Mark Martin

March 21, 2000 - With just five races in the books this season, Winston Cup driver Mark Martin, driver of the No. 6 Valvoline Ford, has already found himself in Victory Lane three times in the Busch Grand National series. Yet many people wonder if, at the end of this season, will Martin find himself on top of the Winston Cup point standings.

With his back pains behind him, Martin can focus on the task at hand. Not that he has not been focused for his entire racing career. With 31 wins, 37 poles, 173 top fives, and 258 top tens in Winston Cup alone, Martin has proven he is a true champion. Martin is also the only driver to have led laps in each of this season's races.

He has consistently finished in the top six in the Winston Cup point standings since 1988. The only other driver to show such consistency was Darrell Waltrip, with a string of 14 top tens.

Martin also has 29 American Speed Association (ASA) wins, won the IROC championship four times, nine IROC wins, broke the Busch series win record with 36 wins in October of 1997, and presently has 42 BGN wins. Yet for all of these wins and records, Martin lacks the one thing he truly straps into the car for, the coveted Winston Cup championship.

By age five, Martin would sit in his father Julian's lap as he drove down dirt roads in Arkansas, by ten he was driving hot rods, 18-wheelers by 13, and at the tender age of 15, strapped into his first stock car. Martin won the ASA Rookie of the year when he was 18, the following year he won the championship.

Both him and his crew were considered the "Kiddie Corp" but nevertheless they dominated the races, and won two more ASA titles back to back. Martin then moved on to NASCAR Winston Cup. Unable to find someone to give a "kid" a break, Martin drove his own equipment. Finding himself on the pole position in only his third Cup start.

However, the following three years in Cup proved to be devastating for Martin and he headed back to ASA with Ford Motor Company. At that time Chevrolet dominated the series, and with Ford, it seemed unlikely that he could find the same success he had in the late 70's. Yet Martin and his crew chief Jimmy Fenning found themselves with a fourth ASA title.

Martin conquered ASA and knew it was time to move on, yet his first attempt at Cup was still fresh in his mind, so Martin headed to the NASCAR Busch Series, where he started a dominance that still exists today. In just his first season, he won three races, six poles, and finished eighth overall. Martin made history that year with Ford's first Busch race.

Jack Roush was building a new operation for Winston Cup, he had Steve Hmiel to run the crew, but no driver. Hmiel suggested Martin and in 1988 Martin joined Roush's stable. Since that time Martin has finished no lower than 14th in the point standings. The rest is modern day history.

Martin and Roush are still together and this could very well be Martin's year to finish on top. Besides, with all his other accomplishments in the world of racing, that's about all that's left to conquer. Currently he sits second in the point standings, behind Bobby Labonte, but it's still too early in the season to tell where Martin will end up. Though I think it's safe to bet he'll be in the top 10 again.

Well that's it for this report. Until next time, remember Safety First!

Nikki

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