Nice article from NASCAR.com
If Mark ever does get the Cup Championship it'll be like Senior winning the Daytona 500...
Title or not, Martin's legacy remains the same
Humble driver never gives himself enough credit for being one of the best
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
September 11, 2010
11:47 AM EDT
Mark Martin never saw it coming.
Not this kind of season, thus far zero race victories and likely whiffing on the Chase altogether, not after pushing eventual four-time champion Jimmie Johnson to the final week of last year. Sure, things change, sometimes markedly so in NASCAR, where it's not unusual for teams to swing from top of the standings to middle of the pack - or vice versa -- in a matter of 12 months. But for a No. 5 program that showed so few weaknesses last year, that was buoyed by a driver who seemed immune to pressure, it's been a shockingly unexpected plummet.
"Expectations are really tough to deal with when you don't meet them," Martin said this week, before heading to Richmond International Raceway for the event that would determine the 12-man Chase field. "And that's why I've tried so hard to limit and keep my expectations in check. But still, yet, even as much as I do that, you know, I couldn't have ever been prepared for having as tough a year as what we've had."
How tough? Nothing like the magic carpet ride of last season, when Martin became the oldest driver to win a race in NASCAR's premier division in 16 years, and came within 141 points of becoming the sport's oldest champion. He won five times -- the most since his heyday with Jack Roush -- in a season that seemed like a gift. Now, the confetti has long since been swept up, the sprayed champagne has long since dried. He fell to 15th in points after another disappointing effort at Atlanta, and barring a miracle of miracles won't be part of the championship field decided at Richmond.
Which means, essentially, that Martin has one more season to chase the title that's always eluded him, the one he's been the runner-up for five heartbreaking times. He has one more season left on his contract at Hendrick Motorsports, and then he turns his No. 5 car over to Kasey Kahne, a young driver needed at an organization that suddenly skews very middle-age. When Martin steps out of that vehicle after next year, he'll be closing in on his 53rd birthday. It's hard to imagine that he won't still compete somewhere -- Martin bristles at the word retirement -- even if just on a part-time basis. There are plenty of teams that could use his experience and leadership, and even at 53 he'll still be better than plenty of other drivers out there.
But it's also hard to believe he'll be in a car as good as that No. 5, which after years of being viewed as a Hendrick stepchild came to life under Kyle Busch and was elevated to the level of championship contender under Martin. Kahne, who's done wonders in Richard Petty Motorsports equipment not nearly as strong as its competition, seems more than capable of continuing that trend. Martin has a museum and a car dealership in Arkansas he can oversee, and an airplane he loves to fly and a family he surely will want to spend more time with. But he also loves NASCAR, loves the people involved with it, clearly loves to compete. The idea of Martin without a steering wheel in his hands seems alien, like seeing Roush without his famous hat.
A Cup championship, though, is another matter. Oh, the close calls: 1990, when he was docked 46 points for use of a carburetor spacer at Richmond that was later deemed illegal (but not performance-enhancing), and lost to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points; 1994, when the Intimidator ran away from everyone; 1998, when Jeff Gordon won 13 times during one of the best seasons of the modern era; 2002, when Martin incurred another penalty (this one 25 points for an illegal spring) and lost a narrow battle by 38 points to Tony Stewart; and last year, again the bridesmaid as Johnson made history. Martin seems to have long made his peace with all that. It's as much a part of him as his short, spiky hair.
"Got in the Cup [Series] in my second year with Roush, we went into the last race in second in the points and we broke an engine and wound up third. And then my third year, we nearly won it," Martin said, recalling 1990. "And you know, there was all the controversy about the points penalty that we got and whether or not we should have got really a points penalty or not in the first place, based on what the infraction was. Whatever the controversy was. And you know what, it didn't bother me, because I knew, and anybody would know, based on the experience that I had had, that I would win one." (Continued)
It seemed only natural, given that the best years of his career were yet to come. But Earnhardt, or Gordon, or Stewart, or Johnson -- goodness, that's a murderer's row if there ever was one, with 17 titles between them to date -- was always in the way. At a questioner's behest, Martin will allow himself to wonder what might be different if he had won it all in 1990, if that pesky carburetor spacer incident had never intervened, if he had received that seat at the head table during the postseason banquet. His answer: nothing.
"It wouldn't change my life any," he said. "I don't think I'd be a different person. I don't think I'd have a different ride. I don't think I'd have more sponsors or anything else. When I look back on it, I've been very, very fortunate to have been incredibly successful at doing what I have passion for and love. And I'm no champion. I'm just lucky I got to win a pile of races. I'm no champion. I haven't earned the right to be in that category or to stand beside those guys. But at the same time, I'm proud that I made them work for it and I saw them finish behind me many a time. And that I can be proud of. And I think that there's a measure to every human being. There's different ways you measure success. And if you're a race car driver, points is one of those measurements. But it is not the only measuring stick there is. But it is certainly one of them. And I don't measure up in that category."
He's being too harsh. Down deep, Martin is a humble fellow from Arkansas who never gives himself enough credit for being one of the greatest drivers of his generation, regardless of whether or not he has a championship ring. Martin overlooks the fact that circumstances play a role in determining titles every bit as much as talent does, and just because he's come up short in the former doesn't mean he's lacking in the latter. Occasionally things happen in a championship race -- Kurt Busch losing a wheel at the pit entrance in 2004, or Ernie Irvan blowing a tire in front of Davey Allison in 1992, or Sterling Martin cracking a neck vertebra in 2003, or NASCAR finding an illegal part in the No. 6 car in 1990 -- that have nothing to do with ability. Sometimes, Martin ran up against a juggernaut. Sometimes, he ran up against fate.
He's not alone here, by the way. There are other drivers who for whatever reason don't have a championship on their resume, and go back and try to connect the dots to piece together a picture of where exactly they fell short.
"It's hard to put your finger on it unless there are specific races, and I think that's what it breaks down to ... specifically what mistakes were made, and specifically what happened," said Jeff Burton, Martin's former teammate. "When I go back and look at my career to this point, I feel like I can pinpoint those things. Certainly, there is a reason that some quarterbacks win big games and other ones don't. I haven't found a way to do that yet. It's been the biggest disappointment of my career not to be able to win a championship yet, and it's the one thing that's out there looming that means a great deal to me to me to try to get done. It would be disappointing. It wouldn't ruin my life, but it would be disappointing for me to walk away from this without ever having won a championship."
Burton, at 43, has the luxury of time. He has a few more years in which to chase that dream, and seemingly a window of opportunity given the renewed strength of his Richard Childress Racing team. Martin has made it abundantly clear that he isn't chasing anything anymore, that he's in this right now to try and win races and gain personal fulfillment, and let the points shake out as they may. Toward that end, his time at Hendrick has been among the most enjoyable of his career. But you wonder if Martin, racer to the core, could be just as happy competing part-time somewhere else down the road.
Of course, we don't yet know what 2012 and beyond have in store. Given the dearth of driver development programs, who knows how valuable Martin's services may be to full-time, top-tier teams. Next year may not be his last ride after all. He may fall into another situation that will allow him to climb the Chase standings and emerge as a sentimental title favorite yet again.
And what if it happens, if next year or sometime beyond he defies age and the odds and finds himself holding a large champagne bottle on the big stage at Homestead-Miami Speedway? For two decades, Mark Martin has borne with class and dignity -- a professional burden that would turn many men surly. He's been a classy competitor who races clean and can contend on any kind of track. You can't say those things about everyone in NASCAR, some former champions included. Nothing would have changed in his life, he believes, if he had won that championship in 1990. Winning it now won't change the perception everyone already has of him.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.
If Mark ever does get the Cup Championship it'll be like Senior winning the Daytona 500...
Title or not, Martin's legacy remains the same
Humble driver never gives himself enough credit for being one of the best
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
September 11, 2010
11:47 AM EDT
Mark Martin never saw it coming.
Not this kind of season, thus far zero race victories and likely whiffing on the Chase altogether, not after pushing eventual four-time champion Jimmie Johnson to the final week of last year. Sure, things change, sometimes markedly so in NASCAR, where it's not unusual for teams to swing from top of the standings to middle of the pack - or vice versa -- in a matter of 12 months. But for a No. 5 program that showed so few weaknesses last year, that was buoyed by a driver who seemed immune to pressure, it's been a shockingly unexpected plummet.
"Expectations are really tough to deal with when you don't meet them," Martin said this week, before heading to Richmond International Raceway for the event that would determine the 12-man Chase field. "And that's why I've tried so hard to limit and keep my expectations in check. But still, yet, even as much as I do that, you know, I couldn't have ever been prepared for having as tough a year as what we've had."
How tough? Nothing like the magic carpet ride of last season, when Martin became the oldest driver to win a race in NASCAR's premier division in 16 years, and came within 141 points of becoming the sport's oldest champion. He won five times -- the most since his heyday with Jack Roush -- in a season that seemed like a gift. Now, the confetti has long since been swept up, the sprayed champagne has long since dried. He fell to 15th in points after another disappointing effort at Atlanta, and barring a miracle of miracles won't be part of the championship field decided at Richmond.
Which means, essentially, that Martin has one more season to chase the title that's always eluded him, the one he's been the runner-up for five heartbreaking times. He has one more season left on his contract at Hendrick Motorsports, and then he turns his No. 5 car over to Kasey Kahne, a young driver needed at an organization that suddenly skews very middle-age. When Martin steps out of that vehicle after next year, he'll be closing in on his 53rd birthday. It's hard to imagine that he won't still compete somewhere -- Martin bristles at the word retirement -- even if just on a part-time basis. There are plenty of teams that could use his experience and leadership, and even at 53 he'll still be better than plenty of other drivers out there.
But it's also hard to believe he'll be in a car as good as that No. 5, which after years of being viewed as a Hendrick stepchild came to life under Kyle Busch and was elevated to the level of championship contender under Martin. Kahne, who's done wonders in Richard Petty Motorsports equipment not nearly as strong as its competition, seems more than capable of continuing that trend. Martin has a museum and a car dealership in Arkansas he can oversee, and an airplane he loves to fly and a family he surely will want to spend more time with. But he also loves NASCAR, loves the people involved with it, clearly loves to compete. The idea of Martin without a steering wheel in his hands seems alien, like seeing Roush without his famous hat.
A Cup championship, though, is another matter. Oh, the close calls: 1990, when he was docked 46 points for use of a carburetor spacer at Richmond that was later deemed illegal (but not performance-enhancing), and lost to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points; 1994, when the Intimidator ran away from everyone; 1998, when Jeff Gordon won 13 times during one of the best seasons of the modern era; 2002, when Martin incurred another penalty (this one 25 points for an illegal spring) and lost a narrow battle by 38 points to Tony Stewart; and last year, again the bridesmaid as Johnson made history. Martin seems to have long made his peace with all that. It's as much a part of him as his short, spiky hair.
"Got in the Cup [Series] in my second year with Roush, we went into the last race in second in the points and we broke an engine and wound up third. And then my third year, we nearly won it," Martin said, recalling 1990. "And you know, there was all the controversy about the points penalty that we got and whether or not we should have got really a points penalty or not in the first place, based on what the infraction was. Whatever the controversy was. And you know what, it didn't bother me, because I knew, and anybody would know, based on the experience that I had had, that I would win one." (Continued)
It seemed only natural, given that the best years of his career were yet to come. But Earnhardt, or Gordon, or Stewart, or Johnson -- goodness, that's a murderer's row if there ever was one, with 17 titles between them to date -- was always in the way. At a questioner's behest, Martin will allow himself to wonder what might be different if he had won it all in 1990, if that pesky carburetor spacer incident had never intervened, if he had received that seat at the head table during the postseason banquet. His answer: nothing.
"It wouldn't change my life any," he said. "I don't think I'd be a different person. I don't think I'd have a different ride. I don't think I'd have more sponsors or anything else. When I look back on it, I've been very, very fortunate to have been incredibly successful at doing what I have passion for and love. And I'm no champion. I'm just lucky I got to win a pile of races. I'm no champion. I haven't earned the right to be in that category or to stand beside those guys. But at the same time, I'm proud that I made them work for it and I saw them finish behind me many a time. And that I can be proud of. And I think that there's a measure to every human being. There's different ways you measure success. And if you're a race car driver, points is one of those measurements. But it is not the only measuring stick there is. But it is certainly one of them. And I don't measure up in that category."
He's being too harsh. Down deep, Martin is a humble fellow from Arkansas who never gives himself enough credit for being one of the greatest drivers of his generation, regardless of whether or not he has a championship ring. Martin overlooks the fact that circumstances play a role in determining titles every bit as much as talent does, and just because he's come up short in the former doesn't mean he's lacking in the latter. Occasionally things happen in a championship race -- Kurt Busch losing a wheel at the pit entrance in 2004, or Ernie Irvan blowing a tire in front of Davey Allison in 1992, or Sterling Martin cracking a neck vertebra in 2003, or NASCAR finding an illegal part in the No. 6 car in 1990 -- that have nothing to do with ability. Sometimes, Martin ran up against a juggernaut. Sometimes, he ran up against fate.
He's not alone here, by the way. There are other drivers who for whatever reason don't have a championship on their resume, and go back and try to connect the dots to piece together a picture of where exactly they fell short.
"It's hard to put your finger on it unless there are specific races, and I think that's what it breaks down to ... specifically what mistakes were made, and specifically what happened," said Jeff Burton, Martin's former teammate. "When I go back and look at my career to this point, I feel like I can pinpoint those things. Certainly, there is a reason that some quarterbacks win big games and other ones don't. I haven't found a way to do that yet. It's been the biggest disappointment of my career not to be able to win a championship yet, and it's the one thing that's out there looming that means a great deal to me to me to try to get done. It would be disappointing. It wouldn't ruin my life, but it would be disappointing for me to walk away from this without ever having won a championship."
Burton, at 43, has the luxury of time. He has a few more years in which to chase that dream, and seemingly a window of opportunity given the renewed strength of his Richard Childress Racing team. Martin has made it abundantly clear that he isn't chasing anything anymore, that he's in this right now to try and win races and gain personal fulfillment, and let the points shake out as they may. Toward that end, his time at Hendrick has been among the most enjoyable of his career. But you wonder if Martin, racer to the core, could be just as happy competing part-time somewhere else down the road.
Of course, we don't yet know what 2012 and beyond have in store. Given the dearth of driver development programs, who knows how valuable Martin's services may be to full-time, top-tier teams. Next year may not be his last ride after all. He may fall into another situation that will allow him to climb the Chase standings and emerge as a sentimental title favorite yet again.
And what if it happens, if next year or sometime beyond he defies age and the odds and finds himself holding a large champagne bottle on the big stage at Homestead-Miami Speedway? For two decades, Mark Martin has borne with class and dignity -- a professional burden that would turn many men surly. He's been a classy competitor who races clean and can contend on any kind of track. You can't say those things about everyone in NASCAR, some former champions included. Nothing would have changed in his life, he believes, if he had won that championship in 1990. Winning it now won't change the perception everyone already has of him.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.
