ShareThisBy BILL WHITEHEAD
The No. 6 is Mark Martin's calling card, but that number - with the minus sign that came before it when Bristol's post-race points standings were posted - left the Roush Racing driver and his championship hopes hanging on the edge.
Martin's 28th-place finish was his third-worst performance of the year. Even worse at Bristol was what preceded his name in the post-race points standings, the ugly -6 that denoted him falling six spots to the precarious 10th position in the Nextel Cup standings.
And it's a little late in the game to be having negative signs before your name if you're a driver with championship aspirations, even if you've been no lower than sixth in the points since the season's second race at California.
Until after Bristol. Until now.
Martin's final Cup season has been an odd one, to say the least.
On the track, he's been solid but unspectacular, winless but near the top in points, seemingly always running in the top 10 but not challenging for too many wins. He was 11th in points after the Daytona 500 but has been in the top 10 ever since.
The events surrounding his impending departure from NASCAR's top series, though, have been confusing. Roush Racing's Todd Kluever has been groomed to replace Martin in the No. 6, but Kluever's performance has been mediocre at best, leaving many to wonder if Martin might return for another "final" season.
Team president Geoff Smith said Martin won't be back in a Roush Racing Cup car next year because all seats were filled and that the 47-year-old driver would lead the group's truck racing effort. Yet Jack Roush said he wouldn't rule Martin out of the 2007 Cup equation and wants to give the driver as many options as possible.
As for racing, Martin's average finish in his two races at California and Richmond this year is 10th, and anything resembling that result will keep 11th-place Kasey Kahne at bay, though Kahne has been good on the two-mile superspeedways and scored his first career win at Richmond last year.
And if Martin regains his consistency during the next two races, the Daytona resident will rebound from last Saturday's bad luck and secure the final spot in the Chase by putting together a pair of solid runs in the next two weeks.
But that -6 in the standings at Bristol certainly injected a little excitement into Martin's sometimes mysterious, often humdrum final Cup season.
