Mark Martin will become the eighth driver to start 800 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races when he takes the green flag in Sunday's Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

"I hate to say this isn't a big deal, because it is," said Martin. "But, to me, the bigger deal is what you accomplished in those starts, not just the starts themselves."

Martin has collected 40 wins, 264 top-fives and 429 top-10s since making his first Sprint Cup start On April 5, 1981 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Martin scored his first career top-five finish at Martinsville Speedway on September 27, 1981 and made his first trip to Victory Lane at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham on October 22, 1989.

"I've had a really good 799 starts. We've had a lot of wins, a lot of success and a lot of fun. I've made friends out here that will be friends forever, and I can't imagine anything else I would have rather been doing than racing all of those days. Beyond the stat itself or the records or whatever, it's the experiences of it all that are the most important to me."

The popular Arkansas native joins Richard Petty, Ricky Rudd, Dave Marcis, Terry Labonte, Kyle Petty, Bill Elliott, and Darrell Waltrip as the only drivers to compete in 800 Sprint Cup races.

Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray are scheduled to make their 300th starts Sunday at Martinsville.

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