Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

FONTANA, Calif. -- Now that he has the early-season gremlins behind him, Mark Martin is content to let the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup take its course.

The consistent level of Martin's performance has improved dramatically since back-to-back engine failures knocked him out of the second and third races of the season, at Auto Club Speedway and Las Vegas, and a crash dropped him to a 43rd-place finish at Talladega in the ninth event.

Martin, who leads the Chase standings by 18 points over three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, has finished no worse than seventh in his last six events, a stretch that has included a victory and two runner-up results.

"We had maybe an extraordinary amount of things that kind of plagued us or got us, and those things have settled down now," said Martin, who was fastest in Saturday's final practice at 180.293 mph. "And if we have seven more races where we don't have any of that, I have a lot of confidence in the performance of this race team, and (we'll) see how it works out. 

"Right now we're not really focused on all of that down the road. We're focused on the racing and going to let the racing decide."

Martin will start ninth Sunday in the fourth race of the 10-event Chase.

JOHNSON CEMENTS HIS STATURE

Jimmie Johnson, defending winner of the Pepsi 500, had his footprints cast in concrete Saturday morning during his enshrinement into Auto Club Speedway's Walk of Fame. Track president Gillian Zucker also presented Johnson with a bronze plaque and a custom surfboard during the ceremony.

Johnson grew up in El Cajon, Calif., near San Diego, where surfing is a way of life. In his current home in North Carolina -- not so much.

"The surf doesn't really make it into Charlotte," Johnson quipped. "It's a little too inland. I tried surfing back in April, and it's really not like riding a bike. I hope to get back on water soon to try this thing out."

FULL-FIELD TIRE TEST AT DAYTONA

Tire maker Goodyear has invited all Sprint Cup organizations to participate in a tire test Nov. 2-3 at Daytona International Speedway, with the expectation that 20-30 different race teams will take part.

The test, which follows the Nov. 1 race at Talladega, will provide the opportunity for Goodyear to gather data under simulated race conditions, with a large number of cars running together in an aerodynamic draft.

This is the last tire test currently scheduled before the Feb. 14, 2010 Daytona 500, but a Goodyear spokesperson wouldn't rule out additional tests, should issues develop during the Nov. 2-3 sessions