BUSCH: Martin to bow out at Homestead.
The most successful driver in terms of race wins in Busch Series history, Mark Martin, will round out his Busch career in the final round of the 2005 series at Homestead with team owner Jack Roush.
Defending Nextel Cup Series Champion team owner Roush will campaign Martin in seven races during the upcoming Busch Series campaign with sponsorship from Pennzoil with Matt Kenseth taking the wheel of the #9 Ford in a further two races.
The most successful driver in terms of race wins in Busch Series history, Mark Martin, will round out his Busch career in the final round of the 2005 series at Homestead with team owner Jack Roush.
Defending Nextel Cup Series Champion team owner Roush will campaign Martin in seven races during the upcoming Busch Series campaign with sponsorship from Pennzoil with Matt Kenseth taking the wheel of the #9 Ford in a further two races.
The 2005 season will be Martin's final full-time campaign in Nextel Cup and while future outings in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series are possible for 2006, the November 20th Ford 300 Busch Series event could well be Martin's final Busch Series outing.
The day after the Busch race, Martin will make his final full-time Nextel Cup start in the Ford 400 at the 1.5-mile Homestead oval and Roush's Busch deal enables the perennial title hopeful to go for what could be a phenomenally successful final weekend.
"We are looking forward to getting back on the track in the #9 Pennzoil car," said Martin. "We had a couple of pretty strong runs in the #9 last year and hopefully we can get Pennzoil in victory lane this season. I'm pretty excited that we'll be working with Pat Tryson and an all new team on the #9 car so hopefully we'll be able to make some more noise in that series."
Martin will be a the helm of the #9 Pennzoil Ford for events at Fontana, Las Vegas, Texas, Richmond, Loudon and Kansas City before the season-finale at Homestead. Kenseth will drive the car at Charlotte and Texas in October and November.
"It will be fun working with Pat and the #9 team for a couple of races in 2005 and I look forward to driving the #9 Pennzoil car," added Kenseth. "We had a really strong run for Pennzoil last year at Vegas and we'll be looking to expand on that and hopefully get a win in one of those races. Texas and Charlotte are among my favourite tracks, so I'll be looking forward to both of those races. "
Pennzoil and Roush have a deep-rooted history. Pennzoil first sponsored Jack Roush in the 1960's, when the former Ford Motor Company engineer was a driver himself.
Martin, who made five starts in last year's Busch Series following a three-year hiatus, has a total of 45 Busch wins in a career that dates back to 1982.
