Chevrolets on a part-time Nextel Cup schedule this year will take the wheel of
Hendrick's No. 5 entry in the Busch Series race Friday at the track.The thrill for me is to be able to drive for Rick Hendrick, and to be able to say that I did that before my career ends as a driver is really special," he said. "To have [Hendrick Motorsports] with their enthusiasm and a chance to work with more really brilliant people that I can maybe learn something from, this is the greatest time in my life.
He says he sees a strong chance of getting his 48th series win.
"The way this car has run this year with Kyle [Busch] in it, if I can get in there and not do something stupid and do a good job of relaying [information] and integrating and working with the team, then we should have a shot at it," he said.
While Mark seems excited about the opportunity, team owner Rick Hendrick appears thrilled to have a veteran such as Mark driving for him. Hendrick said the relationship started casually and evolved into a job offer.
"When I heard that he was going over to Ginn Racing and he wanted to talk to us about our support and the engine program, we just started talking and he said, 'Hey, I'd like to drive one of your Busch cars one day,' and it just kind of started," he said. "It's exciting. He's just such an icon. And I think we'll learn something. I think we'll learn a lot from Mark and his input."
Hendrick's also excited about having a racer of Mark's caliber - and not just from a competition standpoint - driving for the team.
"He's the kind of guy that if you can't win a race, you feel good about watching him win cause he's just a real gentleman on the track," he said. "He's helped Kyle when Kyle first came into the sport. I kind of compare it to having Darrell [Waltrip] win the Daytona 500 in our car. When I look back at the end of the day and we look at the wins we have and the people that have been part of it, I think it's going to be really neat to have Mark's name on that list."
