01-21-2020, 06:49 AM
Out for the season with a broken leg, Tony Stewart turned to one of NASCARs most respected drivers to take over the No. 14. At 54, Mark Martin is up for the challenge of taking the wheel for his good friend. "Hopefully, we can turn the 14 car back over to Tony an even stronger organization than what it was when he stepped away and got injured," Martin said. "Thats the thing that I really want to work hard to do, is when its all said and done with, I hope that they can look back and say they were glad that they had me as a part of the organization." Martin was released from his part-time schedule at Michael Waltrip Racing on Monday and will drive the No. 14 Chevrolet in 12 of the final 13 Sprint Cup races for Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart, a three-time Cup champion, will miss the rest of the season while he recovers from the broken right leg suffered in a sprint car crash Aug. 5 at Southern Iowa Speedway. Nationwide Series driver Austin Dillon will drive the No. 14 on Oct. 20 at Talladega. Dillon filled in for Stewart on Sunday at Michigan and finished 14th. Martin entered 16 of 23 races as part of a shared ride in the No. 55 with Michael Waltrip at Brian Vickers at MWR. Vickers, who won this season at New Hampshire, will now drive the No. 55 Toyota for MWR in 12 of the final 13 races. He was originally scheduled to drive just three more times. Waltrip will race the No. 55 at Talladega as previously scheduled. Martin has 40 wins and 56 poles in 870 career Sprint Cup starts. "My motivation for racing is not for points, its for racing," Martin said. "I want to race, and I want to finish." Martin gets his chance after Stewarts injury cost him his shot at driving for a fourth championship. Stewart had one win this season and was a solid contender to make the Chase for the Sprint Championship. Martin will be the third driver in the No. 14 this season. Max Papis drove the Toyota in Stewarts absence at Watkins Glen. The No. 14 car is 13th in the owner standings. "Obviously, Im disappointed to be out," Stewart said in a statement. "But the team is in very good hands with Mark Martin and Austin Dillon. Mark is someone Ive looked up to my entire career and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. Austin is a great young talent, and he showed that Sunday at Michigan." Stewart is expected to return in time for preseason testing in January 2014. "We expect a full recovery by Daytona or close to it," said Greg Zipadelli, competition director at Stewart-Haas Racing. "It may be able to be done earlier, its just not worth it. Its a bad break to the leg, and he needs time to go through the process of healing, rehabilitation, all those things." Martins arrival was the only transaction SHR was ready to announce on a busy day of musical seats. Kurt Busch had reportedly been offered a deal to drive a fourth car next season for Stewart-Haas Racing, and is mulling that offer and others. Stewart said last month the organization was not ready to expand to four cars in releasing Ryan Newman. "Obviously, theres options out there," Zipadelli said. "Were looking at everything thats there. There is nothing done. Right now, were focused on (Newman), trying to win another race to make it into the Chase and getting Mark fitted up in this car and heading to Bristol to do the best job we can." Newman, who won at Indianapolis, is 15th in the standings and out of Chase spot with three races left until the 12-driver Chase field is set. Stewart is 18th and dropping in the standings and Danica Patrick is 27th. SHR will remain at least a three-car operation next season when it adds Kevin Harvick. Waltrip said Martin achieved all the goals both he and the team set when he began a 24-race schedule in the No. 55 in 2012. Martin nearly won at Michigan before running out of fuel with four laps left. MWR announced last week that Vickers will drive the No. 55 Toyota for a full Sprint Cup schedule beginning next season. "No one wants to see Tony out of the 14, but I am appreciative of the opportunity to get more seat time in the 55 as a result," Vickers said. Waltrip said MWR would now turn its attention toward signing No. 55 crew chief Rodney Childers and keep him with Vickers for next season. "Brian is poised to race for a championship," Waltrip said. "The job hes done in the 55 on a limited basis has been really impressive. To be able to be a part timer and grab a win like he did at Loudon, thats just amazing in this day and age." It took some co-operation to get this deal done. Martin needed MWR and sponsors Aarons and Toyota to let him out of his deal to jump to SHR and drive a Chevrolet. Martin could now help send the No. 14 into the owners standings portion of the Chase and knock out an MWR team. Martin, who has five runner-up series finishes and no championships in a three decade Cup career, said he has yet to consider his plans for 2014. "A week ago, I was going to race a partial schedule," he said. "Now, Im racing all but one with a whole new situation with what I feel like is a lot of challenges and a lot of pressure. "And I dont want to think about 2014 at all right now." China Jerseys Cheap . Fielder ended 4-for-5 with a solo homer, while Avila was 4-for-4 with two runs scored for the Tigers, who put the brakes on a three-game skid and rebounded from a loss in Mondays opener. Victor Martinez and Austin Jackson both contributed two hits, an RBI and a run scored as Detroit maintained its healthy lead atop the AL Central. Cheap Jerseys . Costa Rica followed up its wins over Uruguay and Italy by holding England to a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday, enough to finish first in Group D. https://www.chinasjerseys.com/. -- Without Carey Price, the run for a first Stanley Cup in 21 years got steeper and longer for the Montreal Canadiens. China Jerseys 2022 . -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Nike China Jerseys . He scored two highlight-reel goals in a three-minute span -- the second on a sideways bicycle kick in the 78th minute -- to give the Whitecaps a 2-2 draw with the Portland Timbers before a crowd of 20,303 at B.PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Marc-Andre Fleury skated to centre ice, eager to add an exclamation point to his 28th victory of the season. The Pittsburgh goaltender was cut off, though, by referee Kyle Rehman before he could reach Montreal counterpart Peter Budaj. All Fleury could do was shrug his shoulders as Rehman guided him out of harms way. "Oh well," Fleury said with a laugh. It was the only thing that didnt go Fleurys way on a night the Penguins restored order to their universe. Fleury stopped 23 shots, Jussi Jokinen picked up two goals and Pittsburgh dominated the Canadiens 5-1. Evgeni Malkin added a goal and an assist, Sidney Crosby picked up his 26th of the season and Taylor Pyatt added a rare score as the Penguins rebounded from a dismal performance against lowly Florida on Monday by overwhelming Montreal. "We definitely buckled down, especially defensively," Crosby said. "Didnt give them a ton and when we did (Fleury) made some great saves and we generated some good chances and capitalized on them. It was a good game to respond." The Panthers snapped Pittsburghs club-record 13-game home winning streak by outclassing the Eastern Conference leaders on both ends of the ice to send the Penguins to their worst home defeat in more than two years. Coach Dan Bylsma called it the byproduct of a steady decline in play over the last three weeks and the rustiness that comes with the return of regulars like James Neal and Paul Martin to the lineup. Whatever the problems were, they disappeared 48 hours later. The Penguins were crisp in the neutral zone, responsible on defence and efficient on offence. They didnt pepper Price so much as they surgically picked him apart. All five goals were either the byproduct of deft passing or nifty stickwork. Rene Bourque had his seventh goal for the Canadiens but Montreal spent most of the night fruitlessly chasing the Penguins. Carey Price stopped just 16 of 21 shots before being pulled late in the second period as the Canadians fell for the fourth time in six games. "Pittsburgh is the best team in the conference, and they were the best team tonight," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "They played hard and they deserved success." Jokinen, who tends to score in bunches, gave the Penguins the early lead after being on the receiving end of a bit of brilliance by Mallkin.dddddddddddd The Russian star took a pass from Matt Niskanen then darted around a flat-footed Montreal defender before feeding Jokinen with a centring pass that Jokinen easily slid by a diving Price 8:48 into the game. "You cant let Malkin carry the puck like that up the ice," Bourque said. "It looked like he was playing a video game out there every time he went around us." Pyatt doubled Pittsburghs advantage later in the period, deflecting a Niskanen slapshot from the point to make it 2-0. After failing to score in his first 27 games this season — 22 with the New York Rangers and five with the Penguins — Pyatt has found the back of the net twice in three games. Bourque briefly gave the Canadiens a lift by chipping the puck by Fleury late in the first, his seventh goal of the season coming via replay after his shot was initially waved off by officials. The momentum shift didnt last. Jokinen fired a knuckling one-timer by Price 5:46 into the second period to restore Pittsburghs two-goal lead and Crosby pushed his point total to an NHL-high 69 by redirecting a pass from Chris Kunitz that made it 4-1. Malkin ended Prices night by swooping in from the right circle and putting in his own rebound. Price skated to the bench after being chased for the second time this season in favour of Budaj, who stopped all 10 shots he faced. The saves will be long forgotten. The way Budaj nodded across the rink to Fleury to start a fight that never quite happened wont, though Budaj insisted it was nothing personal. "I think there was just a scrum on the ice and there was built-up tension - you know, we were losing 5-1," Budaj said. "It was a disappointing night for us. So props to him that he wanted to do it. Thats good." NOTES: All six of Pittsburghs defencemen had at least one assist. ... Penguins G Tomas Vokoun skated for about 45 minutes on his own Wednesday morning, the first tentative steps in his return from blood clots in his pelvis. The 37-year-old Vokoun was taken off blood thinners recently though it remains unclear when Vokoun will be cleared to practice. ... Montreal scratched F George Parros and D Raphael Diaz and Alexei Emelin. ... Pittsburgh scratched F Zach Sill and D Robert Bortuzzo. ... Pittsburgh plays at the New York Islanders on Thursday while the Canadiens play at Detroit on Friday. ' ' '