By Jenna Fryer

Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Running a partial schedule the past two years, Mark Martin was able to rekindle his passion for racing and ponder the championship that has eluded him his entire career.

Presented with an opportunity to make one last run at a title with storied Hendrick Motorsports — a full-time 36-race commitment — Martin told his wife he couldn't risk passing it up and regretting it the rest of his life.

"It just was an opportunity that I absolutely could not, I just couldn't let it go by," Martin said. "I told Arlene when we talked about this that I'm pretty sure the last breath I took on my death bed would be, `I should have drove Rick's car when I had the chance.'

"I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to regret that until the last breath I took."

Martin announced a two-year deal Friday to replace Casey Mears in Hendrick's No. 5 Chevrolet. Next season will be a full schedule, and he'll scale back down to a split ride in 2010. Rick Hendrick said the team could use either Brad Keselowski or Landon Cassill, who both drive in the Nationwide Series.

But in stepping into Hendrick's elite program — the program has won 11 championships in NASCAR's top three divisions since 1984 — Martin gets a bona fide chance to win the title that has escaped him the past 26 years. Martin will join two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time champion Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the most stout lineup in the series.

"It's a legitimate shot at a championships. He's finished second four times and I'd love to see him have an opportunity to get one," Hendrick said. "That's what Junior wants to do, Jimmy wants to do, Jeff wants to do.

"If you've got four legitimate shots at it, hopefully one of them can get it."

Martin's shot has famously eluded him during his remarkable career. One of the most respected drivers in the garage, he was a perennial title contender until he scaled back his schedule after the 2006 season.

Martin has won 32 times in 710 career races starting in 1981 and finished second in the standings an agonizing four times, including his runner-up finish to Tony Stewart in 2002.

Stewart, a two-time series champion, thinks the 49-year-old Martin can be a factor in the title race at any age.

"I think eight or 10 years from now he will still be able to win championships. He's just that competitive," Stewart said. "You look at how good of shape he's in and how good of a job he does at taking care of himself. He's a guy that could go as long as he really has the desire to go.

"You're never going to lose that talent and that ability, and as long as he stays healthy like he's been doing, he realistically could do this for another eight or 10 years if he really wanted to."

A fitness freak, Martin said he's in the best shape of his career, and his health played a part in his decision.

"I feel five years younger than I did when I stepped out in 2006 after being so tired and frustrated," Martin said. "There's no chance I would have (raced full-time) in 2006. The two years I spent on this limited schedule ... gave me a chance to catch my breath and spend quality time with my family and sort of reflect on what's important and what I want to do."

He considered retiring at the end of the 2005 season, but was coaxed back for one final season with Roush Fenway Racing. He finished ninth in the standings that year.

Martin then devised a partial schedule plan with now-defunct Ginn Racing, and nearly won the Daytona 500 in their first race together — he was nipped at the finish line by Kevin Harvick. But it set the stage for a strong start to the season that had Martin leading the points and the entire industry wondering if he'd really step out of the car.

He did, sticking to his decision to run just 24 races last season and forfeiting the chance to win the championship. His contract was sold to Dale Earnhardt Inc. when Ginn walked away from NASCAR midway through last season, and Martin is splitting his seat there with Aric Almirola this year.

He knows this return has drawn comparisons to NFL quarterback Brett Favre, who is reportedly reconsidering his offseason decision to retire. Although he knows very little about football, former teammate and Green Bay Packers fan Matt Kenseth has told him about Favre, and Martin understands the inability to walk away from something you love when the performance level is still strong.

"I make no apologies for not knowing exactly what my whole life holds for me," Martin said. "When you're pretty good at something and it's been the focus of your life and the driving force of your life for 35 years and you're still pretty good at it, you probably don't want to quit it until, for me, I'm not pretty good at it.

"Beyond my love for family, I don't really have anything else with that kind of passion I have for racing. I thought at the end of 2006 that I was fine with couch time the rest of my life. But that was because I was in a frustrated fog of emotion of being worn out.

"So if I can drive something that gives me a chance to win and I can still do it, then I probably still want to do it. And I have told you guys that if it was all or nothing, I would choose nothing. And I have said that. Well, I may have changed my mind — again. I was given a chance of nothing or all in the 5 car. I chose the 5 car."

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