Mark Martin leads the pack at the O'reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Ronda Greer Photo)

When nobody so much as laid a glove on O'Reilly 200 winner Mark Martin, railbirds already were speculating how the NASCAR veteran might alter the landscape if he follows through on his oft-repeated promise to compete fulltime in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2007.

Some already were conceding Martin next year's title following the Arkansas native's fifth career victory in 11 starts - including a series high four this year.

At worst, some said, he'd seriously threaten NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teammate Greg Biffle's record of nine wins during the 1999 season. Fact is, with four wins and eight starts, Martin could do it before this year's complete. Best case, Martin's tabbed to drive the No. 6 Scotts Ford in seven of the eight races remaining on this year's schedule - the exception being the Sept. 23 stand-alone event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

But it's still 2005 and Martin, who'd absented himself from the series after finishing second at Michigan International Speedway in mid-June, has more pressing business including the possibility of winning a second series owner championship for Jack Roush. Plain fact made even more evident on Wednesday night is the depth of Martin's talents which cannot be measured accurately by his lack of a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series title, although he well may remedy that later this fall.

Here's what the 47-year-old competitor has done in 2006: Excepting a 13th-place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Martin has averaged a finish of 1.7 in his other seven starts. He's led the most laps in each of the six races in which he's headed the field and is the current series lap leader with 485. Going back to 1996, a year in which Martin picked up his first victory at the old North Wilkesboro Speedway, the driver has led nine of his 11 career starts and completed every lap.

Wednesday night's win moved Martin to No. 14 on the all-time list of series winners. His .450 career winning percentage is gaudy indeed.

Martin's victory was the sixth by a Ford in 2006 and ended Toyota's five-race streak of wins in the state of Tennessee. Toyota's lead over Ford in series manufacturer standings is a slim five points.

A crew chief change - ppc Racing's Rick Gay replacing Tom Ackerman - aided Ted Musgrave's run to a second consecutive top-five finish. Musgrave started the season with six consecutive top fives but had faded from second to his current fourth in the point standings over his next 11 events.

"One of these days we're going to have to get that No. 6 truck," Musgrave said of Martin.

Kelly Sutton was missing from the garage for the first time since late 2003. Her family-owned Sutton Motorsports closed its doors last week. Crew chief Gary Showalter caught on with Gene Christiansen's Green Light Racing while pursuing future opportunities.

Sutton has the most starts (51) and money won ($442,882) by a female competitor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

David Starr's bizarre night - two back of the pack starts and a lost lap before the race was 10 laps old - ended in a fifth-place finish and a move of two spots - eighth to sixth - in the championship standings. Wednesday's finish was his fourth top five in the season's five short track races, a streak marred by "only" an 11th at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Starr had exactly zero top-five finishes in 43 short track races before joining Red Horse Racing. He broke the drought with a victory at Martinsville Speedway.

As for Wednesday's trials and tribulations, which started with a second lap brush with the wall during qualifications, Starr said, "We probably could have been a little bit better but we had to get what we could coming from the back."

Johnny Benson is enjoying a banner season in his second full year in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. His fourth-place finish was Benson's 10th top 10 of the season matching his entire 2005 output. A year ago, Benson fashioned six finishes in the top five. His current nine is an increase of 50 percent.

And, oh yes, he's Todd Bodine's closest championship rival - 154 points back.

Kevin Harvick Inc. finally landed a sponsor after running Ron Hornaday Jr. in blank livery over the season's first 16 races. Pensacola, Fla.-based Allstates Employer Services (AES) will support the team for the remainder of this season and in 2007.

Harvick had been prepared to fold the team at season's end unless a backer could be found. Hornaday currently ranks ninth in season points with two wins.

Jim Harris' Martinsville, Va.-based Harris Trucking team will unveil a truck of a different manufacturer when the season resumes next month in New Hampshire. Harris began the season with Dodges but switched to Fords exclusively beginning at Dover on June 2.

Chad Chaffin, who replaced Steve Park five races ago at Kentucky Speedway, finished 11th at Bristol, his best performance for the team that counts a single, top-10 effort in 2006.

"We're making steady progress," said Chaffin, a two-time series winner, prior to Wednesday's race.

Harris' manufacturer announcement is expected in the next few days.

New Hampshire International Speedway is one of two tracks boasting 11 different winners in 11 races. Homestead-Miami Speedway, which also joined the schedule in 1996, is the other.

Top 10 championship contenders Bodine, Benson, David Reutimann, Musgrave, Starr and Mike Bliss are among favorites to extend NHIS's streak to 12.

Neither Martin nor Kyle Busch, who finished sixth at Bristol, are on the previous winners' list either although Busch's brother, Kurt, won as a Raybestos rookie in 2000.

Last year's race, in which Rick Crawford edged Setzer and Musgrave, was one of the track's best with eight drivers exchanging the lead 17 times.

Some wondered what Bristol Motor Speedway management might be thinking after scheduling a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on a Wednesday night when the track returned to the schedule in 2003.

It turned out to be one of the smartest moves in series history as the track's loyal camper base found a reason to add a day to their sojourns in Thunder Valley.

This year's crowd - estimated at 64,000 by various sources - was the largest yet bettering last year's estimate of 60,000.