Martin has experienced a ton of misfortune to start this season. He was running fourth in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he ran over a piece of debris, cutting a tire and severly damaging his No. 5 Kelloggs/Carquest Chevy. He finished 31st.

During the previous two races, the Shelby 427 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the Auto Club 500 from Auto Club Speedway (Fontana), he experienced engine failures that gave him a pair of 40th place finishes. 

His 16th-place finish in the Daytona 500 looks pretty good right now, compared to his finishes in the last three races.

Crew cheif Alan Gustafson was expected to meet with Martin to discuss how the team can save its season. The problem is, it hasn’t been mistakes as much as it has been bad luck.

The Daytona 500 was called early due to rain. If it hadn’t been, Martin may have finished better than 16th. He won the pole at Atlanta and was running in the top 5 when his tire blew.

He didn’t have winning cars at Las Vegas or Fontana, but he certainly could have finished better than 40th.

As a result of the misfortune, Martin is changing his focus from the Chase and championship to winning races. He is mathematically still in contention, but he knows that making up points on one person is easier than making up points on 34 people.

So, for now, Martin is concentrating on winning his first race since 2005.

Mark Martin, driving the No. 5 Kelloggs Chevy of Hendrick Motorsports, will start outside row one in second position with a speed of 187.817 mph.

While the rest of the positions will be set by the results of the Gatorade Duels on Thursday, the top three of the ”go or go home” cars are locked in to the Daytona 500. Those drivers are Bill Elliott, Tony Stewart, and Travis Kvapil.

Terry Labonte is also locked in the show because of his past champion’s provisional.  He can race his way in, but if he fails to do that, he will claim the 43rd starting spot.

The team hopes to get the contract signed this week so an announcement can be made this weekend at Michigan International Raceway.

Right now, rumor has it that Mears would move to the No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevy, and Clint Bowyer would move over to the No. 33 General Mills Chevy. The reason: General Mills was not comfortable with Mears driving under the Cherrios banner next season because his current sponsor primary sponsor is Kelloggs.

Of course a couple of days ago, Martin Truex Jr. was rumored to be going with Penske Racing with UPS. So, you just never know.

Moving from the 99 and Carl Edwards to the 00 with Michael McDowell seems absurd. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against MWR and McDowell, but come on, Roush is Roush. The only way this would make sense is if UPS offered to pay more to sponsor the 99. Then, heading to the 00 might not be such a bad idea for Office Depot. 

Sponsorship may prevent a lot of these rumored deals. Think about it, I’m sure that Kelloggs wants to stay on board with the 5 car. If Tony Stewart were to move to Hendrick Motorsports, do you think for a second Home Depot would not follow him? I believe they would. So, who wins? Kelloggs or Home Depot?

I don’t have an answer. In the end, though, I may be completely wrong. Last year, Budweiser let NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., get away.