Martin happy to return after break

Martin will be driving again the No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet for Ginn Racing at the Samsung 500 on Sunday after being replaced at Bristol and Martinsville by rookie Regan Smith, who could not match the performances of the 47-year-old veteran.

"I'm charged up and ready to represent our soldiers again. The break was truly wonderful. I was doing just exactly what I wanted to do," said Martin, who is scheduled to miss his next race at Talladega later this month.

"One weekend I got to go racing with Ricky Carmichael and my son Matt. Another weekend I was with my two-year-old grandson. I also had friends over for a cookout to watch the last two Cup races. It was like developing and opening a new chapter in my life."

Martin now sits 15th in the Nextel Cup driver points standings despite his two-race absence and is just three places short of being in the top twelve which go on to fight for the championship in the last ten races of the season.

"That's kind of wild. I spent my entire career fighting to be up there in the top-15 or so and now I see that the best way to do it is just not to show up. Actually, we just had some great runs - thanks to some good luck, fast cars, great pit strategy and excellent pitstops."

The four-time Nextel Cup Series runner-up has a good record at Texas Motor Speedway, where he won in 1999. He also has three victories in the Busch series, including the inaugural event in 1997, plus a pole position in the last event held at the track last year.

Martin will double up this weekend driving the No. 06 Ford Fusion for Jack Roush in Saturday's Busch Series O'Reilly 300.