By Shawn Courchesne

Remember when Mark Martin announced he was retiring from Roush Fenway Racing and Sprint Cup Series competition after the 2005 season?

And then he was retiring from the team after the 2006 season.

And then he was cutting back on his schedule for the 2007 season and would help out things over at Ginn Racing.

And then he was helping out with things at Dale Earnhardt Inc. by running part-time in 2008 after Ginn was acquired by DEI.

Remember when Mark Martin was considered one of the most loyal drivers in the business for all his years of dedication to Roush?

Now it looks like the once retiring, once semi-retiring, won't ever go away driver is looking to run for his fourth team in four years.

ESPN reported Sunday that Martin would leave DEI after this season, where he is splitting time in the No. 8 car with Aric Almirola, to run full-time in 2009 for Hendrick Motorsports.

The network reported that Martin would replace Casey Mears in the Hendrick Sprint Cup Series stable, which already includes 4-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, 2-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and the sports's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Martin would not comment on the situation Sunday and nobody from Hendrick or DEI was confirming anything about the Martin situation, although a DEI official did confirm to the network that Almirola would run full-time in 2009.

Martin, 49, has 35 career Sprint Cup Series victories and has finished second in the standings four times. He has five top-10 finishes in 12 starts this season.

Mears, 27th in the Sprint Cup Series standings, has one year remaining on his contract with Hendrick. The nephew of open wheel legend Rick Mears has finished 17th or worse in his last six starts. He has one victory in 51 starts for Hendrick and 12 top-10 finishes.

Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick was noncommittal when asked by ESPN about Mears' future with the organization.

"I'm committed to him right now," Hendrick told ESPN. "I'm committed to him making that car run better right now."

". . . We're looking at everything right now. We're not ready to make any announcements. Guys, give me a break. What's there to tell? We just want to get in the Chase, we want to run good, we want to win races."

Mears had a season best finish of fifth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

Asked if he was returning to the organization in 2009 Mears told ESPN: "I don't know yet. Obviously, we haven't had a good season. I think anything could happen. Right now, I don't really have anything good to talk about."

Have an opinion on this story? E-MAIL KARNAC to send a letter to the editor!