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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.
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.


[[Image:Mark Martin Texas.jpg|200px|right|thumb|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.]]
[[Image:Mark Martin Texas.jpg|200px|left|thumb|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.
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.


Revision as of 22:06, 4 February 2010

For other people named Mark Martin, see Mark Martin (disambiguation).
Mark Martin
Awards1977 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 Cup Series career
Car no., team5 - Hendrick Motorsports
2009 position2nd
Best finish2nd - 2009 (Sprint Cup), 2002, 1998, 1994, 1990 (Winston Cup)
First race1981 Northwestern Bank 400 (North Wilkesboro)
First win1989 AC Delco 500 (Rockingham)
Last win2009 Sylvania 300 (New Hampshire)
Wins Top tens Poles
40 417 48
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
Car no., team5 - JR Motorsports
2009 position112nd
Best finish8th - 1987
First race1982 Kroger 200 (Indianapolis)
Last race2009 Lipton Tea 250 (Richmond)
First win1987 Budweiser 200 (Dover)
Last win2008 Sam's Town 300 (Las Vegas)
Wins Top tens Poles
48 148 30
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
Truck no., team21 - Wood Brothers/JTG Racing
2007 position38th
Best finish19th - 2006
First race1996 Fas Mart Shootout (Richmond)
Last race2007 Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 (Atlanta)
First win1996 Lowe's 250 (North Wilkesboro)
Last win2006 Ford 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
7 19 3

Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver for Hendrick Motorsports and the #5 GoDaddy.com/Delphi/Carquest Chevrolet Impala. Martin currently holds the record for most Nationwide Series wins with 48. Martin has finished second in the Cup standings five times and is considered by fans and competitors as ranking among "The best drivers to never win a championship."[1][2]

Career

Pre NASCAR

Mark began his racing career as an early teen on the dirt tracks of his home state of Arkansas. With great success he moved on to asphalt racing and joined the American Speed Association (ASA) racing series. During his ASA career Mark raced against the likes of Dick Trickle, Jim Sauter and Bobby Allison. Mark went on to earn rookie of the year, Mark rounded out his ASA career winning twenty two races and four championships (1978, 1979, 1980, and 1986).[3]

Early Nascar Career

Martin ran for various owners from 1981 to 1986. In 1981, he qualified for five races for Bud Reeder 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, formerly the Busch 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 Cup wins and has finished second in the Sprint Cup Series point standings five times (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2009). 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.

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 Cup 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 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 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 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. [6]

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 will also have a full schedule in the 2010 season. 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, 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.[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, Mark 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 has struggled to get into the top 12, moving up two spots to 11th place with the win at Chicagoland Speedway.[11] Mark 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 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Hendrick Motorsports announced that GoDaddy.com 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. One 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.

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 part-time Ginn Racing
2008 24/36 0 0 4 11 28 13.3 11.5 $3,553,705 28 part-time Dale Earnhardt Incorporated
2009 36/36 5 7 14 21 1 15.6 11.0 $3,839,482 2[13] Hendrick Motorsports
Totals 748[14] 40 48 252 410 13.4 11.8 $71,425,626

Data as of November 23 2009 [15]

Personal life

Martin currently resides in Port Orange, Florida,[16] with his wife Arlene and five children (four of whom are from his wife Arlene's first marriage). Martin's father, stepmother and half-sister died in a plane crash on August 8, 1998 in Nevada near Great Basin National Park.[17] Martin enjoys listening to rap music.[18] 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.[19]

References

  1. ^ Mark Martin prevails in frantic finish at Chicagoland Speedway
  2. ^ Mark Martin conquers Phoenix for first victory since 2005
  3. ^ "Google Books. Mark Martin ASA".
  4. ^ a b "1981 NASCAR Cup statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  5. ^ a b "1982 NASCAR Cup statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  6. ^ ESPN.com: Martin to leave DEI in 2009, Almirola to race full time
  7. ^ Martin to seek 2009 championship in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5
  8. ^ a b Fryer, Jenna (April 19, 2009). "Mark Martin makes history with win at Phoenix". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  9. ^ http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/feb/12/120810/sp-not-done-yet/
  10. ^ Martin prevails in frantic finish at Chicagoland speedway
  11. ^ Nascar cup standings after Chicagoland
  12. ^ "Foxsports Nascar Sprint cup schedule".
  13. ^ "2009 NASCAR drivers standings". Racing Reference. 2009-09-19. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
  14. ^ "Mark Martin driver's statistics". Racing Reference. 2009-09-19. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
  15. ^ NASCAR.COM
  16. ^ Mark Martin Bio, Henrick Motorsports
  17. ^ Boone, Jerry F. (2006). Mark Martin: The Racer's Racer. MotorBooks/MBI Publishing Company. p. 106. ISBN 076032543X. {{cite book}}: External link in |title= (help)
  18. ^ Martin's rap anthem to debut at All-Star weekend
  19. ^ Mark Martin Ford-Mercury

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mark Martin.
Preceded by IROC Champion
IROC XVIII (1994) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by IROC Champion
IROC XX (1996), IROC XXI (1997), IROC XXII (1998) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by IROC Champion
IROC XXIX (2005) 		Succeeded by

Template:TRIPLE Mark Martin has never won a cup championship.

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