DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Let the show begin.

On Friday at Daytona International Speedway, team owner Rick Hendrick and veteran NASCAR driver Mark Martin announced a multi-year deal that places Martin in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevrolet (watch video).

Martin, 49, who has 35 career Cup Series victories including four runner-up finishes in the championship -- as well as holding what is now the Nationwide Series' record for career victories with 48 -- will compete full time in 2009 and in a 26-race part-time schedule in 2010.

Still got it?

Mark Martin will give it one more go for a title, this time with Hendrick. Bill Kimm and Dave Rodman debate whether Martin still has what it takes.

• Complete story, click here
• Smack: Martin right choice?

Martin has never won a championship at NASCAR's highest level, but reiterated on Friday that that fact in no way defines, or leaves a void in his career.

And he said his teenage son Matt's decision not to pursue a career in racing, which Mark Martin said he was "proud of and relieved by," helped him focus on his own passion for racing. He also said it made his decision to step back into the Cup Series full time, easier.

"It's an honor to get the consideration to do this -- to join this team," Martin said. "Any driver with a pulse would want to drive the 5 car.I did not see this coming and wasn't interested in talking about it, really, with any other teams. I don't know for sure if you guys [the media] comprehend what this really means to me -- the opportunity to work with these guys at this stage of [my] career.

"[Winning] the championship was not a consideration [in taking this deal]. Being sure that I was getting into something that had a chance to win meant everything.

"I want to get on track with the team and the program. I want to integrate with the people and be able to hopefully, somehow or other, figure out a way that I can contribute, which may not be very easy to find when you have the kind of people that they have here.

"Obviously, as we move forward, our goal is to make the Chase and compete for a championship. But like I say, I look at the shorter-term things. As we conquer one, then maybe the next will come.

"For me, I know that one of the important things that Rick has used over and over again when we were talking about this, and he mentioned that, is having fun. I'm not an expert at that [laughing]. I look forward to trying to expand that a little bit. It's going to be fun. I'm excited. I couldn't sleep [Thursday] night if that tells you how excited I am. I look forward to it. I can't wait."

Martin joins a team that contains two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time champion Jeff Gordon and two-time [Nationwide] Series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr., who's currently the lead Hendrick driver in the championship, in third.

Hendrick said he thought placing Martin, who last competed full time in Cup in 2006, when he finished ninth in the championship, with highly regarded young crew chief Alan Gustafson would only be a positive for his organization and the fans.

And he downplayed any difficulty that might arise from having four high-profile drivers on his roster.

"It's more pressure on them than it is on me -- I give them the same stuff and it's up to them. I like putting two dogs together and rubbing their noses and letting 'em fight," Hendrick said, reflecting on conversations he's had with his other three drivers. "You know, each one of them has told me they can beat the other guy. And privately, I agree with them [laughing].

"I think I've said this before. Mark will complement what we've got and he will make it better. And I talked about this with each one of these drivers at length. And it's a fit factor that you want in your organization if you want to add something or do something -- you want it to be a positive and not a minus and not pull it down.

"You could make some decisions that won't help you; that hurt you. We all agree and each crew chief and each driver agreed that Mark Martin will make us better -- he will help us. After racing with him [in the Nationwide Series, where Martin won earlier this season] I believe that."

Martin first drove a Busch Series car for Hendrick at Darlington in the spring of 2007, and finished second. It was the first of three events he raced in Hendrick's cars, which were merged with Earnhardt's JR Motorsports to run in the 2008 Nationwide Series.

"When he got in the Busch car for the first time he amazed me at what he could do and how he could read the car," Hendrick said. "I just kind of casually walked by him [near the Busch car] and said, 'You know I sure wish you would consider running a whole schedule, I would put you in a car.'

"Then I knew the bait was there. The best barometer that I have are our drivers that race around guys and give you feedback and they know who's got the talent and they know who they would like to work with and who they feel comfortable with. And when all the pieces fit and the only piece that didn't fit was [Martin] agreeing to run all the races. When that worked out we couldn't do it quick enough."

Martin's wife and son attended the announcement, as did his future teammates Johnson and Earnhardt and Hendrick executives Doug Duchardt and Marshall Carlson. Hendrick said Gordon was at a charity function that prevented his attendance.

To a man, his teammates were thrilled at the prospect of having Martin as their teammate.

"I think Mark is going to do a lot for that 5 team," Johnson said, before breaking into a grin. "His knowledge and enthusiasm at his young age to still be in the car and to build a race team and to do all that he does -- he's a special man and I'm very proud to have him on board at Hendrick Motorsports.

"And I look forward to not only what he brings to that 5 car, but also his mind-set on the sport and the way he sets up his cars and what he looks for. There's a lot that we're going to learn from Mark. And I'm really looking forward to the relationship and things getting started there."

The beginning of Gordon's NASCAR career involved a short overlap with Martin's. Martin ran Busch cars for Bill Davis Racing into the early 1990s, while Gordon's two-year Busch Series program with Davis in 1991-92 introduced him to Martin.

"That was an experience of a lifetime, and I became a big Mark Martin fan," Gordon said after his qualifying run. "I recognized his talent when I got to race with him [in the Busch Series] and ever since then I've been a huge fan.

"He continues to impress me -- it seems like the older he gets, the better he gets. He's unbelievable, and I can't wait to see what he brings to our organization."

“

The two years that I've spent on this limited schedule were 100 percent necessary. There's no way I would have accepted this deal in 2007. No way.

”

MARK MARTIN

Hendrick said Martin joining his team for its 25th anniversary season, with his record of 12 top-five and 16 top-10 championship finishes in 20 complete Cup seasons, would have an immediate result.

"I think he'll make us all better," Hendrick said. "And I think that's one of the things [the HMS drivers] are excited about and we're excited about. You can never have too many resources. To have a guy as smart as he is running a race and [doing] race preparation -- he's always up front, it doesn't make any difference.

"He has that ability to know what he wants and what the car needs. When you can implement that into what we have, it should make us all better."

Martin said he needed the break he took when he stepped out of the series full time after the 2006 season, but that he was ready to run full time again -- citing Hendrick's vow to make racing fun.

"I'm going to have to dig deep -- Rick's going to have to figure out a way to deliver that 'fun' promise [because] I think when you're happy, it makes a huge difference," Martin said. "I think that it will be fine as long as I'm having fun and as long as I'm happy.

"But I will say as much fun as I'm having this year in the No. 8 [his current Dale Earnhardt Inc.] car, I was sure ready after seven weeks in a row and three tests to watch [Infineon Raceway] from the couch.

"But there'll be plenty of couch time later. I'll just dig deep. I'm in the best physical condition I've ever been in, in my life. I feel five years younger than I did when I stepped out in 2006 after being so tired and frustrated and everything.

"The two years that I've spent on this limited schedule were 100 percent necessary. There's no way I would have accepted this deal in 2007. No way. These last two years have given me a chance to catch my breath and spend quality time with my family and sort of reflect on what's important and what I want to do.

"I got a kick of how this process went because I didn't really think that it was going to be a full schedule for a while. But this is a big deal to me. It's not something you could recreate. I told [wife] Arlene when we talked about this, I'm pretty sure that the last breath I took on my death bed would be, 'I should have drove Rick's car when I had the chance.'

"When it finally came down to having to make that decision to do a full schedule versus a limited schedule, these are [Arlene Martin's] words, 'If you're going to drive, that's the deal to do.' I did [the deal]. I didn't want to regret that until the last breath I took."

• Also: Martin qualifies on outside of front row at Daytona