Mark Martin to postpone retirement

It isn't much of a surprise, but it looks like Mark Martin's retirement from Nextel Cup Series is going to be postponed for a year. In the afterglow of a victory in Thursday night's IROC race at Richmond, Martin said it appears he will be back in Jack Roush's #6 Ford next season, after all. "It really looks like I'm going to be in the 6 car next year," Martin said. "It's looking more and more like that all the time." Martin said he had planned to spend next season driving a handful of Busch Series races, as well as racing for his own new team in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series. But things got complicated recently when Roush signed Jamie McMurray away from Chip Ganassi Racing. McMurray signed for 2007, with the hope that he or Roush could convince Ganassi not to pick up his option for 2006. Ganassi has refused to let McMurray go next season, though, apparently leaving Roush a driver short. Instead of trying to find an interim driver, Roush has begged Martin, who came to the Cup Series with Roush in 1988, to help him out and stay on for one more year. Apparently, Martin has indeed decided to continue in the #6 through 2006. ESPN.com/AP