Mark told a group of reporters at the annual Lowe's Motor Speedway Media Tour.
Grinning ear-to-ear the veteran driver went on to elaborate."I just can't believe that I've been presented with this opportunity to do something that I wanted so much," said Mark. "There are just so many things going on here at Ginn Racing - in addition to driving the car. Working with all of these young drivers is especially rewarding to me. Drivers like Ricky Carmichael; he's going to be driving my car down in Florida this year. I do have a short track program and getting the chance to race Ricky down in Florida is going to be a lot of fun."
Mark, who will co-drive the No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet with Regan Smith in 2007, went on to elaborate on the plans briefly laid out by team owner Bobby Ginn during the first part of the tour.
"I really see the vision of the five-year plan," said Mark. "Even more than I did when I signed up for this thing. It's really starting to all materialize in front of me and I can see the thrill and the excitement of the challenge as we start to take off on our plan. Bobby has given me a great opportunity and I'm thankful for that, it's like I am living a dream here."
"What we've tried to do is come in and be good partners with Jay (Frye, CEO/GM) and the team," said Ginn. "We've tried to work hard to make improvements where necessary such as bringing in Gary DeHart (shop operations manager) and with some of the other changes we've made. We had to get started quickly and our business plan is pretty much laid out for the next five years. We didn't go into this with a short term attitude, we went into this with a plan and we knew it would take a long time to develop the shop and develop the way we work together in the shop."
"What I'm not asking people to believe is that we are going to go out
and win the series next year," added Ginn. "But, we are committed to a
five-year plan to really grow into a team than can and will compete at
that level. The amount that we have in place already is very important
and the way we promote our teams. Having good sponsors and having them be
successful is something that is key to building a good strong team that
can compete down the road."Mark seems to have found new purpose with Ginn, not only as one of the top drivers on the circuit, but as a mentor and a teacher to Ginn's crop of development drivers, all of which will benefit from Mark.s tutelage and direction.
"He has not only the ability to go out and win races, but also the desire to help come in here and build the development program," said Ginn. "He is just a tremendous asset to Ginn Racing and we are very excited about his being here."
Mark and the No. 01 U.S. Army team travel to Las Vegas next week for their second testing session together as a team, as they continue to prepare for the upcoming season. Mark remains excited about his driving duties as well as his role as a teacher.
"I'm excited about driving the U.S. Army Chevy and we have more big announcements to come," added Mark. "It's just a big transition year for me, after 19 years, but we have a lot going on this year, and we are just really excited about what we have coming up in the near future and down the road as well."
