By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

Mark Martin has unloaded fast this week in Texas, and his Michael Waltrip Racing team continues to roll. Martin paced the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session of the week Thursday evening with a lap of 189.427 mph.

Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, A.J. Allmendinger and Regan Smith rounded out the top-five fastest in this practice session.

The No. 55 car that Martin shares with Brian Vickers and Michael Waltrip sits ninth in Sprint Cup Series owner points, and all three of the Michael Waltrip Racing team cars rank inside the top-10 of the owner point standings.

Is it time for Martin – the oldest driver that will compete Saturday night at age 53 – to roll back into victory lane? Maybe, but don’t crown him the champion of the Samsung Mobile 500 just yet.

Why you ask? Well we are six races into the 2012 season, and did you know that no driver who has paced the first practice session of a weekend has gone on to win a race? In fact in 2012, the guy who unloads the fastest off the truck has an average finish of 15.5 so far. Can Martin buck the trend? Find out Saturday evening in the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Drivers Who Have Paced First Practice Sessions So Far In 2012 and where they finished in the race

Daytona – Greg Biffle (3rd)
Phoenix – Tony Stewart (22nd)
Las Vegas – Jimmie Johnson (3rd)
Bristol – Carl Edwards (39th)
California – Clint Bowyer (13th)
Martinsville – Jeff Gordon (14th)

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com. You can also find his work at TheFinalLap.com this weekend.