin would step aside for the good of the organization to make room for Kasey Kahne, who is leaving Richard Petty Motorsports after the 2010 season and has signed with Hendrick to drive the No. 5 car in 2012.

There were those who suggested that Evernham was functioning as a stalking horse for his former boss. Here’s what Hendrick had to say to a small group of reporters who caught up with him Sunday on the way to the grid at the Brickyard.

Q: Is there an update on the Kasey Kahne situation?
Hendrick: “We don’t have anything to announce yet. I just haven’t made any decisions yet. We’ve been close a couple of times, but nothing that we wanted to do. There’s still a lot of options, and we’re just trying to wait to see what works out the best.”

Q: Will Mark Martin be in the 5 car next year?
Hendrick: “We have a deal with Mark and we’re going to honor that and we want to honor that. Kasey’s known that, so that’s kind of where we are.”

Q: Is there any way that Mark Martin will not be in the 5 car?
Hendrick: “I can’t tell you that because I don’t know. As soon as I tell you that there’s no way … but right now it’s his seat and it’s his call.”

Q: Are you leaving the door cracked?
Hendrick: “I’ve told you guys before that you just never know what could happen. I’m just saying that right now that’s his seat and it’s his ride and we haven’t changed our plans or our ideas in any way since the announcement started. That’s kind of where we are.”

Q: Can you comment on Ray Evernham’s discussion on Mark Martin stepping aside graciously for Kasey Kahne?
Hendrick: “Let me say something to you guys, you’ve known me for a long time. I don’t need anybody to do any dirty work for me. If I have anything I want done, I’ll go to the people—I won’t have somebody else doing it or speaking for me. Mark has made a heck of a contribution to our organization, has and still is. I wish Mark could drive four or five more years. That’s kind of where we are right now.”

Q: What has made this deal so difficult?
Hendrick: “You have sponsors that are conflicted and even though I’m not involved, Kasey’s coming to us in a year (2012), so some of our sponsors are sensitive and then some of the people that want to be involved can’t be involved in over a year, so it has been more complicated.”

Q: Is there something (other than) with Chevrolet involving Kasey Kahne?
Hendrick: “Look, if I tell you what I will do and what I won’t do and I end up doing something different because I never thought about it, then you think I lied to you so I’m keeping all options open with whether it’s a Chevrolet or something else. I’m trying to make everybody happy, all our sponsors, NASCAR, the whole deal. If it wasn’t for NASCAR, it would be real easy for me. I would have five teams next year, and I wouldn’t be going through all this.”

Q: Are you actively searching for sponsorship for Kasey Kahne?
Hendrick: “No. We’ve had a lot of calls. … You guys want to know what’s going on. Mark’s tired of you asking him questions, and I’m probably the guy holding it all up. I want to make sure I do the right thing, and I look at all the different (options).”

Q: Is this very uncharacteristic of you to have something drag out this long?
Hendrick: “It’s my fault—I take 100 percent—but I’ve never signed a driver this early under a four-car cap rule and we do have a lot of options, but those options you have to make everything fit with the sponsors and everything else. We might have a potential player that has a conflict and I’ve got it in contracts that the guy that’s going to drive for me in a year can’t be associated or he comes and he’s got to bring that guy with him in some cases. It’s just a very complicated deal. Is it more complicated than I anticipated? Yeah, but at the same time, I do have options, and I want to make it the best option for everyone involved.”

Q: Is sponsorship the main hang up?
Hendrick: “That’s part of it, not all of it, just part of it.”