Martin: Tryson is tremendous.

On the eve of the start of his final NASCAR Nextel Cup season, Mark Martin knows that he has just one more chance to capture two things that have eluded him during his long and storied career to date: A win in the Daytona 500 and a Nextel Cup title.

But, says Mark, thanks to crew chief Pat Tryson, he has one of, if not, the best teams in the garage helping him achieve his goals.

Thanks to NASCAR's in-car radio system, TV viewers worldwide heard Martin ask Tryson a resounding but loaded question part-way through a race last year: "Where have you been my whole career?"

In 2004 Tryson helped get Martin and the #6 Roush Racing team back to the front of the pack. Martin rebounded from a sub-par 2003 to move back inside the top-five, finishing fourth in the Nextel Cup points, while keeping his championship hopes alive well into the final race of the season.

In fact, after finishing 17th in the points the previous season, Martin found himself only nine points outside of first place before cutting a tyre midway through the season finale at Homestead.

"Pat Tryson is just a tremendous crew chief," said Martin. "He just knows how to get the things done that I need and he put together one of, if not, the best teams in the garage. The strategy was sound, the cars were fast and the stops were great and that is what you have to do to compete out here."

This year Tryson moves into his second full-season at the helm of the #6 team and he is excited about his team's chances in '05.

"We have a great team and one of the best drivers to ever get behind the wheel of a race car, so how can you not be excited about that," said Tryson. "Everyone knows that this is Mark's last year in a full-time Cup car, and make no mistake about it, we are looking to win races.

"We have all the tools in place for a great season, it's just a matter of us going out and getting the job done. We know Mark is capable, so we just have to help provide him with the things that he needs to win races."

The team will have a busy month in January. They have already tested at Lakeland and will open their three-day test during the second session at Daytona this week. The team will then test Las Vegas at the end of the month and Fontana on the 1st and 2nd of February before moving on to Speedweeks the following week.

"I tell you what, we are ready to go," added Tryson. "This is a team made up of some pure racers and we are ready to go race. I know I speak for the team when I say we can't wait to get back down to Daytona and get back out on that track. We've put a lot of work into the off-season and we hope to see some of that work pay off here in a couple of weeks."