Mark Martin
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| status | not active | ||||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series statistics | |||||||||
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| Best placement | 2. - (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2009) | ||||||||
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| NASCAR Xfinity Series Statistics | |||||||||
| Best placement | 8th - (1987) | ||||||||
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| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series statistics | |||||||||
| Best placement | 19th - (2006) | ||||||||
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| Data status: June 7, 2014 | |||||||||
Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959 in Batesville , Arkansas ) is a retired American NASCAR racing driver. In the Sprint Cup he last drove the Toyota Camry with starting number 55 for Michael Waltrip Racing . He also competed in Nationwide Series races for JR Motorsports . Martin is often referred to as Mr. Consistency ("Mr. Reliability") because he regularly achieved results in the top 10. Still, he never managed to win the championship or the Daytona 500 .
Career
Early years
After Martin had raced on short dirt tracks for a few years at the beginning of his career, he made his debut in the American Speed Association (ASA) in 1977 . In the very first year of the racing series, he won the title of rookie of the year. In the following three years from 1978 to 1980, Mark Martin won the championship three times in a row.
His career in the NASCAR Cup series , which at the time was still called the Winston Cup , began in 1981. Martin clinched his first pole position in the third race . After several team and sponsor changes between 1981 and 1983, Martin returned to ASA in 1984. During this time, he could only play one full season when he started his own team. He achieved five top 10 results before he ran out of money. After returning to the ASA, he won another championship in 1986.
Roush Racing
In 1987, Martin gave NASCAR a second chance and started in the Busch Grand National Series . After his first win at Dover International Speedway in 1989, car owner Jack Roush noticed him. The following year began a long collaboration with Roush Racing , which would last for 19 years. In the second season together, Martin achieved his long-awaited win in the Winston Cup at the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 .
Overall, Martin achieved 35 victories in the cup series and finished second four times in the championship in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002. However, he was not able to win the championship for Jack Roush once in the 19 years, although he was in 1990 was punished in Richmond for the use of an illegal, but not performance-enhancing carburetor spacer with the deduction of 46 points and thus lost the championship by 26 points to Dale Earnhardt at the end of the season . Even in 1992 he had a chance for the title until the season finale, but with 111 points behind Davey Allison and 81 points on the eventual champion Alan Kulwicki , his title chances were only theoretical and he finished the season in sixth. In addition to the four runner-up championships, Martin has 49 victories in the Nationwide Series.
Further successes with Roush Racing include five championships in the IROC racing series in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2005 as well as a total of 13 race victories.
Martin's sponsors included Stroh Beer, Folgers Coffee, Kraft, Valvoline, Viagra / Pfizer, and the American Automobile Association . Martin announced that he would retire from racing after the end of the 2005 season and described it as a “Salute to You” tour as a thank you to his fans. When Kurt Busch decided not to drive for Roush Racing in the 2006 season, Roush was initially without a driver for the following season. At his request, Martin changed his mind and drove another season for Roush.
Originally it was planned after an announcement in June 2005 that Jamie McMurray would take over the car from Mark Martin with the starting number 6 in the season 2006. After Martin stayed with Roush for another season, McMurray took over the car from Kurt Busch with the starting number 97, which was changed to 26 in 2006. David Ragan was chosen to replace Martin at the end of the season .
Ginn Racing
On October 6, 2006 it was announced that Mark Martin would share the car with the starting number 01 of Ginn Racing with Nationwide Series driver Regan Smith and go to the start for 20 races in the 2007 season . Due to the regulations of NASCAR it was not possible for Roush to provide him with a car for all these 20 races, so that Martin had to look for another team at least in the Sprint Cup.
On February 18, 2007, Martin finished the Daytona 500 just 0.02 seconds behind Kevin Harvick , who pushed him from first place on the home straight. Martin went into the final lap as the leader before Harvick stormed forward from eighth place on the outside. Due to a mass accident a few hundred meters from the checkered flag, there were correspondingly controversial discussions as to whether the race should not have ended under yellow neutralized and thus Martin was the actual winner.
The 2007 season is Martin's first season with three consecutive top 5 results. It is also the season with three consecutive top 5 results for Martin since 2002. He is also the oldest driver of the modern NASCAR era to have led the cup on points for more than a week. He held this lead from the second race of the season, the Auto Club 500 , to the fourth race, the Atlanta 500 . After suspending the Food City 500 , Martin became the first driver since Cale Yarborough to pause a race as championship leader. In the summer, Ginn Racing merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc. Over 120 people lost their jobs. Martin drove the season with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to an end.
Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Also in the 2008 season, Martin went for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. at the start. However, he no longer drove in the number 01, but in the number 8. He shared the car with Aric Almirola and drove 24 of the 36 point races. He finished 11 races in the top 10, four of them in the top 5. He won the Nationwide Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway .
Hendrick Motorsports
For the 2009 season , Mark Martin has signed a two-year contract with Hendrick Motorsports . Initially, it was planned that he would drive all 36 cup races in the 2009 season and another 26 races in 2010. But in 2010 he also contested the entire season. On April 19, 2009, he won the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway at the age of 50 and celebrated his first win since 2005. His second win of the season was just a few weeks later at the prestigious Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway . Further victories followed at the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway , the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway and the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway . He took part in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and at the end of the season finished second for the fifth time in his career.
Stewart-Haas Racing
Actually, Mark Martin wanted to end his active career, but in the 2013 season , Mark Martin drove the number 14 car, which actually belongs to Stewart, since Tony Stewart's broken leg . He ended the season in this car because Stewart was only ready for the next season and he drove as the oldest Cup Series driver a pole position. After the end of the Sprint Cup 2013 season, Martin announced that he would finally withdraw from active racing. In the 2014 season he only worked in an advisory position and as a test driver for Stewart-Haas Racing .
Web links
- Official website
- Mark Martin on NASCAR.com
- Driver statistics on racing-reference.info
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Martin, Mark |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Martin, Mark Anthony; Mr. Consistency |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American NASCAR, ASA and IROC racing driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 9, 1959 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Batesville , Arkansas |