Mark Martin, driver of the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion, is tied with Dale Jarrett for the most NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series wins at Michigan International Speedway among active drivers with four. Martin, who is third in the point standings, talked about why MIS is such a favorite.

MARK MARTIN – No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion – IT SEEMS MICHIGAN IS THE OPPOSITE OF POCONO WHERE YOU CAN JUST GET THE CAR RIGHT AND NOT WORRY ABOUT THE TRACK SO MUCH. “Yes, it is. Maybe it’s because I’ve had more success here than some people, but it seems like it is as simple as you put it. It’s straightforward, let’s just go out here and get this car right and everything is gonna be fine. You’re less handicapped by horsepower here. You’re less handicapped by some things that you can’t control and you’re more handicapped by your own abilities and your car’s abilities and your ability to work with your team to fix that car. It’s always been more in my hands here than most race tracks of this size -- my hands meaning mine and my crew. You go to a restrictor plate race track or a Pocono race track or at Indy, and if it won’t run on the straightaway, it won’t run on the straightaway. It’s over. All you can do is make the best of an ugly situation. Here, if it doesn’t run on the straightaway, if you make it handle and stay on the tires, you will pass those guys. That’s a breath of fresh air for example. Now I don’t have to deal with that anymore because we’ve got some giant motors, but that’s just an example of how it is in the worker’s hands here.”

THIS TRACK IS ALWAYS AT THE TOP OF THE DRIVER’S LIST FOR FAVORITE TRACK. “Yeah, it is. You’re not limited to one groove. Martinsville is so frustrating because what you have is what you have and that’s it. Here, it’s not the end of the world. What you have is like, ‘Well, let’s just see what we can do with it up here,’ or, ‘Let’s go down there and see what we can do with it.’ It’s not over once you have a problem with the handling characteristics. It isn’t death to the effort like it will be at a place that you’re confined like, let’s say, a Martinsville.”

WILL 400 MILES HERE SEEM LIKE A SPRINT COMPARED TO 500 MILES AT POCONO? IT CAN BE A LONG DAY THERE. “Yes, but you know we have the ability to make even a 400-miler take a long time (laughing). I’m gonna be careful with what I say (laughing). I’m hoping this feels like a sprint race.”

A YEAR AGO WE WERE WRITING RETIREMENT STORIES AND NOW YOU’RE DOING SO WELL IN A COUPLE OF SERIES. WHAT’S UP? “I’m so busy that I can’t even think about 2007, so I have no idea what 2007 brings and don’t even care about 2007 right now. I’ve got a lot on my plate, the most I have ever had in my career, and we’re trying to make the most of it. We’re focused on what’s right here in front of us and trying to make the chase and make another run at the championship. We’ll worry about 2007 when I get all of that taken care of.”

LOOKING BACK ON HOW IT’S WORKING OUT, ARE YOU HAPPY ABOUT COMING BACK? “I’m happy with everything about 2006, especially the opportunity to work with AAA and teen driving safety and seat belt issues and things like that. I am regretful for the intensity of my schedule. If I had to do it over again and had the flexibility to say what I would and wouldn’t do, I would have cut some things out.”

DID YOUR FAMILY HAVE A BIG SAY IN YOUR DECISION? “They supported this.”

AT THE START OF THE YEAR YOU DIDN’T KNOW HOW YOU WERE GOING TO REACT TO COMING BACK. DO YOU FEEL THAT CHAMPIONSHIP FIRE STARTING TO BURN A BIT? “I have a problem of overdrive. My tendency is to want it too much and to work too hard and to push too hard and accept nothing less. That’s me. I was concerned going into Daytona because on media day at Daytona I still didn’t give a flip. Unfortunately, I blasted right through that and on into probably as bad as I’ve ever been on intensity and it’s taking a lot of effort from me to try to contain my intensity and not let it run or spill over into a negative or deficit. My challenge since Phoenix has been to not push this thing over into the destructive side of it and to be brutally honest with you, I am right on the edge. Anyone that would ever question needs to look at that and say, ‘The guy has lost his mind.’ I’m on the chip. I’m on the rev limiter. I’ve been working hard to try to stay off of it. We have shown, to this point, that we have the capability of being a championship contender if we can just get all the stars lined up. It’s not a long reach. It’s not a far-fetched deal. It’s not a long reach. The kind of performance we’ve had on the race track at places like Dover and Phoenix and Atlanta, and some of these places, shows the promise that if we can just get it all lined up and keep emotions in check and keep our eye on the target, that it gives us that chance and that hope that if we do wind up in the chase, which things are headed in the right direction if we can keep it going that way, we can have a chance. That’s all I ask for. I don’t ask for a Cup, I ask for a chance at the Cup.”

DOES RUNNING THE TRUCK SERIES GIVE YOU A DIFFERENT OUTLET FOR THAT INTENSITY? “It helps me keep things in perspective and keeps me having fun. I was having a blast up until May and then when we hit the stretch in May it became a little bit of overload with testing three weeks in a row and running all those races and doing all the things that we have to do off the race track. It got to be too much of a good thing for me, so when I get to climb in that truck it’s sort of a release or an outlet for everything, where I can just go race and not worry about all those other things and not worry about whether or not we make the chase or score a point. Let’s just go race and have fun and it’s been real good therapy for me. I’m having a good time with it.”

DO YOU GET TO HELP MATT WITH HIS CAREER AS MUCH AS YOU WOULD LIKE? “No.”

HOW DISAPPOINTING IS THAT FOR YOU? “I just don’t have time for that right now. I don’t have time for the emotions that are associated with it. I’m keeping my focus where my family is concerned – on them – not on his racing, but on being able to absorb my last chance to hang out with him while he’s 14 and we’re making the best of that and it’s really, really, good. There’s just not quite enough of it.”

Greg Specht, North America Operations Manager for Ford Racing Technology, was part of a manufacturer’s panel discussion hosted by Nextel earlier today at Michigan International Speedway. Specht addressed such issues as NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow project and Toyota’s entry into the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series in 2007.

GREG SPECHT, North America Operations Manager, Ford Racing Technology – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CAR OF TOMORROW? “I agree with Robin (Pemberton). I think that with the test out at Lowe’s (Motor Speedway) we really turned the corner on the car of tomorrow. The feedback that we got from the drivers was very, very good. They were happy with the package and our aero people and chassis people are happy with the package now. As the design is frozen and we can start looking at pretty close to what we think we’re gonna be racing at Bristol next year, we’re excited about finishing it up and then getting on board in terms of starting to stamp on sheet metal and starting to build chassis and starting to learn as much as we can so we can be ready for the race at Bristol. We’re also starting to realize and understand the benefits that the car of tomorrow are going to bring. It’s going to be costly to make the changeover, but we think once that’s done the teams will be able to have fewer cars in their fleet. They will have more adjustability built into the car with adjustments they’ll be able to make at the track during the race weekend, which enable them to free up some of their time and resources. Instead of constantly making trips to the wind tunnel and trying to build individual cars for individual tracks, they’ll be able to take more of a generic package to several tracks. And then with the adjustability that NASCAR has built into these things that they’ll be able to make the tweaks to the car to make the driver happy at that particular track, so we’re looking forward to getting on with it.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON FORD’S SEASON SO FAR? “We’re happy with the performance of the Fusion, not only on the track but in the marketplace as well. It’s doing well out there and being very well accepted by our customers in the showroom. I think, hopefully, we’ve gotten a lot of our bad luck out of the way in the first half of the season. There were a few races that slipped away there due to nobody’s fault, certainly not the fault of the equipment. We think it’s performed very well, it’s just those racing deals that popped up, but we’re pleased and we’re seeing that our teams are picking up momentum. It’s going to be interesting the next few races because there are a lot of teams and drivers that are vying for those last two or three spots to make the chase and I’m pleased to see our guys bubbling up towards those spots and confident we’re gonna get a couple more drivers up there for the chase.”

SO FORD FEELS COMFORTABLE WITH THE CAR OF TOMORROW AT THIS POINT? “Yes, we do. We like the package as it has evolved and I think that’s because NASCAR included the manufacturers in the development process, which we appreciate greatly. We know what we’re getting into and it’s not just something that was thrown over the wall to us, so all of the manufacturers have had the opportunity to participate in the development of the car, so really there should be no surprises for anybody when the thing gets rolled out. It’s about 95 percent complete and we’ve come to a good compromise not only on the aero performance of the car and the safety features, but also the brand identity of the car. NASCAR has been really good in working with us and ensuring that we’re able to put a car on the track that looks like a Fusion and represents our brand very well. That’s very important to us. That’s a big reason why we’re here and we think we’ve come to a package that will enable us to do that.”

WE’VE HEARD ABOUT TOYOTA COMING IN AND SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY ON PERSONNEL. IS THAT A CONCERN FOR YOU GUYS AND IS THERE ANY DOUBT ABOUT FORD’S LONG-TERM FUTURE IN THE SPORT? “I would say that Ford’s commitment to racing has not changed. We’ve been in it a long time – since the beginning of the company – and we intend to stay. I agree that NASCAR has done a good job over the past couple of years defining the rules and enforcing them so you can’t spend money to get a competitive advantage with your equipment. However, what we don’t have, for example, are salary caps, and I think it’s more than just a coincidence that with Toyota coming into the series we’re seeing salaries escalate at geometric proportions, which I don’t think we saw when Dodge came in. So I think that dynamic has changed and it is a concern for us.”

WHAT IS GOING ON AT ROBERT YATES RACING? “Obviously they’re struggling. Their performance isn’t where they want it to be and where it’s been in the past. They haven’t won a race yet this year. They won a race last year. There are ups and downs in this sport and every professional sport. It’s so competitive out here that if you’re off just a tick, you’re in trouble and you’re not performing to the level that you want to be. I’m confident that with the caliber of the people that are on that race team starting with Doug and Robert Yates, and with their experience and history with the sport that they’re going to come back. Teams go through struggles. You look at Richard Childress Racing a year or two ago and they were struggling, but they’ve turned it around. We’re confident that Robert Yates is going to get that turned around as well.”

WITH THE WING AND SPLITTER ON THE CAR OF TOMORROW HOW HARD WILL IT BE TO MARKET A CAR WITH THOSE ASPECTS? “I don’t think too many of our street cars have today’s spoiler on the back of them. Actually, when we put that wing on we thought it made it look more like our street cars.”

GOING BACK TO TOYOTA, THE U.S. AUTOMAKERS ARE STRUGGLING IN THE MARKETPLACE. DO YOUR BOSSES SEE THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN BACK CAR BUYERS IF YOU BEAT TOYOTA ON THE TRACK AND WILL THERE BE MORE PRESSURE? “The competition here has always been ferocious. I think NASCAR is the most competitive form of motorsports on the planet. It’s absolutely ferocious and always has been. The piece of the pie is going to get smaller. We have an objective of what percentage of races we think we ought to win and that’s going to be tougher as the number of players increases, so are we re-doubling our efforts? Absolutely. Do I think it’s going to be any more difficult in terms of competition? I don’t think so. We’re pretty much going flat-out now and we’re looking at how we can be smarter with how we use the resources that we have, and, absolutely, we want to defend our turf. That’s why we’re here.”