Twenty-eight year NASCAR veteran Mark Martin will man the wheel for his 725th career Cup race today when they wave the green flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Arkansas native will not go away quitely as he qualified eighth for the third race of the season. The race is set to begin at 4:30pm ET and will broadcast live on FOX.
Mark Martin Odds to Win the Shelby 427 at Sportsbook.com have the elder statesman listed at +1500 on the moneyline.
Martin, who raced his first Cup race in April of 1981, is not off to a great start this year, but his car has been mostly to blame for his position in the points standings. While he finished a respectable 16th at Daytona, he only ran 179 of the 250 laps last week at the Auto Club 500. Engine trouble doomed him to a 40th place finish in Fontana and a subsequent 27th position in the Cup rankings with 168 points.
Last Sunday's finish, however, did not deter the venerable driver as he will start inside the top 10 this afternoon with a qualifying time of 29.140 seconds. Martin, a four time second place finisher in the Cup standings, has raced at Las Vegas 11 times in his career. He has one win (March 1998), five top fives (45.4 percent) and nine top 10 finishes (81.8 percent). Last year he placed 10th in the race and led one lap.
Mark, who pilots the number five Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports, has driven in 724 career races. He has 35 wins, 243 top fives, and 396 top ten finishes as well as over $54,000,000 in career winnings.
Sportsbook.com's Mark Martin's Odds to Win the Shelby 427:
To Win +1500 (Moneyline)
Top Three Finish +450 (Moneyline)
