Martin appears likely to join Earnhardt at Hendrick in 2009

Searching for one last shot at the elusive Cup title, Mark Martin is likely to exit the No. 8 at DEI and join Hendrick in 2009. Mark J. Rebilas/US Presswire

It is not what you'd call a shocker, the news this week that Casey Mears will be losing his ride at Hendrick Motorsports come season's end. What is surprising is that Mark Martin will replace Mears. To the NASCAR-challenged, this is like the New York Yankees replacing a struggling, young outfielder with someone like, say, Ken Griffey Jr.

No announcements have been made yet, but the dominoes will soon fall, according to a source close to the situation.

Though he's well-liked personally at HMS, Mears simply hasn't performed. Teamed with crew chief Alan Gustafson, whom I consider one of the top-three crew chiefs in the Sprint Cup Series, Mears has done virtually nothing of note this season.

How slow has he been? He's authored only one top-five run (last week at Sonoma), he's led a whopping total of five laps and he's 24th in points. What makes Mears look even worse is that last season this No. 5 team, with Kyle Busch piloting the car, had one win, 11 top 5s, made the Chase, and finished fifth in the final standings. In other words, this is a championship-caliber team; it's just not getting a championship-caliber performance out of its driver.

Enter Martin. A four-time runner-up in the final standings, Martin will turn 50 in January. According to my source, Martin wants to make one last serious charge at that elusive title, and that's why he wanted to sign a one-year deal with Hendrick, the most dominant team of the Chase era.

No driver Martin's age has ever won a championship -- the oldest to capture a title was 46-year-old Bobby Allison in 1983 -- but Martin believes he has one good year left in him and that, given top-flight equipment, he can contend. Considering that Martin was leading the points last season after the first three races -- he then opted to drive a part-time schedule -- he appears to still have what it takes to challenge for checkered flags on a regular basis, age be damned.

But to me, the real winner of the Martin-to-Hendrick storyline is going to be Dale Earnhardt Jr. Little E shares the same garage at Hendrick with Mears, and while the two have a solid relationship, it's pretty clear that Mears isn't bringing much to the table in terms of setup information. Martin, on the other hand, will be in a unique position to help Earnhardt. This season Martin has been driving Junior's old car at DEI, the No. 8 Chevy, and Martin is working with many of the same people that Earnhardt spent time with over the previous eight years. So Martin and Junior have plenty in common, and the depth of their shared history will only help them as they work together to find speed next season at Hendrick.

In a way, this move to bring Martin to Hendrick almost seems to be as much about Earnhardt as it is Martin. Rick Hendrick desperately wants to get Little E his first title, and while that might happen this season -- he's currently third in the standings -- Earnhardt will be the first to tell you that he hasn't consistently flashed the speed that's been shown by Kyle Busch, who is clearly the championship favorite at this point. By luring Martin to Hendrick in '09, Earnhardt will have an ideal mentor who's part father figure and part racing guru. Think about it: Will anyone in the sport next season have a better supporting cast than Earnhardt?

In a word, no. It would be a nice story if Martin wins his first championship next season as he drives into the sunset, but it would be an even bigger story if he helps Little E hoist the Cup in Homestead come November 2009.