NASCAR's Mark Martin
2002 Season Articles - Page 1.
Mark Martin 2002 Season Articles - Page 2. Mark Martin: King Without A Crown
By Stephen Thomas
For The Sporting News
October 10, 2002This time last year, Mark Martin was hearing the talk. You know, the talk all aging athletes hear in whispers -- he has lost it, he can't cut it, he's just mailing it in. The consensus was the 40-something driver would do well to consider hitting the links or becoming a gentleman car dealer or perhaps joining Wally and B.P. in the broadcast booth -- whatever it is washed-up Winston Cup drivers do. And why not?
As it was, the driver formerly known as "Mark Martin" (aka "Perennial Contender") looked mighty undignified -- and mighty unhappy -- turning laps midpack, struggling for the better part of the season to reach the rarified air of 12th in points -- 12th?! This was Mark Martin? Couldn't be.
But it was, and it was clear to anyone the season was exacting a high price.
"Last year, I was under tremendous stress and pressure to try to revive my career," Martin says. "I felt like I was losing my career. I'm not going to race for 20th place or 25th place -- it's not what I've done and not what I'll do. If I ever decide that I'm stuck there and that's all I've got, then I will opt not to be a part of that misery."
So, Mark Martin being the stubborn, ornery, feisty cuss that he is, didn't pay much mind to the talk. That isn't to say it didn't eat at him -- it burned, man, it really burned -- but the man from Batesville, Ark., didn't allow it to get the best of him. What he did do was precisely what anyone who knows even the slightest little thing about him knew he would do: He went home for the winter, worked a little bit harder, dug a little bit deeper and came back for more.
"It was one more challenge for me to partner with Mark, emotionally and from a strategy point of view," says Jack Roush, Martin's friend and longtime team owner when asked about the difficulty of the 2001 season. "My job was to get him back on track so that he could be confident in what he's doing and optimistic. That was the building part, to get his emotions turned around, so that he felt he could do the things that all the other people who are close to him certainly knew he could do."
In other words, Roush had to help Mark Martin become Mark Martin all over again.
Martin, 43, is one of those people who announce themselves forcefully without doing or saying much of anything. He doesn't burst into a room -- major back surgery in December 1999 makes that difficult -- and he doesn't tower over anyone -- he's 5-6, after all -- but make no mistake, the man fills a room.
What he does do and has done forcefully for 13 of the last 14 years (last year being the notable exception), is drive the wheels off a Winston Cup car. In a career the likes of which the sport rarely has seen -- he finished no worse than sixth and as high as second or third in points seven times from 1989 to 1999 -- Martin has won 33 races, more than all but 16 drivers in the history of a sport that loves its history.
What Martin hasn't done is win a title. And, really, that's what makes this season all that much harder to figure: One of the sport's greats is second in points, 72 behind, with just six races remaining and yet . . . well, Mark Martin might as well have retired for all the attention his career resurrection isn't getting. OK, fine, he has won just one race this year, an accomplishment that Martin circa the late 1990s -- when he won 13 races in three seasons -- would sneer at. But the fact is the little big man has been cruising along -- first, second or third in points for the last four months. Still, all we seem to hear about are the Jimmie Johnsons and Ryan Newmans of the world. People, please, this is Mark Martin.
"All the extra attention the drivers are coming under, I think it's pretty obvious it's slanted toward the younger crowd," fellow driver Ricky Rudd, 46, says. "Mark doesn't really fit that bill, but that doesn't mean he's not one of the best drivers out here. It's just that he doesn't fit with the current marketing plans of NASCAR. With Mark, it's racing first, and publicity and all that is down the list, probably fourth or fifth."
In all the years Martin has been staking his claim to greatness, he never has been one to self-promote. And no matter what pleasure he must derive from his performance this season and what it proves to the naysayers who had retired him last year, Martin refuses to change stripes.
"To put it bluntly," he says, "I've never had anyone on the payroll to talk about me, haven't had someone pushed to encourage the media to talk about me. Certainly, NASCAR and TV enjoy the young-gun angle, and they're going to use something other than a (43)-year-old racecar driver to bring in the teenage demographic. The only thing is, I think you should earn your coverage -- and when you earn it, you should get it."
And because he doesn't seem to have a disingenuous bone in his body, it's easy to believe Martin when he says in his typically clipped fashion, "I don't care about (the attention), never cared about it, (it's) not important to me to be a superstar. It's important to me to be a winner."
Ah, yes, a winner. That, of course, is the rub. Can Martin be considered a winner, 33 wins be damned, without a championship? It's the age-old, sports-bar/talk-radio question.
"He's certainly deserving, as far as experience and how much time he's put into his career," says Dale Earnhardt Jr. "Mark has been in the top 10 every year of his life, almost. Granted, he deserves to win the championship, but everybody does if they pass them out."
Had it not been for some of NASCAR's legendary backroom politicking, Martin might well have won a title already.
Ask Roush about the first Richmond race in 1990 -- the second race of the season -- which Martin won and later was forced to forfeit because of a minor rules violation. Ask Roush about the loss of 46 points and wait two-tenths of a second for his very pointed, very detailed response, lo these 12 years later.
"Bill France was laid up at his home with two broken legs," Roush says. "He got a call from Richard Childress that Mark had won the race, and he had a dimension on his intake manifold that was out of compliance with the rule book. Bill France told (Childress) that, if true, he'd take the money and the win away. He made that commitment to Childress."
Apparently, Roush says, France, then the NASCAR president, was not aware a bulletin had been issued that contradicted the rule book.
"When (France) became aware of (the bulletin), he took the position that it should have been more clear," Roush says. "'We'll go back to the rule book, since (the bulletin is) not clear.' But it was clear. It was clear to the technical people, it was clear to the competitors, it was clear to Mark and it was clear to me that a deal had been made -- an unholy deal had been made that cost us the championship."
NASCAR, of course, doesn't agree with the conspiracy theory.
"What happened to Roush Racing in 1990 was a clear rules violation," says Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications. "I'm sure there were other instances during the season when Mark Martin had problems in other races. It didn't all boil down to one event where the violation cost him the championship."
Martin eventually lost that championship by 26 points to Childress' driver, Dale Earnhardt.
"I don't know if (not winning a championship) eats at him like a lot of people have said," says Bill Davis, owner of Ward Burton's No. 22 car and Martin's close friend. "I don't think it would be a huge thing. Mark is so at peace with himself now; he's so proud of his family, what he's done with his life. All that is more important to him than racing."
"The reason I'm not fussing and worrying about the championship is I haven't won it, and I'm probably not going to win it," Martin says. "I don't lay in bed awake, I don't dream. . . . Matter of fact, to be real honest with you, I'm not sure a Winston Cup championship would have a profound improvement on my life. Not sure it would.
"Obviously, everybody who competes wants to be the best. I would like that, even for a short period. I felt like that when we won (this year) at Charlotte. But it's short-lived. It's a little longer-lived when you win the championship. It's a huge trophy. It pays a lot of money, and it gives the media something to say. They can say, 'Winston Cup champion Mark Martin.' But that's the biggest thing it would change. Winning it wouldn't make me a better driver, and it wouldn't change me as a driver. But the thing that no one seems to understand is that if I sit here and strain so hard that my throat gets sore, I don't score one single extra point."
Finally, Mark Martin does say something, if not with force, then at least with emphasis: "It will not destroy my life or my career if we don't win it this year."
Last year arguably was the worst of Martin's career. He has had worse points finishes than 12th -- he finished 15th in 1988, his first year with Roush, but that came when 15th was perfectly acceptable from the guy who hadn't yet become Mark Martin.
"We didn't have the result we were looking for," Roush says of what he calls a "terrible" 2001 season, "or the result that really justified the expense or the efforts that we made."
So before this season, Roush swapped Martin's team with Kurt Busch's. Ben Leslie became Martin's new crew chief, switching places with longtime Martin ally Jimmy Fennig.
"Ben Leslie came with some ideas that revitalized Mark, challenged him, gave him some direction he might not otherwise have had," Roush says. "He'd been with Jimmy Fennig for at least five years and at an earlier period when he was racing ASA. They knew one another very well. When one of them ran out of ideas, the other one did too because they had very much the same experience. One of them would start a sentence, the other one would finish it. With Ben Leslie, that wasn't the case."
Leslie deflects credit for the turnaround.
"We were lucky to hit on a few things," he says. "If anything, I feel like I've been a hindrance. I don't feel like I did a hell of a lot except sit on top of the toolbox."
Whatever the truth is, there's no denying the results: Through 30 races, Martin has posted nine top five finishes, dwarfing 2001's three. And Martin has maneuvered into legitimate contention for the title for the first time in almost three years.
But if history is any gauge, he won't win. For any number of reasons, sentimental and otherwise, that will be too bad -- not least of all because falling short buttresses the unfortunate notion that Martin can win races but not titles. That idea is supported this: Each of the nine modern-era drivers who has won more races that Martin has also won a championship. And while Martin displays nothing but stoicism in the face of any discussion of his career merits, his owner is driven to palpable anger when asked why that is so.
"There is so much that has to do with what NASCAR does from a political point of view," Roush says, "that is subject to their interpretation of things and the reaction they have to pressure from sponsors. . . . There is only so much a driver can do. Mark has done all that he can do, all that he should be expected to do, to win a number of championships. Instead of winning four or five championships, Mark's been frustrated by NASCAR on at least one occasion and by my own inadequacies (as owner) on at least two or three others."
Roush is referring to his past tendency to make late-season changes to his cars, which, designed to help, did the opposite. And while both owner and driver insist they will not be undone by any such failings this time, each knows the likelihood of winning a championship is dependent upon too many factors beyond their control.
Win, lose or draw, it's clear Mark Martin has become Mark Martin all over again. And, because he never would say so, it's left to Fennig, his former crew chief, to sum up Martin's place in history:
"Mark Martin will retire a champion -- with or without a title."
COMMENTARY
Martin searches for balance in race for season points title
By David Poole
The Charlotte Observer
October 8, 2002TALLADEGA, Ala. - Two weeks ago, before an engine problem at Kansas and an extremely odd pace-lap incident at Talladega, Mark Martin had the lead in the race for this year's Winston Cup title.
That Friday he said that he was ready to accept whatever happened over the season's final eight weeks.
"I may have worried about things I can't control in the past, but I certainly haven't lately," Martin said that day.
Even if the problems that now have him 72 points behind new leader Tony Stewart in the title chase do keep coming up, Martin's ready.
"I don't know how to say this and have it come across right, but all we're doing is trying to score the most points we can this year," Martin said. "I am neither downplaying it or playing it up. Hyperventilating over things that happen doesn't score me a single point.
"If it comes right down to it and I have a bad day, I am not going to run off the end of the earth or slash my wrists. I can't. ... I am just going to do the best I can. That's what I've been doing since the first lap of the Daytona 500. I race as hard as I can go, and it won't ruin my life if we don't get first. It won't make my life if we do.
"I won't be any better race car driver the Monday morning after (the season's final race at) Homestead if I have that trophy sitting next to me."
Martin doesn't yet have a championship trophy. He has finished second in the standings three times and third four times.
In 1998, he won seven races and averaged a seventh-place finish, but finished a distant second in the title race to Jeff Gordon, who won 13 races that year.
His most agonizing miss was in 1990. He led with two races left and went to the last race only six points behind Dale Earnhardt. His Roush Racing team tested six different cars before the finale at Atlanta, then raced in a car borrowed from Robert Yates Racing. Martin lost the championship by 26 points.
"I want it just as bad now as I did then," Martin says. "But back then it was harder for me to accept at times when it started to slip. There's no doubt in my mind that I made decisions that hurt my chances, based on how bad I wanted it.
"So this time, I have to figure out how I balance desire with results. This time around, I may be saying this thing don't mean that much to me because I don't want to screw it up. ... All I can do is answer the questions, I can only tell you what I feel. I am allowing myself to feel that if this thing starts to slip through the fingers like spaghetti, I won't panic. I won't change, because it's not going to help. That doesn't mean I won't try hard. What it means is that I won't try so hard that I will eliminate myself."
Regardless of where he finishes, 2002 will be a step up for the veteran who makes his 525th career start in Sunday's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He was 12th in points last year, his first time out of the top 10 since 1989.
After a winless season in 1996, Martin began working with crew chief Jimmy Fennig and won 11 races over the next two years. He went winless again last season and swapped crews with teammate Kurt Busch.
Martin wanted to get back into the top 10. He also wanted to bring his new, relatively young team its first victory, and did so in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May.
"I will never get to win my first Winston Cup race again, but that's the closest thing," he says. "I'm able to share that experience, that enthusiasm and that excitement with them. It was their package, but I got to deliver it to them."
If Martin recovers from two weekends of mishap and misfortune, he could still fill in what may be the only blank line on his glittering racing resume.
"Having someone say that I am the one of the winningest drivers to never win a championship is not a downer," Martin said. "What are the first words they said? Think about it -- the winningest driver.
"I look at what they're saying, and what they're saying is that I've done darn good."
Martin, Roush Don't Want To Get Burned
By Rupen Fofaria
ESPN.com
October 2, 2002Mark Martin and Jack Roush are older and wiser. They have been through these tight points races before. They have come oh-so-close to winning stock-car racing's most prestigious title and fallen short twice in the past 10 years. They have torn their hearts out wondered why fate had dealt such cruel blows. But not this year. This year, each of them believes he has more important things in life to worry about. With six races left in the 2002 campaign, Martin's No. 6 Ford team is second in the standings, trailing rookie Jimmie Johnson by just 11 points. But, trophy or no trophy, this will be a great season. That's their story and they're sticking to it.
"When it comes to competition and getting your heart broken, I'm an eternal pessimist," Martin said. "This business has dealt me some very cruel and heartbreaking blows and it's not going to this year, because it just won't. I'm prepared for whatever happens. I'm so proud of this team and we're going to bust our butt to win this championship, but if we didn't run another race this year, we've already done more than we probably hoped to accomplish this year."
Martin, who took the lead in the points race three weeks ago, lost it after early-race engine troubles relegated him to a 25th-place finish last weekend at Kansas Speedway. Still, he's in the hunt.
Just like 1997, which was the last time Martin led the standings with 10 races or less left. He held a 13-point lead over Jeff Gordon with 10 events remaining. In what ended up being the closest three-way battle in history, Gordon won his second title by 14 points over second-place Dale Jarrett and 29 points over third-place Martin.
For Martin, it was a painful loss since he had won seven races. Who would've thought some kid from California would put together a season with 13 victories? Who would have thought Martin, who has paid his dues in Winston Cup since 1982, wouldn't finally win the title that continues to elude him? But as hurtful as '97 was, it hardly compared to the gut-wrenching finish of 1990.
That year marked the latest Martin has ever held the top spot in a points race, when he led the late Dale Earnhardt by 45 points with just two events remaining. Earnhardt went on to win at Phoenix and take a six-point lead into the final race in Atlanta, where he finished third. Martin's sixth-place effort that day meant a runner-up spot in the standings by 26 points. To understand just how cruel that points race was requires a bit of a history lesson. Martin and his Roush-owned team were penalized after a race at Richmond International Raceway that cost him 46 points.
"The reason we didn't win the championship in 1990 is that NASCAR made a call between a rule that was a supplemental rule and was written after the rule book was published," Roush said. "Bill France made the decision that they had a disparity between the rule book and what the supplemental rule was and that he would discount the supplemental rule in favor of (team owner) Richard Childress and Dale Earnhardt, and that we would pay the price.
"That's the reason we didn't win that championship. We weren't the dominant car late in the season, but the 46 points they took away from us back at Richmond in that year was the reason we didn't win. I don't think at that time he had any idea it was going to come down to those 46 points determining the championship, but that's the way it was."
Burned twice before, both Martin and Roush say they won't invest enough hope into the prospect of winning this year's title to get burned a third time.
Martin was first to let the public now about this. Not five minutes after a 16th-place finish at Dover, Del., put him atop the standings, Martin said he wasn't going to talk about it.
"I won't. I won't," he said. "I'm not going to be any fun to cover, I promise, because I'm not going to say nothing until it's over. Believe me, I won't talk about it. You guys are going to pull your hair out if I stay in this shape."
That day, Martin went as far as to say he didn't need the lead in the title race.
"The points lead doesn't mean anything right now," Martin said. "If I hadn't had a flat tire, I'd have a bigger points lead and if I would have wrecked, I wouldn't have the points lead. So, really, it doesn't mean anything. There's nine races to go."
Other priorities:
Part of this is because Martin and Roush have been burned so many times. But part of it is because these two men have experienced things that have readjusted their priorities.
Earlier this year, the last time the Series visited Talladega, Ala., in fact, Roush crashed an airplane he was flying on his 60th birthday and almost died. By a massive stroke of luck, Roush crashed into a lake, but was saved by an ex-Marine, Larry Hicks, who had extensive training in search-and-rescue.
Compared to the gift that is his very next breath, a championship just doesn't sound as important, Roush said.
"I'm certainly lucky to be alive still and the most recent encounter I had with near death was Larry Hicks," Roush said. "The thing about an accident is that if you miss an accident by just an inch, it never happens. Sometimes the accident that could do you in, you don't even know about. But I'm lucky to be here. I'm lucky to have lived to be 60 years old.
"I've had a full life and it will not be substantially fuller if I live to be 65 and win the championship or if I live to be 65 and don't. I've experienced many wonderful things. I've had a great opportunity to work with a lot of fascinating and inspiring people and have had more economic and more fundamental success at competitive things I've been involved with than I could have ever imagined as a young man."
Martin, too, has made his world outside of racing a more important part of his life -- helping him keep this year's title chase in perspective. Martin admits to having spent so much time trying to get to Winston Cup and then trying to win the title that he did not get a lot of time to spend with his only son, Matt.
Matt is 10 now and the two have bonded as Matt pursues a racing career of his own. Compared to the time he gets to spend with his kid, now, a title just isn't that important to Martin, either.
"I don't think this is where Mark's heart was," Roush said. "He was enjoying the bright spot in his life, which was the experience he was having with Matt and bringing him along. Rather than dwell on all the things that were making him crazy (like racing struggles), he chose to be on the positive side with a lot of the discussions he had with the media and talked about Matt's program and how excited he was with that. He was a late-life father and Matt is his only son and that's a real big part of his motivation."
All of this said, the two are giving this -- perhaps the best shot they'll have for the rest of their careers -- all they've got. After all, the title has fallen a couple notches on the two's priority lists, but that still leaves it pretty high. And both understand how fortunate they are to have another crack at winning what would be either's first Cup title.
"I didn't know for sure if I would ever see the day when we could be in this position," Martin said. "You only get so many chances at this and I've been fortunate enough to have a lot of chances, so I consider myself lucky."
"I think that based on his experience and the frustrations he's had in the past that he's not counting on it, but he's certainly not counting it out and he's not going take himself out of the picture," Roush added. "He is going to take care of business and minimize his risks and wait and see what happens."
As the two chase this title, they're going to be careful with exposing their hearts to the prospect of getting burned once more. Martin believes this approach might actually help his chances of winning.
"I'm not going to do it. As bad as it goes, I'm not going to freak out and our team isn't," Martin said. "We're going to do every race as smart as we can and accept that a bad day is a bad day and accept that we may lose the lead and accept we may lose second and third or whatever it may be.
"You can't strain real hard and stop it from happening. When the air comes out of a tire, it comes out. No matter how hard you strain, the air still comes out and you can't do anything about that. What you can do, the things you can control, you have to do the very best job you can and the things you can't control, you just have to let go."
Roush is still a bit concerned about something he cannot control. It's something he couldn't control 12 years ago, and it's something that he's still not completely over.
Just a few races ago, NASCAR made an adjustment to the air dams of the Chevrolets and Pontiacs which were intended to make the two makes more competitive. Johnson, who leads the points battle, drives a Chevy. Tony Stewart, who trails Martin in third, drives a Pontiac. Gordon, who is fourth, drives a Chevy. If the adjustment gives these two makes enough of an advantage, Roush will not hesitate to point to another rule change as the cause of his missing out on another close points race.
"This driver championship thing is affected by things that happen beyond your control as a team and as a driver," he said. "NASCAR keeps their fingers in it throughout the year. They've just given the Chevrolet and Pontiac an advantage for the balance of 2002, and I don't think that was good judgment on their part to dabble in it this late. There ought to be a cutoff point ... where they can't mess with it anymore."
Martin doesn't want to pay any attention to that stuff, though. He won't allow himself to get worked up about it, because he doesn't want to allow himself to get worked up about the championship. That, you see, exposes his heart. And he doesn't believe his heart can take another hit like '90 and '97.
Jarrett believes it's Martin's heart, though, that will help him be a leading contender from now until the season finale in Homestead, Fla.
Mark Martin is a tremendous race driver," Jarrett said. "This is what he does and he'll be the first to tell you that he doesn't do a lot of things. This is his business; this is his life and that's what he's made it. It's been that way probably for as long as I can remember when I saw him come along and he was just a kid then.
"He's the ultimate competitor. I don't know that there's anybody else out there that can do a lot of the things he can do with a race car, so it's just that competitive fire and spirit inside him that makes him good and that's going to make him be tough to beat down the stretch."
NASCAR Star Mark Martin Enters Talladega-Texaco Walk Of Fame In Class Of 2002
Roush Racing
October 1, 2002TALLADEGA, Ala. - One of the most determined and talented drivers to ever compete in the NASCAR ranks heads the list of the inductees in this year's Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame located at Davey Allison Memorial Park in uptown Talladega.
Throughout Mark Martin's stellar career, his strong determination to succeed - and win - has set him apart from his fellow competitors. It is the reason he is included in the list of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers. Martin led the fans' vote for active driver to be inducted into the Walk of Fame.
Two other men included in that list of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers will also be inducted into the Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame as the inactive drivers of 2002. Robert "Red" Byron and Bobby Isaac led the fans' vote in that category.
The 2002 induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Davey Allison Memorial Park in uptown Talladega, a block south of the town square. The annual induction ceremony takes place on Saturday night during the EA SPORTS™ 500 Weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. The ceremony and all festivities - including a concert - are free to the public.
"The fans have again spoken and we couldn't be more pleased with Mark Martin as their choice," said Ken Allen, chairman of the Walk of Fame's board. "Obviously Mark Martin is very, very deserving of this honor and it will be an extremely proud moment for us when he is enshrined during our induction ceremony."
Martin, the driver of the No. 6 Pfizer/Viagra Ford owned by Jack Roush, is second in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series points chase, just 11 points outside of first.
NASCAR Stars Mark Martin, Red Byron, Bobby Isaac, Enter Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame as Class of 2002.
As proof of Martin's determination, last year was the first time he finished out of the Top 10 in the Winston Cup points standings since 1989. This season he is a clear threat to win his first Winston Cup championship. Martin finished second in the points race in 1994, the same year he won his first of four IROC titles. He has finished second in the points race on three occasions and inside the top-10 in 12 of the last 13 seasons.
"It's really an honor to be inducted into the Talladega Walk of Fame," said Martin. "I've been going there to race for 20 years now, and we have some good memories over the years. Some of the best of all time are on that Walk-of-Fame and it's really nice to be included in there."
Red Byron, who hailed from Anniston, Ala., and began racing on a track in Talladega, was NASCAR's first Winston Cup champion in 1949. He also won the first NASCAR sanctioned race on Daytona's beach-road course in February of 1948. Before Byron's heroics on the track, he spent 27 months in military hospitals rehabilitating his left leg after being shot down in a B-24 during World War II. On his 58th mission as a tail gunner, he was shot down over Kikta in the Aleutian Islands.
Isaac won 37 NASCAR Winston Cup Series events and the 1970 Winston Cup championship. In that same year, Isaac set a world closed-course record when he ran 201.104 mph at Talladega Superspeedway. In September of 1971, Isaac set 28 world class records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Many of his records exist to this day. Isaac won 50 pole positions in his NASCAR career.
Fans can find out more about the Talladega/Texaco Walk of Fame on www.talladegawalk.com. The Talladega/Texaco Walk of Fame was created in 1994 after the death of Davey Allison. Since 1995, one active driver and two inactive drivers have been inducted into the Walk of Fame based on the fans' vote.
Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Neil Bonnett, Red Farmer and Davey Allison were inducted as the inaugural class in 1994 by decree of the board of directors.
The late Dale Earnhardt was the first active driver to be inducted in 1995. Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Hamilton and Ricky Rudd followed as active driver inductees. Richard Petty and Benny Parsons were the first inactive drivers to be inducted. Alan Kulwicki, Cale Yarborough, Ned Jarrett, Buddy Baker, David Pearson, Junior Johnson, Harry Gant, Lee Petty, Tim Flock, Fireball Roberts, Buck Baker and Joe Weatherly have been inducted as inactive drivers since.
NASCAR's Martin Back Home In Indiana
By Bruce Martin, SportsTicker Contributing Editor
August 3, 2002INDIANAPOLIS (TICKER) - -- Mark Martin may not have been born in Indiana, but the Batesville, Arkansas native owes a great deal of his racing success to the state known as "The Crossroads of America."
Martin is hoping to hit it big with a victory in Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Just as Jeff Gordon moved to Indiana to further his racing career, Martin's motives for moving to the Hoosier state were similar in 1979. Martin had just won his first American Speed Association (ASA) national championship as a 17-year-old in 1978, but he discovered it was difficult to compete in the Midwest series when his base of operations was in the Ozark Mountain region.
"The recognition for ASA racing wasn't that great back then," Martin recalled. "There weren't any TV races. I had just won the ASA championship in 1978 and I went to the trade show at Daytona Beach in 1979 as a spectator. I was still living in Batesville, and I went to Daytona to the trade show to see what kind of deals I could make.
"That is where I met Ray Dillon, looking at his coil springs. He said he could work a deal with me on the springs. He was also a trailer manufacturer and I was going to need a trailer. We talked about a trailer and then he said, `I've got a shop you could use, if you wanted to come up here and be centrally located. I've even got a house I could rent you.'"
The meeting with Dillon helped boost Martin into big-time stock car racing.
"He brought me up there to North Liberty, Indiana, rented me a house, gave me a shop to work out of and a bunch of good deals to latch onto for an up-and-coming driver who could endorse his products," Martin said. "All along, he was knowing he wanted to build and design a winning, short-track race car. I didn't know that.
"I was up there for about six months, he grabs me over in the corner and asked, `What do you think about us designing our own car?' And we did and we brought it out the next year. It was the hottest thing in short-track racing for a few years. That is how I ended up being located in North Liberty, Indiana."
Martin moved to northern Indiana in March 1979. He spent a great deal of his time driving up and down U.S. Highway 31, which runs from Indianapolis to South Bend.
"I was there until November of 1981, and that gave me the opportunity to be on my own, enough sponsorship backing to have my own business," Martin said. "I had just turned 20 years old. For a lot of people, they can identify with the feeling of being totally independent. It's a good feeling to be financially independent. That was something that was important to me. I felt like I was on my own and I had the freedom to make all the decisions on my own.
"It was a great time in my life and a very successful time, business-wise and racing-wise for me."
Dillon is a former ASA racer who said his most famous moment was a crash at Winchester Speedway in eastern Indiana, where he tore down more than 170 feet of backstretch guardrail and ended up in the woods. Dillon also competed at local tracks in northern Indiana, including South Bend, New Paris, Plymouth and Steuben County.
Dillon remembers how determined and focused Martin was early in his racing career.
"When I met Mark at the trade show, he was telling me he was trying to find a place to move his racing operation to somewhere in Indiana or Michigan because that is where all the ASA races were," Dillon recalled. "It was just killing him driving back and forth to Batesville, Arkansas.
"I had raced for eight to 10 years and was getting ready to quit racing. In about a 10-minute conversation, we put a deal together where Mark moved up here to drive my cars. Mark brought a semi load of tools and spare parts and equipment up here and moved into the house. We converted one of the buildings into a two-stall garage for Mark to keep his race cars in. He brought his crew, moved in here, and started racing here."
The two enjoyed tremendous success after developing a coil-over-shock suspension that most ASA cars currently use. The following year, Martin not only captured the ASA championship, he won 13 races -- and Dillon's chassis were in high demand. Dillon's customers included drivers like Rusty Wallace and Ken Schrader.
But Dillon does not take much credit for Martin's success, choosing to point out the tremendous work ethic and desire the driver possesses.
"The thing I tell everybody is Mark Martin is strictly self-made," Dillon said. "Sure, I had a part, I was a player in the deal, but anyone could have taken my place. Mark had a burning desire to be a successful, big-time stock car driver. From the day I met him when he was 17 years old, he had a goal, and that was the only thing in life that kid wanted.
"If I came in at 6:30 or 7 in the morning, he was already here grinding on something or drilling holes. He was still here at 2 a.m. He lived on two or three hours of sleep a night, he never went out partying. All that kid did year-round was work, physically work on that race car.
Dillon believes Martin not only was being ambitious and had a burning desire, he had raw talent.
"His driving goes without saying. Mark is smart," Dillon said. "We used to have really, really neat conversations on theories of camber curve, roll-center height, tread width, and Mark put many, many ideas into what I got the credit for designing. As far as me thinking I should share in Mark's deal, I'm looking at I had the benefit of him here. What made Dillon Enterprises is Mark Martin."
To have so many resources at his convenience, Martin believed he had all the ingredients to succeed in racing.
"There was no place in Arkansas that manufactured and sold race car parts like Ray Dillon had and I was right on his grounds," Martin said. "For a kid from Arkansas who raced, that was heaven. I didn't get into anything else, we worked 16 hours a day, seven days a week, so I didn't get out to the Notre Dame football games or anything like that. Once in a while, we went to South Bend for dinner or a movie or to the mall.
"I didn't get out and enjoy the state that much, other than the racing part of it. There were race tracks all over the place and racers coming in every day to Dillon's place."
But the biggest track of all was located just 2 1/2 miles down U.S. 31.
"I did take a tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway just for kicks when I was down racing at Indianapolis Raceway Park," Martin said. "I never dreamed that I would ever have the opportunity to race there. I never dreamed I would have the opportunity to drive a winning Winston Cup car, either, at that time. I was just racing to win and having a ball doing it."
Although Martin was fascinated with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the thought of racing there never entered his mind.
"It meant less to me at the time than it might have because I didn't ever realize I might have an opportunity to do that," Martin said. "That was so far out there for me. I had basically come from the quarter-mile dirt tracks from Arkansas and that facility, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was stunning to me. It was like visiting NASA.
"I just skimmed across it and thought it was incredible. It was so far out there, it didn't sink in. If somebody had told me when I was taking that tour I was going to race there someday, I wouldn't have believed it. I would have asked, 'In what?'"
At the time, the Indianapolis 500 was the only race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That changed in 1994 when NASCAR held the inaugural Brickyard 400. The United States Grand Prix Formula One race began in 2000.
Martin was too preoccupied with his own career to pay much attention to what happened at Indy in those days.
"I wasn't interested in watching the Indianapolis 500 because I was too busy working," he said. "If I wasn't racing, I would have much rather been in the shop working on the race car than watching the Indianapolis 500. I don't mean that in a negative way, all I cared about was what I was doing, not what someone else was doing. That was someone else at Indy, not us."
Martin was concentrating on some of Indiana's other legendary race tracks, such as Winchester, Salem, Anderson and Indianapolis Raceway Park.
"Winchester is the most wonderful race track I ever ran on between that and Salem because they are so treacherous and high banked," Martin said. "They are just like running at Bristol, Tennessee, which is what makes Bristol so comfortable and at home for me and the guys who came from ASA.
"I won the Winchester 400 the last two years I ran there. It was the Daytona of the ASA series -- the biggest race on our circuit -- and I won it in 1985 and '86. ... Salem is great, we ran good there and won races, too. I liked the high banks, the speed, the thrill and the treacherousness. Anderson is a little quarter-mile, high-banked, awesome race track -- lots of fun. ... Indianapolis Raceway Park, I didn't have any feelings for IRP. To me, it was plain. Man, you go to Winchester and Salem, you are going somewhere."
Together, Martin and Dillon built a Winston Cup car in 1981 for Martin's debut at Nashville. In that first race, Martin won the pole but fell out early. He went to Richmond, Virginia later in the season and won the pole again.
"The following year, Mark wanted to go full-time and race Winston Cup and it wasn't feasible to do it from here," Dillon said. "I had 27 employees and a 600-acre farm. I wasn't in a position to move to Charlotte. Mark went his way and I stayed here."
After Martin's initial foray into Winston Cup racing from 1981-83 ended in failure, he returned to the ASA series and moved to Milwaukee to drive for car owner Jerry Gunderman. Martin built a successful second ASA career and returned to Winston Cup for good in 1988 when he joined team owner Jack Roush.
The combination of Martin and a Roush-prepared Ford has proved extremely successful since 1989.
Martin now lives near Daytona Beach, Florida, but he remembers his time in Indiana as special.
"Racing was more popular in Indiana than anything I had ever experienced," Martin said. "There were race tracks all over the place with all kinds of different race cars. It was different, a lot different than Arkansas was. In North Carolina, if it is not Winston Cup or Busch Grand National, it is not going to draw any special crowd. They are into their racing in Indiana.
"They have enough race fans to support a wide range of race cars and tracks -- from little dirt tracks to high-banked paved tracks to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway."
When Martin returned to NASCAR for good, Dillon continued to build cars for Bobby Allison's efforts in ASA, ARTGO, All-Pro and the NASCAR American Challenge.
Together, Dillon and Allison had a 31-race schedule, but when Allison suffered career-ending injuries in a crash at Pocono International Raceway in 1988, Dillon began to get out of racing.
In 1991, Dillon sold the business to his son, Troy, who operates out of a building in nearby Walkerton.
But Martin again is battling for the Winston Cup championship.
"Indiana played a very big role in the development of my racing," Martin said. "That is where I lived for a good part of time in a very developed mental stage of my career. I have a warm feeling for that. It was a very warm time for me to get out on my own and make a business out of racing is something I never dreamed I could do.
"When I first started racing, I didn't know you could make a living and race cars. I thought you worked and raced cars on the side for fun. It wasn't until I moved to Indiana that I realized you could make a living at it. It was a very warm time when I lived in Indiana."
Mark Martin, Red Byron, Bobby Isaac Enter Talladega-Texaco
Walk of Fame as Class of 2002
Racin.netTALLADEGA, AL (August 2, 2002)
One of the most determined and talented drivers to ever compete in the NASCAR ranks heads the list of the inductees in this year’s Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame located at Davey Allison Memorial Park in uptown Talladega.
Throughout Mark Martin’s stellar career, his strong determination to succeed - and win - has set him apart from his fellow competitors. It is the reason he is included in the list of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers. Martin led the fans’ vote for active driver to be inducted into the Walk of Fame.
Two other men included in that list of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers will also be inducted into the Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame as the inactive drivers of 2002. Robert "Red" Byron and Bobby Isaac led the fans’ vote in that category.
The 2002 induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Davey Allison Memorial Park in uptown Talladega, a block south of the town square. The annual induction ceremony takes place on Saturday night during the EA SPORTS 500 Weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. The ceremony and all festivities - including a concert - are free to the public.
"The fans have again spoken and we couldn’t be more pleased with Mark Martin as their choice," said Ken Allen, chairman of the Walk of Fame’s board. "Obviously Mark Martin is very, very deserving of this honor and it will be an extremely proud moment for us when he is enshrined during our induction ceremony."
Martin, the driver of the No. 6 Pfizer/Viagra Ford owned by Jack Roush, is second in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series points chase, just 106 points behind Sterling Marlin.
As proof of Martin’s determination, last year was the first time he finished out of the Top 10 in the Winston Cup points standings since 1989. This season he is a clear threat to win his first Winston Cup championship. Martin finished second in the points race in 1994, the same year he won his first of four IROC titles.
Red Byron, who hailed from Anniston, Ala., and began racing on a track in Talladega, was NASCAR’s first Winston Cup champion in 1949. He also won the first NASCAR sanctioned race on Daytona’s beach-road course in February of 1948. Before Byron’s heroics on the track, he spent 27 months in military hospitals rehabilitating his left leg after being shot down in a B-24 during World War II. On his 58th mission as a tail gunner, he was shot down over Kikta in the Aleutian Islands.
Isaac won 37 NASCAR Winston Cup Series events and the 1970 Winston Cup championship. In that same year, Isaac set a world closed-course record when he ran 201.104 mph at Talladega Superspeedway. In September of 1971, Isaac set 28 world class records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Many of his records exist to this day. Isaac won 50 pole positions in his NASCAR career.
Fans can find out more about the Talladega/Texaco Walk of Fame on www.talladegawalk.com. The Talladega/Texaco Walk of Fame was created in 1994 after the death of Davey Allison. Since 1995, one active driver and two inactive drivers have been inducted into the Walk of Fame based on the fans’ vote.
Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Neil Bonnett, Red Farmer and Davey Allison were inducted as the inaugural class in 1994 by decree of the board of directors.
The late Dale Earnhardt was the first active driver to be inducted in 1995. Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Hamilton and Ricky Rudd followed as active driver inductees. Richard Petty and Benny Parsons were the first inactive drivers to be inducted. Alan Kulwicki, Cale Yarborough, Ned Jarrett, Buddy Baker, David Pearson, Junior Johnson, Harry Gant, Lee Petty, Tim Flock, Fireball Roberts, Buck Baker and Joe Weatherly have been inducted as inactive drivers since.
Truck Series Notebook
By Buddy Shacklette, Staff Writer
news-journalonline.com
June 14, 2002MARTIN GOIN' TRUCKIN'
Roush Racing announced Daytona Beach resident Mark Martin will be at the wheel of the No. 99 Ford for the first few races of 2003.
Martin, winner of the 1996 event at North Wilkesboro Speedway in his last series appearance, will be subbing for Kyle Busch, who is precluded from NASCAR competition until May 2, 2003 -- his 18th birthday.
Based on this year's schedule, Busch would be able to join the series at Gateway International Raceway.
MARTIN TO DRIVE TRUCK UNTIL KYLE BUSCH TURNS 18
Columnist Brian Hilderbrand
Vegas.com Racing
June 5, 2002NASCAR Winston Cup veteran Mark Martin will return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series next season and drive the No. 99 Roush Racing Ford until Las Vegas' Kyle Busch turns 18 years old.
Busch drove the No. 99 truck in six races last season until he was forced out of the series when NASCAR mandated that drivers in all of its touring series be at least 18. Busch, who turned 17 on May 2, has been driving in the American Speed Association series this season.
Martin agreed to drive the truck, which team owner Jack Roush has fielded in only one race this year, to help the team gain owners points until Busch becomes eligible to take over.
"I am really excited about helping Kyle, Jack and the whole truck program," Martin said. "Kyle has a lot of potential and the Truck Series is a great place to showcase that talent."
Martin has not competed in the Truck Series since 1996, when he drove in two races. He posted a victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway and a third-place finish at Richmond International Raceway.
If the 2003 NCTS schedule remains the same as this year, Busch would miss only three races before he is able to return to the truck and compete for Rookie of the Year honors.
In six starts in the truck last season, Busch recorded two top-10 finishes, including a ninth-place showing in the Orleans 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Busch was prohibited from driving in the season-ending NCTS race at California Speedway last November because of his age and the fact that a tobacco company was sponsoring the race weekend.
Busch finished 11th in the ASA Tires.com 300 Saturday at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich., and is eighth in points after six of 20 races.
MARTIN DOESN'T HIDE JOY AS VICTORY DROUGHT ENDS
By: Greer Smith, Staff Sports Writer
Hight Point Enterprises
May 28, 2002Mark Martin - at the age of 43 - ranks as one of stock-car racing's old guard.
He admits he isn't up to speed on some things that are second nature to the 20-something newcomers who have become the sports' darlings this season.
The native of the Arkansas mountains confesses he is not adept with a personal computer. He is a member of a generation who doesn't find it necessary to celebrate each victory by cutting doughnuts and burning rubber until the rear tires disintegrate.
Martin, noted for his unemotional victory demeanor, never resorted to such spinning and tire smoking antics for the first 32 wins of his career.
That was before 25 months elapsed between a win in April of 2000 at Martinsville and number 33 in Sunday night's 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Elated the misery was over, the standard bearer for Jack Roush's four-team fleet gave into temptation and let his emotions show as he twirled in the grass separating the frontstretch and pit road, staying away from the asphalt by design.
"I wasn't going to do them on the asphalt because those kids know how to do it and I don't," Martin said. "We didn't do that back when I won 32 of these things, so I wasn't going to make a fool of myself. I'm not a doughnut kind of guy, but I can't be guaranteed that I'll ever win another race. I wanted to celebrate this one. If we win next week, it might be more subdued."
Most of the joy, he said, stemmed from providing the first victory for most of his crew.
Following a disappointing 2001 that included no top-three finishes and landing outside the top 10 in points for the first time since 1988, Martin agreed to swap crews with Kurt Busch. That paired crew chief Ben Leslie with Martin while Busch was placed under the guidance of veteran pit boss Jimmy Fennig.
Busch showed immediate improvement. He scored his first career win at Bristol and helped Matt Kenseth, who has posted two victories, lead the resurgence of Roush's team this season.
Despite consistent finishes in the top 10, Martin had not been a contender in any of the races leading up to the 600. It was that way for much of the 400-lap event while rookie Jimmy Johnson dominated. But Johnson took himself out of contention when he slid beyond the front of his pit box when the leaders came in for service under caution with 40 laps remaining.
Martin got out first while Johnson was removed from the equation. Martin led the rest of the way, keeping Kenseth at bay while negotiating traffic in the last five laps and dispelling notions he has lost his desire to win.
Martin said he had only one thing in mind in the final laps.
"Matt was faster than I was and I had to go," Martin said. "He wasn't going to beat me in traffic. I would have rather wrecked than just give up the lead, so I just stayed after it."
The effort of his crew helped fuel the desire to win.
"I probably wanted to win for the team worse than I wanted to win for myself or my family," Martin said. "There are so many guys who wanted to win really bad. This was their win, not mine. They built a new car, they practiced pit stops and they came up with the idea to come here and test, which I hadn't planned to do. I like to see people motivated to the max.
"It is special to see these guys go to victory lane for the first time. They've really dedicated themselves to me."
The dedication provided the fourth win of the year for Roush, still recovering from a leg broken in an aviation crash in April.
"For our team, it's special because Matt's won twice and Kurt's won once," Martin said. "We've been consistent, but not really in a position to win one of these things, except maybe Richmond. So it's good for all of us. It gives us a trophy and a little bit of confidence. Our guys are charged up because it gives a lot of them their first win.''
While savoring the victory, the normally pessimistic Martin uttered the "c" word while sizing up the possibilities for the rest of the season. Rising to third place in the point standings, just 143 behind leader Sterling Marlin, brought thoughts of contending for the Winston Cup championship.
"This is a good year so far for us," Martin said. "If we can race like this week in and week out ... we could contend for the championship.
"The team has proven to me the last two weeks that we can go out and race like I did in the mid-1990s, driving real spectacular cars, beating people on pit road and on the race track. We were going pretty well before tonight, but we needed a shot in the arm."
Leslie's Wallet $50,000 Lighter
fordracing.com
May 28, 2002Daytona Beach, Fla. — Well, it was more than some might have expected, but it was expected. Today, NASCAR officials announced that Ben Leslie, crew chief of the No. 6 Ford Taurus, received a $50,000 fine for a rule violation found during post-race inspection following Sunday’s Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
According to the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series rule book the violation is, "Any car that is found to be under the specified height requirement after the completion... of the race."
The minimum height requirement is 51 inches - the No. 6 car was approximately 1/8 of an inch too low.
Reaction To NASCAR's Fine Of No. 6 Crew Chief Ben Leslie
Roush Racing PRConcord, N.C. (May 28, 2002) - NASCAR announced on Tuesday that it would fine No. 6 team crew chief Ben Leslie $50,000 after Mark Martin's winning No. 6 Pfizer/Viagra Ford was found to be a 1/8th-inch under the 51-inch minimum height requirement in post-race inspection following Sunday night's Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
"NASCAR set the height rule and it doesn't matter whether it is one inch or 1/8 of an inch," said Leslie. "With 600 miles of racing there is a great deal of wear and tear and adjustments that have to be made on the car.
"If you think of it that way, with the race being so long and all of the adjustments that are required in that type of the race, 1/8 of an inch is not a lot. On top of that, we had some cooling problems to work on throughout the race and between that and the normal adjustments, it's hard not to lose some height. It didn't have any impact on the outcome of the race at all.
"Still, NASCAR has to draw the line somewhere and we didn't measure up to that line. It's a steep fine, but those are the rules of the game."
Neither Ben Leslie nor Roush Racing plans to appeal the fine.
Martin, Viagra Racing Team Take Checkered Flag
Mark Martin and the #6 Viagra Ford Taurus
Lowe's Motor Speedway /May 26, 2002
Roush RacingConcord, N.C. – Mark Martin held off a late charge from teammate Matt Kenseth to take the checkered flag in Sunday’s Coca-Cola Racing Family 600. Martin took the lead for good with 40 laps to go in the 600-mile race, and held off the late charge to take his 33rd career Winston Cup victory.
Martin, who ran in the top five for the last 235 laps of the race, entered the pits for the final time of the day on lap 360; running in second place. The Viagra® Racing team used excellent work in the pits – adding four fresh tires and making a rear-end adjustment – to re-enter the race in first place with 40 laps remaining. The rest would be up to Martin, who ran to an 11 car lead before holding off Kenseth’s final charge.
“Those last 40 laps were really tense. I wanted to win really badly,” said Martin after the race. “I wanted to win for my team probably as much as for myself. They wanted this really bad and they worked really hard for this victory and my hat goes off to those guys.”
Martin was able to maneuver between lapped traffic in the final laps of the race to help pull away from the field and Kenseth.
“We just didn’t have time to waste on those lapped cars,” added Martin. “To be able to win this race is a great feeling. There are so many guys on this team that haven’t tasted victory at this level and it’s just wonderful to be a part of this win and a part of the Viagra® racing team.”
Martin started the race 25th, but broke into the top 20 by lap two. By the 21st lap of the race Martin had maneuvered the Viagra® Ford Taurus into 15th position. Two laps later, Martin was running in 13th place when the day’s second caution came out. Martin entered the pits to take on four tires and make air pressure and rear-end adjustments. Not everyone pitted and Martin returned to the field running in 17th position when the field went green on lap 28.
Working his way up the field, Martin broke back into the field’s top 15 on lap 43, before moving to 14th on lap 50. Over the next nine laps, Martin gained four more positions, breaking into the field’s top 10 for the first time of the day on lap 59; The Viagra car would not run outside the top-10 for the remainder of the race.
Martin was running in seventh place when caution broke again on lap 69. Martin came into the pits for the second time on the day, taking four fresh tires. Excellent pit work by the Viagra® Racing team (14.33 seconds) sent Martin back out onto the track in fifth place when the field went green on lap 74.
Martin worked his way up to fourth place by lap 87 and remained there until caution came on lap 101, and the team came into pit to take four tires and make further adjustments to the rear of the car. Another excellent stop of 14.80 seconds sent Martin back out in third place when the field went green on lap 108. Martin passed Kenseth on lap 113 for second place, before overpowering the 28 car one lap later to take the lead. The car began to push and Martin dropped back to fourth place on lap 126.
When caution broke on lap 131, Martin came in for four tires and to put a spring rubber in the right rear. Again everyone did not come into pit and Martin returned to the track in ninth place. He dropped back to 10th pace on lap 142, and was running there when caution came out on lap 163.
Martin again entered pit road, making a track bar adjustment and taking four fresh tires. Another outstanding stop of 14.70 seconds sent Martin back out in fifth place when the field returned to green flag racing on lap 167. Martin would not run outside the top five again.
At the halfway mark on lap 200, Martin had run to third place, before taking over second on lap 204. Martin took over the top spot when green flag pitting began and was running at the top spot when the No. 6 team came in for a stop on lap 228, making more track bar adjustments and taking four tires. The No. 6 Ford Taurus returned to the field in second place.
Martin dropped back to third on lap 240, where he ran for the next 34 laps. With the car ‘pushing really badly’, Martin dropped back to fourth place on lap 288. He would run in fourth place, behind teammates Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch for the next several laps coming in for a green flag pit stop on lap 309.
After the stop Martin returned to the field in third place and moved up to second on lap 355, where he was running when caution broke on lap 360. With the car running loose, the Viagra® Racing team pulled off a clutch pit stop, taking four tires and a wedge adjustment in only 14 seconds and sending Martin back out in the top spot; setting up Martin’s 40 lap dash to the finish line.
“The team just did an outstanding job,” said Martin. “We went all out for this win. This was a No Bull Five race and we had a million dollars on the line. I told them that I would split that up with the guys and they just worked really hard for this. The team just wanted this so bad."
By virtue of Martin’s victory in the No Bull event, fan Janet Hogan of Sterling, Va. who was paired with Martin in last week’s drawing also went home with a million-dollar prize on the night.
“This is just a huge win for us,” added Martin. “I love this race track. It’s probably the best race track I’ve ever driven on and it just feels so good to leave here with the victory."
“The last few laps were just a nail biting experience,” added crew chief Ben Leslie, who collected his first win as a Winston Cup crew chief. “I know how good Matt Kenseth is, but I know how good Mark Martin is too. It was gut wrenching to watch, but in the end it’s all worth it.”
The win marks the first for Martin since the 2000 season. It also is the fourth straight time that a Roush driver has won the Coca-Cola 600 (Jeff Burton 1999, 2001 and Matt Kenseth 2000). It is Martin’s third straight top-five finish and his fifth top-10 finish in his last six races.
Martin has now finished in the top-five on five occasions this season and in the top ten in eight of 12 races this season. The win is Martin’s 33rd career Winston Cup victory, his 301st top-10 finish and his 193rd top five in 506 starts.
The win moves Martin into third place in the Winston Cup point standings, just 143 points out of first place and 56 points behind second-place Matt Kenseth.
Martin and the No. 6 Viagra® racing team will hope to carry the momentum to the track next week, when NASCAR takes to the track at Dover International Speedway.
MARK MARTIN HEADS TO BRISTOL FOR HIS 500TH CAREER CUP START
Roush Racing PR
March 21, 2002Martin Returns to Bristol for 500th Winston Cup Start: This week Mark Martin returns to Bristol for his 500th career Winston Cup start. It will be Martin's 31st Winston Cup go around at the track and his 16th spring race at Bristol. Martin has won twice at Bristol, both times in fall and has claimed seven poles at the track. Martin also won two races at Bristol back during his Busch racing career in 1996 and 1989.
ON THE POLE: Martin has won a total of seven poles at Bristol, with four coming in the spring race and three in the fall. He also captured two Busch poles at Bristol. Last year Martin set on the pole for the Food City 500 in Bristol in March. The pole was the 40th of his famed career. He is tied with Rusty Wallace for the most poles of any active driver at Bristol.
RUNNING UP FRONT: Mark Martin has tallied 20 top-10 finishes in his 30 Cup races at Bristol, including 10 top-10's in his 15 races in the spring. For his career, Martin has accumulated 296 top-10 finishes overall. He has finished in the top-five at Bristol on six occasions, including six times during the spring race.
TOP 10'S, TOP 5's AT BRISTOL: Martin finished in the top 10 at Bristol 11 straight times from 1995-2000. He has finished in the top-10 14 or his last 18 times at the track. Martin's 15 top-five finishes are the third best all-time at Bristol.
WINNING at BRISTOL: Martin's first Winston Cup victory at Bristol came on Aug. 23, 1993, when he won the race after sitting on the pole. He won again on Aug. 22, 1998 after starting the race fourth. His first pole at Bristol came at the spring race of 1989, when he went on to finish sixth in the race.
FIRST AND LAST: This mark's the 20th anniversary of Martin's first race at Bristol on March 14, 1982. He started the race 17th and drove to a 14th place finish. Last year Martin won the pole for the spring race, but finished 34th after getting caught up in an accident with teammate Jeff Burton. in the points: Martin is currently ninth in the point's standings after five races. Martin trails point's leader Sterling Marlin by 187 points and eighth place Ward Burton by only two points. Only 44 points separate ninth and third place in the standings.
Quoting Martin on Bristol:
"It's like nothing else. It's really hard to explain what it is like racing at Bristol. It's kind of like trying to fly a fighter jet around the inside of a basketball arena. Still we've been pretty good there and it is exciting racing. Hopefully we can go there and be competitive again this year."
Quoting Jack Roush on Mark's 500th CUP Start:
"It's been a long time. Five hundred starts; I have to stop and think about that, it really takes my breath. Mark's had a great career. He's had a lot of hard racing and some great wins, hopefully he still has a championship in front of him.
Five Hundred starts is a milestone. He's certainly made a contribution to the growth of NASCAR and his career and the high points of it have done a lot to establish Roush Racing and allow it to do what it can today in Winston Cup."
Last year at the Food City 500
MARCH 25, 2001 - Bristol Motor Speedway
Food City 500 - Started 1st/Finished 34
Martin won the pole and started the race in the number one slot for the first time since 1999, but was involved in an accident after teammate Jeff Burton blew a tire on lap 246. Martin and the No. 6 Viagra team had to take the car behind the wall for repairs. Martin returned to the track with the car severely damaged and was able to gain a few positions for a 34th place finish in the race.
ROUSH RACING DRIVERS SPEAK ON MARTIN'S 500TH WINSTON CUP START
Roush Racing PRTOPIC: Roush Racing's Mark Martin will be starting his 500th career Winston Cup race this weekend. We asked car owner Jack Roush and our drivers what they thought about the milestone event in Martin's career:
Jack Roush, Owner, Roush Racing: "It's been a long time. Five hundred starts; I have to stop and think about that, it really takes my breath. Mark's had a great career. He's had a lot of hard racing and some great wins, hopefully he still has a championship in front of him.
Five Hundred starts is a milestone. He's certainly made a contribution to the growth of NASCAR and his career and the high points of it have done a lot to establish Roush Racing and allow it to do what it can today in Winston Cup.
Mark Martin, No. 6 Viagra Ford Taurus:
"Well that is a lot of races, but we've had a good time doing it. I remember that first time I started a Winston Cup race I was just excited to be a part of it and excited to be in that car. Today I'm just as excited about the chance to get in that car and go out and compete against the best that are out there."
Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DEWALT Ford Taurus:
"It's an impressive milestone for any driver to achieve. Most of those races have been here at Roush. Mark's accomplishments on the track really helped make Roush Racing successful and build the foundation that allows Jack to operate the number of teams he does. I'm personally thankful to him because he' a big part of how I got into Winston Cup and Roush Racing."
Kurt Busch, No. 97 Rubbermaid Ford Taurus: "Wow, 500 starts is really quite impressive. My hat is off to Mark for all his years of hard work and extreme dedication. With having just started my road to 500 Winston Cup starts, I can truly say that is quite a milestone to hit. Congrats Mark!"
Jeff Burton, No. 99 CITGO Ford Taurus:
"Five Hundred starts - wow, that's really cool. I just hope that I'll be lucky enough to get there one day to and enjoy the same amount of success as Mark has. I've always admired Mark as one of my role models in racing."
Greg Biffle, No. 60 Grainger Ford Taurus:
"Man that is just a great feat for Mark. It's an honor to be a teammate of his and I've learned more than I can even tell you from him over the last few years. I only hope I have half the success he has had.
Jon Wood, No. 50 Navy Racing Ford F-150:
"Congratulations Mark! I've only run in 17 races for Roush Racing period,so I can't even begin to think about my 500th Winston Cup race. That is really awesome. I wish you the best of luck in Bristol this weekend."
KRAFT FOODS AND ROUSH RACING LAUNCH SPONSORSHIP
January 17, 2002HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. - Roush Racing announced that eight Kraft brands have become associate team sponsors on all five Winston Cup cars in the Roush stable, as well as one Busch series car.
Kraft Foods North America Senior Director of Customer Marketing Services, Mark Zurcher said, "Roush Racing presents a team of true champions in every sense of the word. Their success on the track provides tremendous visibility and awareness for our brands, both on the track and off, and we look forward to a winning partnership with Roush Racing."
Kraft will launch its racing program in Daytona as the primary sponsor of Mark Martin's No. 6 Kraft Ford Taurus in the pre-season Budweiser Shootout on February 10. All eight of the participating Kraft brands will make their debut - through signage on the car - as Martin kicks off the program.
Race fans will have Roush drivers and Kraft brands to root for once the official racing starts. Brand logos will be positioned prominently on the car of each respective driver. Mark Martin's No. 6 Ford will include Maxwell House Coffee as an associate sponsor in the regular Winston Cup schedule. Jeff Burton's No. 99 Ford features Velveeta, while Matt Kenseth's No. 17 Taurus features Kraft Singles, Miracle Whip Salad Dressing and Kraft Mayonnaise as associate sponsors. Kurt Busch's No. 97 Ford brandishes the Tombstone Pizza brand as an associate sponsor and Greg Biffle's No. 16 Winston Cup ride and No. 60 Busch Series Ford highlights the Taco Bell Home Originals brand as an associate sponsor.
Mark Martin 2002 Season Articles - Page 2.
Martin celebrates his first win in 2 years
Coca Cola Racing Family 600
NASCAR-WCS 5/26/2002
Lowe's Motor Speedway
Image by Autostock
