Martin sparks enthusiasm, respect at Hendrick

It's not every day that landing a 50-year-old athlete is considered to be a coup, but such was the case when when Rick Hendrick courted Mark Martin and convinced the NASCAR Cup veteran to run one more season of full-time competition.

The addition of Martin to one of the sport's most dominant teams, Hendrick Motorsports, entering the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season has been heavily celebrated by the men in the organization. That's saying something considering that Hendrick is the group with eight Cup championships, the one that houses three-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and four-time champion Jeff Gordon.