Martin is not the retiring type, after all
This was supposed to be Mark Martin's slide into retirement.
Some slide.
Scheduled to drive a limited schedule for Ginn Racing this year, including Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Dover International Speedway, Mark Martin began the season by finishing runner-up to Kevin Harvick in the Daytona 500 - by 0.02 second. Mark Martin led the points standings for the first 4 weeks.
Now, after skipping three of the first 11 races, Mark Martin is 14th in points, only 31 points out of the 12th and final qualifying spot for the NASCAR Chase for the Championship.
Mark Martin is a happy man.
"I'm living a dream," Mark Martin, 48, said this week from Daytona Beach, Fla. "I'm so happy that I wound up with this group. They've treated me like gold. They're definitely some of the best people I've ever worked with in my career.
"Probably what makes them so great is they have the biggest heart. At this level, you have all great people. Sometimes the thing that sets them apart is their heart.
"It's hard to describe. It's just a feeling. They've had too many bad things happen to them."
Bobby Ginn is a successful developer of resorts. He purchased MB2 Motorsports last year when Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek drove for the team. Jay Frye is Ginn Racing's CEO and general manager, and Ryan Pemberton is the crew chief.
Mark Martin mentioned career-ending crashes involving Ernie Irvan and Jerry Nadeau when they drove for MB2.
"They won with Joe [Nemechek] in 2004 and had a solid 2005," Mark Martin said. "Then they had it fall apart in 2006. A lot of them have been there a long time through all kinds of disappointments and heartbreaks. They really appreciate the results that we're getting."
Mark Martin was scheduled for 21 Cup points races in the No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, but recently added the second races at Dover, Pocono and Richmond.
"They are race tracks I wanted to race," he said, before adding, "I wish it wouldn't have leaked to the press, because I might change my mind."
Leaving Roush Racing after 19 years was difficult for Mark Martin. The Arkansas native never won a Cup series title, but he was runner-up four times. Mark Martin's 35 Cup wins are third among active drivers.
His crew chief at Roush the past few years was Pat Tryson, the Malvern native dismissed last week as Greg Biffle's crew chief.
"Pat's a tremendous crew chief; I love him to death," Mark Martin said. "He'll be fine. He has multiple opportunities right now."
When Mark Martin isn't racing for Ginn, he is mentoring rookie Regan Smith and prospect Ricky Carmichael. Mark Martin also is guiding his son Matt's racing career.
As Mark Martin's racing career winds down, he realizes how much he is respected by his peers. Fans also lavish him with affection.
"Sometimes I feel a little embarrassed," he said softly. "But it's big. It definitely makes up for whatever trophy isn't on the mantel. That's what makes this year so amazing, the respect that I've been given, the people who want to work with me and the people who appreciate what I stand for. The last 6 or 7 months have been the best in my life."
No wonder he is so happy.
Truck series milestone
The AAA Insurance 200 tomorrow at Dover at 4:45 p.m. will be the 300th Craftsman Truck Series race.
Mark Martin won last year's truck race at Dover. He's driving six truck races this season for the Wood Brothers.
Several successful Nextel Cup drivers, including Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick, graduated from the truck series.
Truck veterans believe more future Cup drivers will come to the Craftsman series because there are more companion races with the Cup, giving car owners opportunities to see the truck racers. Close finishes happen frequently with the trucks. The truck series also is attracting more attention because more former Cup drivers are competing.
With at least a dozen Cup drivers also racing regularly in the Busch series, Busch is known as "Cup Light." More than 20 Cup drivers were in Saturday night's Busch race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Texan David Starr is in his 10th season on the trucks circuit. During a visit to Philadelphia last week, Starr said: "One of the most common things you hear from a NASCAR fan is, 'We don't pay attention to the [Busch] race on Saturday anymore. We love the truck series, because we see a different group of drivers in the truck series, then we watch the [Cup] race on Sunday.' "
Previously, the Busch series was a developmental place for future Cup drivers.
"Richard Childress legitimately has six Cup teams," said Todd Bodine, an ex-Cup driver who is third in truck points. "His Busch teams are Cup teams. They're a Cup team racing on Saturday: same engineering, same financial support. The independent guy is out in the cold." *
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