- Mark Martin
-
For other people named Mark Martin, see Mark Martin (disambiguation).
Mark Martin 
Martin in 2007Born January 9, 1959
Batesville, ArkansasAwards 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 career Car no., team 5 – Hendrick Motorsports 2010 position 13th Best finish 2nd – 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2009 First race 1981 Northwestern Bank 400 (North Wilkesboro) First win 1989 AC Delco 500 (Rockingham) Last win 2009 Sylvania 300 (New Hampshire) Wins Top tens Poles 40 431 51 NASCAR Nationwide Series career Car no., team #32 – Turner Motorsports Best finish 8th – 1987 First race 1982 Kroger 200 (IRP) First win 1987 Budweiser 200 (Dover) Last win 2011 Sam's Town 300 (Las Vegas) Wins Top tens Poles 49 148 30 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career Truck no., team #32 – Turner Motorsports Best finish 19th – 2006 First race 1996 Fas Mart Shootout (Richmond) 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 January 10, 2011. Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is an American stock car driver currently competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. As of 2012, Martin will drive for Michael Waltrip Racing, moving on from successful organizations such as Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing. He has the second most wins in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, with 49. He has also finished second in the Sprint Cup Series standings five times and has been described by ESPN as "The best driver to never win a championship."[1][2]
Contents
Career
Early racing career
Mark began his racing career as a young man on the dirt tracks of Arkansas. With great failure, he moved on to asphalt racing and joined the ASA racing series. During his ASA career, Mark raced against Dick Trickle, Jim Sauter, Joe Shear and Bobby Allison. Mark went on to earn Rookie of the Year in 1977. Mark rounded out his ASA career winning twenty-two races and four championships (1978, 1979, 1980, and 1986).[3]
Early NASCAR career
Mark Martin ran for various owners from 1981 to 1986. In 1981, he qualified for 5 races while driving for Bud Reindeer including pole positions at Nashville Speedway USA and Richmond.[4] He had his first top-ten finish, with a seventh place finish at Richmond; his first top-five finish happened when he finished third at Martinsville Speedway.[4] Martin continued racing for Reeder for all 30 races in 1982.[5] He finished 14th in season points, with eight top-ten finishes, highlighted by fifth place results at Dover and Riverside International Raceway.[5]
Roush Racing
Mark Martin sits on the outer pit wall at Pocono Raceway, waiting to qualify for the June 1998 Winston Cup Race..
In 1987, he gave NASCAR racing another shot by running in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. 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 and Viagra.
Overall, Martin has 40 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins and has finished second in the Sprint Cup Series point standings five times (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2009). While racing for Roush in 1990, Mark Martin came his closest to winning a championship. 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.
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 cut back from Sprint Cup Series racing 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 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 come out as a result of a large multi-car crash behind them, 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 eighth-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 but still be leading 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 Regan Smith 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 in 21 starts.
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.[6]
Hendrick Motorsports
On July 4, 2008, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and Martin announced that he would 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 2009 and 2010. Martin grabbed his first pole since 2001, at the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta,[7] and followed up with back-to-back poles in the following week at Bristol.
On April 18, 2009, Martin became the fourth driver to win a Cup race in NASCAR after turning 50, winning the 2009 Subway Fresh Fit 500 from the pole position.[8] The other three were Bobby Allison, Morgan Shepherd (twice), and Harry Gant (8 times, last in 1992).[9] 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.[8] At Darlington, it was announced after the Richmond race that Martin would drive full time again in 2010; Martin would go on to win the Southern 500. It was his first multiple-win season since 1999. In the 2009 LifeLock 400, Martin won his third race of the season when Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle ran out of fuel in the last two laps. Martin added a series-leading fourth win at the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland in July, holding off a charging Jeff Gordon. Because he and teammate Gordon also finished 1–2 at the LifeLock 400 at Michigan in June, LifeLock will pay a $1 million bonus to a family in Colorado.[10] Despite his series-leading four wins, due to some early season troubles, including two engine failures, a blown tire, and getting caught up in multi-car wrecks at Talladega and Daytona, Martin had struggled to get into the top 12, moving up two spots to 11th place with the win at Chicagoland Speedway.[11] Martin also got his fifth pole of the 2009 season at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Sharpie 500.[12]
After being on the Chase bubble for most of the season, Martin qualified for the 2009 Chase, as he was in sixth place in the standings following the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. Because he led the Chase drivers in wins, with four, the Chase reseeding process moved him up five places and made him the points leader.
On September 18, 2009, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Hendrick Motorsports announced that Go Daddy would sponsor Martin's No. 5 Chevrolet for 20 races in 2010 and 2011, and that Martin had signed to drive full-time for Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series through 2011.
Two days later, he won his fifth race of the year by taking the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire in the first race of the Chase. The win broke Martin's tie with Kyle Busch for the series wins lead and marked the third time in his career that he had won at least five times in a season (1993 and 1998). Martin extended his lead to 35 points over Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, who were tied for second in the standings.
At the end of the 2009 AMP Energy 500, Martin's Chevrolet turned after contact with another car and flipped over one and a half times. It was the second time Martin had ever been upside down in his racing career. Once righted, Martin managed to drive the Chevy across the finish line.
Entering the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Martin and Johnson were the only drivers still able to win the 2009 Sprint Cup championship. Martin finished 12th in the race, which was not enough to overcome Johnson's lead. Martin again finished second in the standings, for the fifth time in his career.
In 2010, Mark started the year off strong with his new sponsor Go Daddy and won the pole for the 52nd Daytona 500.
In the Bud Shootout, he was running well. However, he was caught up in the "big one" during a green-white-checker finish and finished 21st.
Mark started the Daytona 500 well, leading the majority of the first 30 Laps, but after being stuck in the "Sucker hole", he dropped down as low as 33rd and had to pick his way through the rest of the day. By the finish of the race, Martin ended the day a solid 12th and a good start to the year going to California.
Mark would run well at California and Las Vegas, scoring back-to-back 4th place finishes, and advancing as high as 3rd in the points standings, only 49 points out of the lead. However, "Lady Luck" would turn her back to Martin in the next 3 races.
Mark would get caught up in a wreck at Atlanta and Bristol, finishing 33rd and 35th, respectively. Mark was leading the field and running top-5 during most of the day, until a flat tire at Martinsville would relegate him to a 21st place run. During the stretch of bad luck, Mark fell from 3rd to 17th in the points standings, 214 points behind the leader.
The next three races of the 2010 season would see Martin rally back. With a 4th place finish at Phoenix, 6th place finish at Texas, and a 5th place finish at Talladega, Mark jumped from 17th in the points standings to 6th, 169 points behind the leader.
Mark's bad luck struck again in the following 3 races, as he struggled to get a handle on his race cars. A 25th place finish at Richmond, 16th place finish at Darlington, and 15th place finish at Dover would cause Mark to fall to 11th in the points standings, 293 points behind the leader.
In the Sprint All-Star race, qualifying was rained out. The field was set in the order the drivers drew. Martin started 15th. He finished the first 50-lap segment in 15th. He would use a two-tire pit stop to gain position and would finish the second 20-lap segment in 3rd. He would hold his position in the third 20-lap segment and finish 3rd. Mark would lose a spot during the mandatory 4-tire pit stop before the start of the final 10-lap shootout for the $1 million. However, as the field took the green, Mark would be hit by another car and crash, finishing 17th.
A week later, Mark returned to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. Mark qualified 11th and struggled much of the race with handling issues. However, during a caution with 20 laps to go, most of the field pitted, and Mark opted to stay out. He restarted 2nd and finished the race in 4th.
Mark Martin had a season best finish of second at the 2010 TUMS Fast Relief 500. Martin crashed with 275 laps to go, but managed to work his way up 15 spots with bent fenders and no rear end. Martin will not ride for Hendrick Motorsports in the 2012, because driver Kasey Kahne will take his ride in the 2012 season.
In 2011, he began the season with an accident in the Budweiser Shootout. During the following race, he was involved in a multiple-car accident. In the Subway Fresh Fit 500, he managed to finish in the 13th position. One week later, Martin participated in the Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he was able to win his 49th race in the series. The victory was also the first for his team, Turner Motorsports.
Michael Waltrip Racing
On November 4th, 2011, it was announced that Martin would replace David Reutimann in the #00 for MWR in 2012, a deal lasting through 2013. He will drive at least 25 races in both seasons.
NASCAR Career Statistics
Year Races Wins Poles Top 5 Top 10 DNF Finish Start Winnings Season Rank Team(s) 1981 5/31 0 2 1 2 2 15.0 3.6 $13,950 42 Owner/Driver 1982 30/30 0 0 2 8 12 19.5 15.1 $115,600 16 Owner/Driver and Bob Rodgers 1983 16/30 0 0 1 3 8 21.0 15.6 $99,655 30 J.D. Stacy (seven races), Morgan-McClure (six), D.K. Ulrich (two), Owner/Driver (one) 1986 5/29 0 0 0 0 2 21.8 15.2 $20,515 48 Gunderman Racing 1987 1/29 0 0 0 0 1 39.0 41.0 $3,550 103 Roger Hamby 1988 29/29 0 1 3 10 10 19.5 11.5 $189,400 15 Jack Roush 1989 29/29 1 6 14 18 4 10.7 5.3 $621,788 3 Jack Roush 1990 29/29 3 4 16 23 1 6.6 5.4 $803,095 2 Jack Roush 1991 29/29 1 5 14 17 5 12.0 7.9 $805,105 6 Jack Roush 1992 29/29 2 5 10 17 5 12.4 8.1 $809,505 6 Jack Roush 1993 30/30 5 5 12 19 3 11.6 8.8 $1,151,890 3 Jack Roush 1994 31/31 2 1 15 20 5 11.7 8.1 $1,054,237 2 Jack Roush 1995 31/31 4 4 13 22 8 10.7 8.4 $1,499,466 4 Jack Roush 1996 31/31 0 4 14 23 4 11.3 8.8 $1,532,555 5 Jack Roush 1997 32/32 4 3 16 24 3 9.0 11.0 $1,829,550 3 Jack Roush 1998 33/33 7 3 22 26 1 8.6 8.9 $3,255,470 2 Jack Roush 1999 34/34 2 1 19 26 3 9.4 8.2 $2,802,227 3 Jack Roush 2000 34/34 1 0 13 20 6 13.6 11.0 $2,743,615 8 Jack Roush 2001 36/36 0 2 3 15 4 17.9 15.6 $3,487,719 12 Jack Roush 2002 36/36 1 0 12 22 3 12.2 16.0 $5,279,405 2 Jack Roush 2003 36/36 0 0 5 10 7 20.2 20.7 $4,048,847 17 Jack Roush 2004 36/36 1 0 10 15 2 13.8 15.2 $3,948,497 4 Jack Roush 2005 36/36 1 0 12 19 2 13.2 15.5 $5,994,353 4 Jack Roush 2006 36/36 0 0 7 15 2 14.2 16.1 $4,097,203 9 Jack Roush 2007 24/36 0 0 5 11 2 14.5 16.2 $4,097,203 27 Ginn Racing 2008 24/36 0 0 4 11 2 13.3 11.5 $3,553,705 28 Dale Earnhardt Incorporated 2009 36/36 5 7 14 21 1 15.6 11.0 $3,839,482 2 Hendrick Motorsports 2010 36/36 0 1 9 14 0 16.8 12.6 $3,321,410 13 Hendrick Motorsports 2011 32/36 0 2 2 10 2 16.4 14.9 $1,920,110 14 Hendrick Motorsports Totals 762 40 50 259 419 108 $82,430,958 Data as of October 23, 2011[13]
Personal life
Martin currently resides in Daytona Beach, Florida,[14] with his wife Arlene and five children (four of whom are from his wife's first marriage). His son Matt raced for a time in lower series. Martin's father, stepmother and half-sister died in a plane crash on August 8, 1998 in Nevada near Great Basin National Park.[15] Martin enjoys listening to rap music.[16] Martin is also an avid pilot and flies his personal jet to and from races. He also currently owns three car dealerships, including Mark Martin Chevrolet located in Melbourne, Arkansas and another, Mark Martin Ford-Mercury, in Batesville, Arkansas.[17]
References
- ^ Mark Martin prevails in frantic finish at Chicagoland Speedway
- ^ Mark Martin conquers Phoenix for first victory since 2005
- ^ Boone, Jerry F (2006-05-31). Google Books. Mark Martin ASA. ISBN 9780760325438. http://books.google.com/?id=QNZO2NUZGxkC&pg=PA43&lpg=PA43&dq=American+speed+association+1986#PPA43,M1.
- ^ a b "1981 NASCAR Cup statistics". Racing Reference. http://racing-reference.info/drivdet?id=martima01&yr=1981&series=W. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
- ^ a b "1982 NASCAR Cup statistics". Racing Reference. http://racing-reference.info/drivdet?id=martima01&yr=1982&series=W. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
- ^ ESPN.com: Martin to leave DEI in 2009, Almirola to race full time
- ^ Martin to seek 2009 championship in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5
- ^ 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 2009-04-21.[dead link]
- ^ http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/feb/12/120810/sp-not-done-yet/
- ^ Martin prevails in frantic finish at Chicagoland speedway
- ^ Nascar cup standings after Chicagoland
- ^ "Foxsports Nascar Sprint cup schedule". http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/results?gameId=20090822016.
- ^ [ NASCAR.COM ]
- ^ Mark Martin Bio, Henrick Motorsports
- ^ Boone, Jerry F. (2006). Mark Martin: The Racer's Racer. MotorBooks/MBI Publishing Company. pp. 106. ISBN 076032543X. http://books.google.com/books?id=QNZO2NUZGxkC.
- ^ Martin's rap anthem to debut at All-Star weekend
- ^ Mark Martin Ford-Mercury He also owns Mark Martin Kia.
External links
- Mark Martin's Official Website
- Mark Martin's statistics at Racing-Reference.info
- Mark Martin on FoxSports
- Mark Martin Chevrolet Dealership
- Mark Martin's Driver page at NASCAR.com
- Mark Martin on FoxSports Video Archive
Preceded by
Davey AllisonIROC Champion
IROC XVIII (1994)Succeeded by
Dale EarnhardtPreceded by
Dale EarnhardtIROC Champion
IROC XX (1996), IROC XXI (1997), IROC XXII (1998)Succeeded by
Dale EarnhardtPreceded by
Matt KensethIROC Champion
IROC XXIX (2005)Succeeded by
Tony StewartLinks to related articles Hendrick Motorsports Sprint Cup drivers Primary Sponsors Farmers Insurance Group (#5) · Drive to End Hunger (#24) · Lowe's #48) · Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard (#88)Sprint Cup crew chiefs Partnerships and affiliations Management/Related Info Past winning drivers Geoff Bodine · Ken Schrader · Tim Richmond · Darrell Waltrip · Ricky Rudd · Terry Labonte · Jack Sprague · Jerry Nadeau · Brian Vickers · Kyle Busch · Casey Mears · Mark MartinTeam Owners Steve Turner • Harry Scott, Jr.Nationwide Series Drivers 30 James Buescher / Ricky Carmichael / Kasey Kahne / Mikey Kile • 31 Justin Allgaier • 32 Brian Vickers • 38 Jason LefflerCamping World Truck Series Drivers 4 Ricky Carmichael • 31 James Buescher • 32 Steve Arpin / Blake FeeseOccasional Drivers Mark Martin • Ryan Newman • Boris SaidPartnerships/affiliations Hendrick Motorsports • Stewart-Haas RacingRelated Roush Fenway Racing Sprint Cup drivers David Ragan (#6) | Greg Biffle (#16) | Matt Kenseth (#17) | Carl Edwards (#99) Nationwide Series drivers Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (#6) | Trevor Bayne (#16) | Carl Edwards (#60) Primary Sponsors UPS (#6-Sprint) | 3M (#16-Sprint) | Crown Royal (#17-Sprint) | Aflac (#99) | Fastenal (#60) Crew Chiefs Drew Blickensderfer (#6-Sprint) | Matt Puccia (#16-Sprint) | Jimmy Fennig (#17-Sprint) | Bob Osbourne (#99)
Mike Kelley (#6-Nationwide) | Chris Andrews (#16-Nationwide) | Mike Beam (#60) |Driver Development Program Chris Buescher | Kevin Swindell Grand-Am Drivers Billy Johnson | Jack Roush, Jr. Partnerships and affiliations Baker Curb Racing | FAS Lane Racing | Front Row Motorsports | Richard Petty Motorsports | Wood Brothers Racing | Roulo Brothers Racing (ARCA) Management/Related Info Jack Roush | John W. Henry | Fenway Sports Group | Sam Belnavis | Geoff Smith | Steve Newmark | Mark Martin | Robbie Reiser | Roush Performance | Roush Racing: Driver X | Roush-Yates Engines Budweiser Shootout Winners Six-time Three-time Two-time One-time Buddy Baker · Darrell Waltrip · Bobby Allison · Terry Labonte · Bill Elliott · Geoff Bodine · Rusty Wallace · Mark Martin · Jimmie Johnson · Denny Hamlin · Kurt Busch
Categories:- 1959 births
- American Christians
- American racecar drivers
- American Speed Association drivers
- Bill Davis Racing drivers
- Hendrick Motorsports drivers
- International Race of Champions drivers
- JR Motorsports drivers
- Living people
- Michael Waltrip Racing drivers
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- NASCAR drivers
- NASCAR Rookies of the Year
- People from Independence County, Arkansas
- Racecar drivers from Arkansas
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- Turner Motorsports drivers
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