Martin to replace Mears at Hendrick next year, run full time

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Running a partial schedule the past two years, Mark Martin was able to rekindle his passion for racing and ponder the championship that has eluded him his entire career.

Presented with an opportunity to make one last run at a title with storied Hendrick Motorsports -- a full-time 36-race commitment -- Martin told his wife he couldn't risk passing it up and regretting it the rest of his life.

Mark Martin, 49, will ditch the part-time schedule for a shot at a title. (AP)

"It just was an opportunity that I absolutely could not, I just couldn't let it go by," Martin said. "I told Arlene when we talked about this that I'm pretty sure the last breath I took on my death bed would be, 'I should have drove Rick's car when I had the chance.'

"I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to regret that until the last breath I took."

Martin announced a two-year deal Friday to replace Casey Mears in Hendrick's No. 5 Chevrolet. Next season will be a full schedule, and he'll scale back down to a split ride in 2010. Rick Hendrick said the team could use either Brad Keselowski or Landon Cassill, who both currently drive in the Nationwide Series.

But in stepping into Hendrick's elite program -- the program has won 11 championships in NASCAR's top three divisions since 1984 -- Martin gets a bona fide chance to win the title that has escaped him the past 26 years. Martin will join two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time series champion Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the most stout lineup in the series.

"It's a legitimate shot at a championships. He's finished second four times and I'd love to see him have an opportunity to get one," Hendrick said. "That's what Junior wants to do, Jimmy wants to do, Jeff wants to do. If you've got four legitimate shots at it, hopefully one of them can get it."

Martin's shot has famously eluded him during his remarkable career. One of the most respected drivers in the garage, he was a perennial title contender until he scaled back his schedule after the 2006 season.

Martin has won 32 times in 710 career races starting in 1981 and finished second in the standings an agonizing four times, including his runner-up finish to Tony Stewart in 2002.

Stewart, a two-time series champion, thinks the 49-year-old Martin can be a factor in the title race at any age.

"I think eight or 10 years from now he will still be able to win championships. He's just that competitive," Stewart said. "You look at how good of shape he's in and how good of a job he does at taking care of himself. He's a guy that could go as long as he really has the desire to go.

"You're never going to lose that talent and that ability, and as long as he stays healthy like he's been doing, he realistically could do this for another eight or 10 years if he really wanted to."

A fitness freak, Martin said he's in the best shape of his career, and his health played a part in his decision.