Martin adamant he will skip Bristol

The 47-year-old said that despite possible changes to his schedule of races in the second half of the season, he is definately stepping out of the No. 01 US Army Chevrolet at Bristol, where rookie Regan Smith will drive the Ginn Racing car.

"I'm not going to Bristol, and I'm not going to Martinsville," Martin told reporters with a shaking voice at Atlanta.

"I will review my second half [season] schedule but the thing is I'm not going to Bristol. That we know. We'll look at other races, you know; I'm an incredibly loyal guy and circumstances may come along.

"I know that there are a small number of races that when I laid my original schedule out that I would love to do, that I gave to Regan [Smith] in the second half, because I was trying to prepare him for full time Cup.

"Now that we're assured that he gets to race Cup, whether I race or not, they will put him in a fourth car. Then it's possible that some of those races that I really wanted to do in the second half, I could possibly do them.

"But we can put to rest the Bristol thing.

"You can make all the arguments that you want about changing your mind. But the bottom line is I'm going to take a break."

When asked what he will be doing next Saturday instead of going to Bristol, Martin replied he will be at another race track, but not behind the wheel.

The Ginn Racing driver is supporting the career of son Matt as well as that of Motocross star Ricky Carmichael, who is planning to race in NASCAR in the near future.

"Saturday night I'll be at Lake City Columbia Motorsports Park with two late models, Ricky Carmichael in one and Matt Martin in the other one, so in a sense I'm still in the job."

Mark Martin leads Jeff Gordon by six points in the Nextel Cup standings ahead of this weekend's event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.