Yesterday over 200 fans were in attendance to meet Martin at the re-grand opening of NAPA AUTO PARTS in Westbrook, ME. Thanks everyone for coming out and giving Martin a warm welcome!

The Coca-Cola 600 was a tough race for the NAPA Racing team. We ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up in someone’s mess. It was a tough deal because we started to make some ground up and we were in the Lucky Dog spot with 150 laps to go. The NAPA KNOW HOW guys did a great job working on the car considering we weren’t anywhere near where we wanted to be when the green flag dropped at the start. But, we stuck with it, and it looked like we were going to turn it into a decent night. Unfortunately when we started our move forward, we got into the wreck. It is what it is and now it’s off to Kansas Speedway.

It’s been a busy week so far. On Tuesday, the NAPA team tested at probably one of the hottest places on earth – Laurenburg, S.C. We were there to shake a few things down in preparations for the upcoming road course race at Infineon Raceway.

The big deal for us is on Thursday night. NAPA has teamed up with Bass Pro Shops to collect items for the victims of the Joplin, Mo. tornado. It’s really a great deal because MWR organized the event with all of our partners to happen at two places. I’ll be at Bass Pro Shops in Olathe, Kan. with NAPA and my team from 6 to 8 p.m. to help collect donations. Fans are encouraged to stop by and for the first 200 who make a donation, I will personally give them a signed No. 56 die-cast, free of charge. Michael is stopping by at 7:15 p.m. to help out. Aaron’s is also hosting an event in nearby Shawnee at the same time. David Reutimann and Bobby Labonte will be there. Michael is at Aaron’s from 6 to 6:45 p.m. before he heads to Bass Pro Shops. We’ll all be signing autographs and collecting supplies like canned good, toiletries, blankets … we’ll take whatever items we can because it will go a long way to help all the people in Joplin rebuild their community. I am really proud and excited that we are working together for such a good cause. I hope we have a good turnout so we can really help them.

After the Kansas Speedway race, the hood of my NAPA Toyota along with my firesuit, racing gloves and shoes are going up for auction to help raise funds. Reutimann and his team are donating the same items from the Kansas race. If you are interested in joining our cause and want to bid on our items, please visit NASCAR Unites.

As always, thanks for all your support and be on the lookout for next week’s video blog!