Friday, April 24, 2009

Mark Martin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Mark Anthony Martin

Martin in 2007
Born April 24, 1957 (1957-04-24) (age 52)
Hometown Batesville, Arkansas
Awards 1977 ASA Rookie of the Year
4-Time ASA Champion (1978, 1979, 1980, 1986)
5-Time IROC Champion (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005)
Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics
Car #, Team 5 - Hendrick Motorsports
2007 Sprint Cup Position 28th
Best Cup Position 2nd - 2002, 1998, 1994, 1990 (Winston Cup)
First Race 1981 Northwestern Bank 400 (North Wilkesboro)
First Win 1989 AC Delco 500 (Rockingham)
Last Win 2009 Subway Fresh Fit 500 (Phoenix)
Wins Top Tens Poles
36 400 44
NASCAR Nationwide Series Statistics
Car #, Team 5 - JR Motorsports
2007 NNS Position 55th
Best NNS Position 8th - 1987
First Race 1982 Kroger 200 (Indianapolis)
First Win 1987 Budweiser 200 (Dover)
Last Win 2008 Sam's Town 300 (Las Vegas)
Wins Top Tens Poles
48 145 30
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Statistics
Car #, Team 21 - Wood Brothers/JTG Racing
2007 NCWTS Position 38th
Best NCWTS Position 19th - 2006
First Race 1996 Fas Mart Shootout (Richmond)
Last Race 2007 Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 (Atlanta)
First Win 1996 Lowe's 250 (North Wilkesboro)
Last Win 2006 Ford 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top Tens Poles
7 19 3
Statistics current as of April 18, 2009.

Mark Anthony Martin (born April 24, 1957 in Batesville, Arkansas) is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver for Hendrick Motorsports and drives the #5 Kellogg's/Carquest Chevrolet Impala SS, and is also a part-time driver in the Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports. Martin is known for his consistency, as he has finished in the top ten eleven times in 2008 out of the twenty-one starts he has made. He also qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup all 3 years he raced full-time during its existence. Mark Martin also currently holds the record for most Nationwide Series wins with 48. Martin is considered "the best driver to never win a championship."

Contents

Career

Before NASCAR

Martin realized his need for speed as a child when his dad would put him in his lap while driving and let him steer, all the while pushing down on the gas harder and harder, telling Mark to "keep it on the road". Mark admits he was scared but never went off the road.

Mark began his racing career as an early teen on the dirt tracks of his home state, Arkansas. With great success he moved on to ashphalt racing and joined the ASA (American Speed Assosiation)racing series. He went on to earn rookie of the year, Mark rounded out his ASA career winning twenty two races and three championships in 1978, 1979, and 1980.

Roush Racing

In 1987, he gave NASCAR racing another shot by running in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, which was called the Busch Series during this time. After a win at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, he was spotted by car owner Jack Roush. In 1988, Martin began a long relationship with Roush that continued for 19 years, driving the #6 car which was most notably sponsored by Valvoline.

Overall, Martin has 36 career NASCAR Cup wins and has finished second in the Sprint Cup Series point standings four times (1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002). However, after 19 years of racing for Jack Roush, he has never been able to capture the championship, though this is not from a lack of effort. In 1990, a 46-point penalty at Richmond for using an illegal (but non-performance enhancing) carburetor spacer caused him to lose to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points in the final standings, later NASCAR stated that they should not have penalized him, but they could not retract the decision.

Martin has also won five IROC titles (1994, 1996, 1997 1998 and 2005) in addition to 13 races, both records for that series.

Martin announced he would retire after the 2005 season, dubbing the season the "Salute to You" tour as a thank you to his fans. In June 2005, it was announced that Jamie McMurray would replace Martin in the #6 car in 2007. This, however, left Roush without a driver for the #6 car in 2006. Martin later agreed to come back and drive for the 2006 season. Ultimately, it was announced that McMurray would be released from his contract at Chip Ganassi Racing one year early and would take over for Kurt Busch, who was dismissed from the Roush organization prior to the end of the 2005 season. David Ragan was announced as Martin's replacement in the #6 for 2007.

Ginn Racing / DEI

On October 6, 2006, it was announced that Martin would instead split time with current Busch Series driver Regan Smith in the Ginn Racing #01 U.S. Army Chevrolet in 2007. Roush Racing announced that due to team limits imposed by NASCAR, they could not field a team for Martin for all 20 races he wanted to run in 2007, forcing Martin to move on, at least in the Nextel Cup Series. However, Martin drove two races for Roush Fenway Racing in the Busch Series, and also drove in three races for Hendrick Motorsports, sharing the #5 with Kyle Busch.

Martin finished second in the 2007 Daytona 500, only 0.020 seconds behind Kevin Harvick. Martin had led going into the final lap before Harvick stormed from seventh to win on the outside. There has been much controversy over whether or not the caution flag should have came out, which could have affected the outcome of the race. Normally, the caution flag is shown as soon as a car or more make contact with the wall.

Mark Martin drives the number eight Army Chevrolet into turn one at Texas Motor Speedway en route to the team’s eight-place finish in the Samsung 500 NASCAR race.

2007 was Martin's first season to start with three consecutive top-five finishes. Martin is the only part-time driver in NASCAR history to not win the opening race and lead the points standings. It is also the first time he has had three consecutive top-five finishes since 2002. Martin is also the oldest driver in the modern era to lead the Nextel Cup points for more than one week. Martin led the Nextel Cup points from the second race of the season, the Auto Club 500, through the fourth race of the season, the Kobalt Tools 500. Martin sat out the Food City 500, becoming the first driver since Cale Yarborough to sit out a race as the points leader.

On July 25, 2007, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. announced it had acquired Ginn Racing. Mark Martin would join Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Martin Truex, Jr., and Paul Menard as a driver for DEI starting at the 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. He would share the #01 car with Aric Almirola for the rest of the season.

On September 8, 2007, it was announced that Martin would share the #8 car with Aric Almirola in the 2008 Sprint Cup Series with sponsorship from the U.S. Army.

Martin made his 700th career start at the 2008 Auto Club 500.

On March 1, 2008, Mark Martin won the 2008 Sam's Town 300 driving the #5 Delphi Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. It was Martin's 48th career Nationwide Series victory and JR Motorsports' 1st win.

Martin finished out 2008 with 11 top-10's out of the 21 races he was in.

During the weekend of the 2008 Toyota/Save Mart 350, ESPN reported that Mark Martin was leaving Dale Earnhardt, Inc. following the 2008 season. It was announced that Aric Almirola who shared the #8 car with Mark Martin would drive the car full-time in 2009. [1]

Hendrick Motorsports

On July 4, 2008, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and Martin announced that he will replace Casey Mears in the #5 car for the 2009 season, running a full-time schedule for the first time since 2006. Martin signed a two-year contract with Hendrick, with a full-time schedule for the 2009 season and part time, 26-race schedule for 2010. Martin grabbed his first pole since 2001 at the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta,[2] and followed up with back-to-back poles in the following week Bristol.

On April 18, 2009, Mark Martin became the fourth driver to win a Cup race in NASCAR after turning 50, in winning the 2009 Subway Fresh Fit 500 from the pole position.[3] The other three were Bobby Allison, Morgan Shepherd (twice), and Harry Gant (8 times, last in 1993).[4] His win snapped a 97-race winless streak going back to 2005. After the victory, he did a Polish Victory Lap as a tribute to his late friend Alan Kulwicki at the place where Kulwicki did his first Polish Victory Lap.[3]

Personal life

Martin currently resides in Daytona Beach, Florida with his wife Arlene and five children (four of whom are from wife Arlene's first marriage). Martin's father, stepmother and stepsister died in a tragic plane crash on August 8, 1998 in Nevada near Great Basin National Park.[5] Martin enjoys listening to rap music.[6] Martin is also an avid pilot and flies his personal jet to and from races. He also currently owns two car dealerships. Mark Martin Chevrolet located in Melbourne, Arkansas and another, Mark Martin Ford-Mercury, in Batesville, Arkansas.[7]

References

  1. ^ ESPN.com: Martin to leave DEI in 2009, Almirola to race full time
  2. ^ Martin to seek 2009 championship in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5
  3. ^ a b Fryer, Jenna (April 19, 2009). "Mark Martin makes history with win at Phoenix". Yahoo!. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090419/ap_on_sp_au_ra_ra_su/car_nascar_phoenix. Retrieved on 2009-04-21.
  4. ^ http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/feb/12/120810/sp-not-done-yet/
  5. ^ Boone, Jerry F. (2006). Mark Martin: The Racer's Racer. MotorBooks/MBI Publishing Company. pp. 106. ISBN 076032543X.
  6. ^ Martin's rap anthem to debut at All-Star weekend
  7. ^ Mark Martin Ford-Mercury

External links

Sister project Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mark Martin (racecar driver)
Preceded by
Davey Allison		 IROC Champion
IROC XVIII (1994)		 Succeeded by
Dale Earnhardt
Preceded by
Dale Earnhardt		 IROC Champion
IROC XX (1996), IROC XXI (1997), IROC XXII (1998)		 Succeeded by
Dale Earnhardt
Preceded by
Matt Kenseth		 IROC Champion
IROC XXIX (2005)		 Succeeded by
Tony Stewart
Hendrick Motorsports
Sprint Cup drivers Mark Martin (#5) | Jeff Gordon (#24) | Jimmie Johnson (#48) | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (#88)
Driver development program Landon Cassill
Partnerships and affiliations Furniture Row Racing | JR Motorsports | Stewart Haas Racing
Sprint Cup crew chiefs Alan Gustafson (#5) | Steve Letarte (#24) | Chad Knaus (#48) | Tony Eury, Jr. (#88)
Other Rick Hendrick | Ricky Hendrick | Ray Evernham | Brian Whitesell
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