1 55 Mark Martin Aaron’s Toyota 26.313 136.815
2 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Mobil 1 Chevrolet 26.446 136.126
3 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row / Farm American Chevrolet 26.471 135.998
4 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 26.552 135.583
5 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 26.559 135.547

LISTEN TO THE FINAL LAP WEEKLY – PHOENIX PRE-RACE SHOW
6 39 Ryan Newman WIX Filters Chevrolet 26.570 135.491
7 16 Greg Biffle 3MWraps.com Ford 26.652 135.074
8 29 Kevin Harvick Rheem Chevrolet 26.664 135.014
9 20 Joey Logano The Home Depot Toyota 26.667 134.998
10 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 26.712 134.771
11 31 Jeff Burton Wheaties Chevrolet 26.743 134.615
12 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Brown Toyota 26.753 134.564

Continue reading “Phoenix NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Starting Lineup – Mark Martin on pole”

MARK MARTIN ON MUSIC – “Music has always been important to me. I don’t know if that makes me any different than anyone else or not. I’ve always had all my vehicles with extra oomph to them. They have all had loud speakers and stereo in them. Growing up I listened to bands like Aerosmith, AC/DC and music like that. But, there was always another side of me that likes Neil Young and singers that weren’t quite as hard rock. There was always two sides to my musical tastes even when I was a kid coming up.”

RAP – “I kind of got away from keeping up with different kinds of music when my family started growing. Then we went testing in 2002 and my crew chief Ben Leslie was playing rap music really loud in our truck. I was like ‘Man, this is really good.’ It just triggered something in me. That’s how I stumbled over rap music.”

Continue reading “The musical tastes of Mark Martin – from Aerosmith to Dr. Dre”

WALTRIP TO DRIVE NO. 40 AARON’S DREAM MACHINE TOYOTA
FOR HILLMAN RACING IN 2012 DAYTONA 500

CORNELIUS, N.C. – Hillman Racing and Aaron’s Inc. announced today that two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip will drive the No. 40 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota in the 2012 Daytona 500 on Feb. 26.

The race will mark Waltrip’s 75th start at Daytona in one of NASCAR’s top three touring series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World trucks) – the most of any driver.

“Aaron’s really does make your dreams come true,” said Waltrip. “When I was a kid thinking about racing in Daytona I never dreamed I would start more NASCAR races there than anyone. That’s amazing.”

He said it takes many factors for success.

“You have to have a great sponsor to race and Aaron’s has been a great sponsor for a long time.” Waltrip said. “I appreciate what the folks at Hillman Racing including Joe Falk are putting together. Hopefully my experience at Daytona will help them get out of the gate strong with their new team.”

Continue reading “Michael Waltrip to drive #40 Aaron’s Dream Machine at Daytona 500”

MARK MARTIN TAKES TO TWITTER
It started rather simply.

On the morning of Jan. 23, Mark Martin, dressed in his new firesuit, waited patiently in an office at Michael Waltrip Racing reading texts on his Sprint iPhone. An Aaron’s commercial was to begin filming in the shop a few minutes later.

A messenger brought in the word.

“Hey Mark, Michael just signed up you for Twitter and your address is @55markmartin.”

Martin looked up puzzled and simply said “OK…what does that mean?”

Within minutes Martin began Twitter lessons on his phone but was obviously still a bit unsure what his new boss just got him into.

“I don’t know about this,” said Martin, who begins his 30th Sprint Cup season in 2012.

Note: THE FINAL LAP ON TWITTER IS @thefinallap

Continue reading “NASCAR world in shock, Mark Martin joins Twitter”