At the end of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, Mark Martin (No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Chevrolet) spurned full-time competition, saying he was ready for a break.

But as 2009 loomed, the offer he couldn’t refuse from Hendrick Motorsports came along, and in this, his first full-time season since ’06, Martin has rewarded owner Rick Hendrick’s faith.

Teamed with crew chief Alan Gustafson, the 50-year-old Martin enters this Sunday’s Sylvania 300 as the top seed in the 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, on the strength of four wins during the season’s first 26 races. His reset point total is 5,040, 10 points ahead of second seed Tony Stewart and third seed Jimmie Johnson.

Martin hasn’t won at New Hampshire, however. He does have eight top fives, 13 top 10s and two poles there; also, an average finish of 11.1 in 47 career starts.

“Every track that we’ve come back to a second time this year, Alan and these guys have brought me a better race car than we had the time before,” Martin said. “And I have no doubt that that’s going to continue. I’m looking forward to getting there. I’m looking forward to getting back out on the track.”