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THE MAN ON A MISSION
No. Race Start Fin. Pts. Bonus Laps Winnings 1 Daytona 500 9 31 70 0 147 223,951 2 Dura-Lube/Big Kmart 400 5 1 180 5 393 104,635 3 Las Vegas 400 13 10 139 5 267 92,300 4 Cracker Barrel 500 13 3 165 0 325 62,775 5 TranSouth Financial 400 3 5 160 5 164 50,500 6 PRIMESTAR 500 6 34 66 5 253 58,975 7 Food City 500 8 2 175 5 500 73,585 8 Goody's Body Pain 500 2 5 160 5 500 52,925 9 DieHard 500 6 3 170 5 188 91,230 10 California 500 presented by NAPA 3 38 54 5 196 51,450 11 Pontiac Excitement 400 12 2 175 5 400 89,700 12 Coca-Cola 600 7 3 170 5 400 97,875 13 MBNA Platinum 400 3 3 170 5 399 77,480 14 Kmart 400 presented by Castrol Super Clean 3 10 139 5 198 52,250 15 Pocono 500 10 5 160 5 200 78,290 16 Save Mart/Kragen 350 9 2 175 5 112 86,775 17 Pepsi 400 3 17 112 0 160 54,575 18 Jiffy Lube 300 37 6 150 0 300 68,400 19 Pennsylvania 500 2 3 170 5 200 82,320 20 Brickyard 400 2 4 165 5 160 222,450 21 Frontier @ The Glen 5 10 134 0 90 51,040 22 Pepsi 400 7 7 151 5 200 47,065 23 Goody's Headache Powder 500 7 6 150 0 500 48,165 24 The Pepsi Southern 500 16 4 165 5 270 74,065 25 Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 20 35 63 5 366 41,000 26 Dura Lube/Kmart 300 25 17 112 0 299 55,600 27 MBNA Gold 400 8 1 185 10 400 115,710 28 NAPA AutoCare 500 6 16 115 0 497 42,650 29 UAW/GM Quality 500 4 4 165 5 334 85,750 30 Winston 500 9 15 118 0 188 53,710 31 Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 1 6 155 5 393 55,850 32 Checker Auto Parts/Dura-Lube 500 4 2 175 5 312 125,200 33 Pennzoil 400 presented by Kmart 9 4 165 5 267 116,200 34 NAPA 500 3 4 165 5 325 75,850 Total Races Avg. Start Avg. Fin. Total Points Total Bonus Pts. Total Laps Total Winnings
34 8 9 4943 130 9903 2,760,296
Mark Martin and the Valvoline/Cummins team had another successful NASCAR Winston Cup season in 1999. The season started out on a high note when Martin won the Bud Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. The win was Martin's first in a Winston Cup car on the 2.5-mile superspeedway. One week later, Martin started the Daytona 500 in ninth place, but finished in 31st place after he was involved in a 12-car accident. Once again, Martin had to dig himself out of a hole to begin the point season. He made up a lot of ground the following weekend at North Carolina Speedway where he visited its Victory Lane for the first time since 1989. The win boosted him from 31st in the point standings all the way up to eighth place. Strong top 10 finishes followed at Las Vegas, Atlanta and Darlington, which left Martin sitting in fourth place. His luck changed at Texas when he blew a right front tire while leading the race. The crew spent 80 laps repairing the damage. Martin returned to the track, but finished a disappointing 34th. The poor finish dropped him back to sixth in the points. The Valvoline/Cummins team picked up the pace in April with three top five finishes in three races. Martin challenged Rusty Wallace for the win at Bristol, but had to settle for second place. He finished fifth at Martinsville and third at Talladega. By the end of the month, he was third in the Winston Cup points and climbing fast. Martin had a slight setback in his quest for a championship at California. After starting third based on points, Martin ran with the leaders all day until his engine gave up on lap 196 of 250. The early end to his day gave him a 38th place finish and moved him back to fifth in the points, 205 points behind the leader. The Richmond race in May started a string of great finishes for Martin. In the next six races, Martin earned five top five finishes and finished in the top 10 in all six events. He was third in the point standings at the end of the first half of the season. In July, the team returned to Daytona to start the second half of the season. Martin took the car that he considered the best restrictor plate car he had ever driven. It was the same car that won the Bud Shootout and finished third at Talladega. He qualified third for the Pepsi 400 and was strong in the final "Happy Hour" practice Friday night until he cut a right front tire, which sent him into the wall on the backstretch. The car sustained heavy damage and the team was forced to roll out the backup car. Martin suffered a fractured left wrist, rib and broke the tibia plateau in his left knee, which would require surgery later in the week. Despite his injuries, Martin raced the next evening and finished 17th in the backup car. Only two days after his knee surgery, Martin climbed back into his Valvoline/Cummins Taurus to qualify at New Hampshire. He was forced to take his first and only provisional of the year and started 37th. Amazingly, Martin drove the entire race and finished in sixth place to retain his third place in the points. A third place finish at Pocono the following week moved him up to second in the points, trailing Dale Jarrett by 254 points. The month of August was strong for Martin, as he posted four top 10 finishes at Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, Michigan and Bristol. September started out well with a fourth place finish at Darlington. Things took a turn for the worse under the lights at Richmond the following week. Martin's night ended early when smoke began to spew from the car on lap 366 of 400. He finished 35th. The next week at New Hampshire was not much better. He was involved in an accident on the fifth lap of the race and then again on lap 126. There was damage to the suspension, and Martin finished in 17th place, one lap down to the leaders. The month ended up great with a win at Dover. The crew brought back the same car that won in 1998, and Martin led 161 of 400 laps en route to his second victory of the season. The win boosted him back up to second in the point standings, but he trailed Jarrett by 257 points. The month of October brought Martin two more top 10 finishes at Charlotte and Rockingham, but more importantly, it brought Martin his only Winston Cup pole of the year. Martin set the qualifying mark at North Carolina Speedway with a speed of 157.383 mph to earn a position in next year's Bud Shootout at Daytona. The Valvoline/Cummins team rounded out the season with three more top five finishes at Phoenix, Homestead and Atlanta in November. Martin ended the year third in the Winston Cup point standings, behind Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte. Martin finished the 1999 season with two wins, 19 top five and 26 top 10 finishes. He earned $2,783,296 and finished in the top six in points for the 11th consecutive year. "We had a great season," Martin said. "We may not have won as many races as we did last year, but the effort on this team was as great as ever. My team supported me through all of my injuries and never once doubted my ability as a driver. I am already looking forward to next year and believe we can do even better."
THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED TO MY UNCLE SHANNON. HE IS A BIG DALE EARNHARDT FAN!
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