Martin: Points lead won't change my mind.

NASCAR veteran Mark Martin has insisted that leading the Nextel Cup standings after two rounds won't convince him to go back on plans to only run a partial season in 2007.

Martin has enjoyed a stellar start to his new relationship with Ginn Racing, finishing a very close second in the Daytona 500 before adding another top five finish in Sunday's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway, but he maintains that he will continue to share the #0 US Army Chevrolet with rookie Regan Smith as planned even if a maiden Cup title appears possible.

'No' was the one-word answer he gave to journalists at the Fontana venue when asked if he had plans to stay in the car full time, before going on to discuss the potential of the team.

"I'm just proud to represent the United States Army and to work with this team - man, this is just awesome," he enthused, "We had a couple of difficulties here today, but we had a really fast car and I'm very encouraged.

"There were times when we were as fast as the leader. There were a couple of times when we were a little faster and times when we were off but, all in all, we have the potential here to get up there and win a race. I think we've shown that the last two weeks, and we'll just keep working to try to make all these Ginn Racing teams better."