Martin settles for second

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Typically, when a NASCAR driver does something that only Richard Petty and Bobby Allison have done before, it is a sign of excellence.

Not this time, not for Mark Martin.

His wait for a NASCAR championship will last at least another year.

Martin accepted NASCAR's silver medal for the fifth time Sunday, unable in the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to make a run at derailing Jimmie Johnson's march toward stock-car immortality. Martin joined Petty and Allison as the only drivers to finish No. 2 in the points standings five times.

"I probably picked the hardest one ever to try to win, but my race team was so awesome," Martin said, the emotion clear on his face as he emerged from his car. "I just want to thank the fans and the competitors for their support. Means more to me than that trophy would, I swear."

Martin also was second in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002.

Last rides: Casey Mears and Reed Sorenson face an uncertain racing future in 2010. Both drivers made their final starts for the respective teams, don't have a deal for next season - and potential rides already appear dried up.

Sorenson made his last start in the No. 43 for Richard Petty Motorsports and finished 40th. He'll lose his job once RPM merges with Yates Racing.

Mears has no firm deal in place for next year and is on his way out at Richard Childress Racing. He was 19th at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Michael Waltrip, who actually led one lap, finished 30th in his last race as a full-time Cup driver. Waltrip will scale back to a partial schedule in 2010 to make room for Martin Truex Jr. to join Michael Waltrip Racing.

"He was a guy that always talks in a positive manner about NASCAR," race winner Denny Hamlin said.

Hendrick misses race: Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick was not at Homestead-Miami Speedway because he stayed in North Carolina to be with an ailing niece.

A Hendrick spokesman said that Alesha Gainey is in critical condition at a North Carolina hospital awaiting an emergency liver transplant.

She is the 29-year-old daughter of John Hendrick, one of 10 people killed in a 2004 plane crash before the Oct. 25 race at Martinsville, Va.

John Hendrick's twin daughters also died in the crash.