MARTIN, NO. 8 TEAM READY TO ROLL IN VEGAS

After fighting back to a 16th-place finish at California last week, Martin and the No. 8 U.S. Army/Dale Earnhardt Inc. Team roll into Las Vegas this weekend looking for their first top-10 run of the season.

At Las Vegas
Starts: 10
Wins: 1
Top 5s: 5
Top 10s: 8
Poles: -
Highest finish: 1 (3/1/98)
First time: 3/1/98 (1st)
Last start: 3/11/07 (5th)

Worthy Note: Martin won the inaugural Cup race at Las Vegas, and has finished inside the top 10 in 80 percent of his starts there.

MARTIN CLOSE TO A SURE BET AT VEGAS
Martin has been hot in Vegas, finishing inside the top 10 in 80 percent (eight) of his starts at the 1.5-mile track. He won the inaugural Cup event there in 1998, and has finished top five in 50 percent of his 10 Cup starts there. Martin finished fifth at Vegas last season and sixth there in 2006. He also has two wins (1999 and 2005) and two poles in the Nationwide Series at LVMS.

PULLING A VEGAS DOUBLE
Martin will take part in his first Nationwide Series race of the season this weekend at Las Vegas, when he gets behind the wheel of the No. 5 Chevrolet. Martin has a rich history in the Nationwide Series at Vegas, winning twice, posting two poles and collecting four top-10 finishes.

10TH ANNIVERSARY
This year will mark the 10th anniversary of Martin's win in the inaugural cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a win that remains one of the most memorable moments of his career.

THE 700 CLUB
Martin became only the 13th driver in NASCAR history to start 700 Cup races when the green flag dropped last Sunday at California Speedway. Martin currently has the 13th most Cup starts in NASCAR history. He is scheduled to make 23 more starts in 2008, bringing his total to 722, which will be the ninth most at the end of the season. Martin's total is the fourth most of active drivers. Martin started his first Cup race on April 5, 1981 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

QUOTING MARK
ON THIS WEEK'S RACE IN LAS VEGAS
"I've always enjoyed Las Vegas, and we've had a lot of success there over the years. The win there in 1998 really stands out for a number of reasons. It's really hard to believe that it has been 10 years. We had a new team and it was the first race there, and I can remember leaving the track that night and looking down from the helicopter on the track and thinking 'wow,' this wasn't some dirt track win. Very rarely in my career have I allowed myself to stop for a second and think about a win or anything, but for a few minutes I did that night. It was a big deal to win at Vegas and we had done that. It's still a special win for me.

"I'm excited about going to Vegas with Tony Gibson and this No. 8 team. We missed the setup last weekend at California and it certainly made for a long race. Still, the guys on the team really hung in there. Their work in the pits was excellent and they gained me a ton of positions on pit road. We didn't have a very good car, but we hung in there, fought to the end and finished better than we ran. That says a lot about the guys on this team."

ON THE NATIONWIDE SERIES RACE
"I've always enjoyed running in that race at Vegas and we've had a lot of success there over the years. I'm looking forward to getting back in the No. 5 Chevrolet. Those guys are a lot of fun to work with, and we had some really strong runs last season. We came pretty close to getting a win in the car last year and hopefully we can finish the deal this weekend."

FAST FACTS