Steve Waid: Mark Martin made the most of his second chance
By Steve Waid
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Hendrick Motorsports' Mark Martin is leading the Chase For The Sprint Cup standings heading into Sunday's race at Auto Club Speedway.
Jeff Robinson
NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
In a conversation the other day, I mentioned how Steve Hmiel, manager of competition at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, played a role in Mark Martin’s return to NASCAR.
In 1987, Hmiel, who had learned about racing during his tenure with Petty Enterprises in the early 1980s, talked with Martin about forming a team in what is now known as the Sprint Cup Series.
But things changed. After the June race in Michigan, Hmiel was approached by an official from Ford and asked if he would like to run a team owned by a man well-connected to the auto manufacturer.
Two weeks later Jack Roush called Hmiel, who accepted the general manager’s position and began to form the new team for the 1988 season.
When the time came to hire a driver, Hmiel pushed for Martin. But it was a tough sell.
Martin had competed on a full schedule in what was then called Winston Cup in 1982 driving for his own small team. To his credit, he earned eight top-10 finishes, but fell out of 11 races.
He ran out of money and had to close his operation. He was hired by maverick team owner J.D. Stacy for 1983 but was fired after just seven races.
Then he disappeared.
He went back to where he came from – the short tracks of the Midwest, where he had been a sensation.
He stayed there for six long years.
Hmiel had become familiar with Martin during his brief NASCAR tenure and admired his skill and work ethic.
He thought the Arkansas native would be more than suitable for Roush.
Roush was skeptical and for good reason.
He didn’t doubt Martin’s ability, but he had doubts about his reliability and focus.
Roush knew Martin had evolved into a heavy drinker.
For Martin, the drinking problem developed over years. At first he merely sipped beer and often didn’t even finish one.
But after his failure in NASCAR, he became distraught and heartbroken and found solace in alcohol. Soon it controlled his life.
It reached the point where friends and associates became concerned about his well-being.
Martin badly wanted to race for Roush. And after he interviewed him, Roush badly wanted Martin as his driver.
Roush was impressed that Martin wanted to know all about the cars, the equipment, the personnel and testing far more than he did his potential salary.
Roush agreed to hire Martin with one caveat: He had to stop drinking.
Which Martin did – on his own. He was determined that his second chance at NASCAR not be another failure.
Martin traded drinking for bodybuilding. It was an activity he knew would benefit him physically and keep his mind occupied.
Martin’s body has been a block of granite for years now. And he still works out.
Martin has spoken openly about his former drinking problem and how he conquered it.
His association with Roush, which lasted 19 years, was enormously successful.
Martin won 35 races, earned 234 top-five finishes and 274 among the top-10 driving Roush’s Fords. He finished second in the final point standings four times and was third four more times.
He never won a championship with Roush.
Today, as you know, Martin drives for Hendrick Motorsports after two seasons of part-time, “semiretirement” competition.
He has won five times this year and is ranked No. 1 in the Chase point standings.
Perhaps he will win the championship, but truth be known, that won’t be his single greatest achievement.
That happened 21 years ago.
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Comments
14 responses to "Steve Waid: Mark Martin made the most of his second chance". Post a Comment.
lady6nascar said:
Oct 8, 2009 at 3:50 PMHow i love this man.Wonderful person. when i met Mark i was very happy. And Mark was all i knew he would be and more. Hes my champion in every way.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportSheilaLovesNASCAR said:
Oct 8, 2009 at 4:08 PMGood article. Martin now, since his retirement, has been all gushy about his equipment and team. What happened to Roush being a great team? It's like that Roush era never happened. And I, for one, am tired of hearing him talk. Or, rather, gush.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWerner said:
Oct 8, 2009 at 4:17 PMsounds like he was hanging out with Dick Trickle too much...some of you may remember him and his after race activities...
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» Confirm Abuse Reportkchristman said:
Oct 8, 2009 at 5:02 PMit takes a big man to admit he has a problem, way to go Mark, this just makes me admire you more. Go for the Championship
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdtk1952 said:
Oct 8, 2009 at 5:54 PM#2, Mark never retired or else maybe that was his twin brother driving the last couple of years. Don't whine if you don't know the facts. He never said that he was retiring, he was supposed to go to trucks, but Roush kept him in Cup one year more then he was supposed to Now take your beer and go sit down before you spill it.
Report as Abuse#3, at least he was big enough to admit that he had a problem, unlike you.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportakilpatrick said:
Oct 8, 2009 at 7:10 PMI agree with you #5. 2 & 3 must never of had a job that required loyalty. When you work for a big business, you don't talk about the last job you had. You reflect upon what a great opportunity it is to be doing what you're so fortunate to be doing NOW.
Report as AbuseBoth owners are amongst the greatest ever in the sport. I'm still a Ford/Roush fan but Mark has always been my driver. It doesn't matter what Mark drives, he was born to race. Race fair, race hard and race clean. There are many things Mark could have said over the years about the way NASCAR and his peers have taken advantage of him. He's been robbed of victory and the prestige of Cup Champion many times so
to me when a 50 yr old driver ends his daily drive with praise and kudos for those who support him, I know he's been there enough times that I can take anything he says to the bank. And I am! Every time he speaks, I listen and I suspect that many, many more feel the same way. Mark will be a champion no matter how the game ends. He was before it started. He's also the least changed driver ever in the sport since I started watching in 1992. If you don't love him for that, then maybe you're not watching the right sport. Being solid and consistent is not a bad thing. You go Mark.... and in the end it won't be whether you won or lost that we will all remember, but how you played the game. And with Mark, it always is.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportbhstoneman said:
Oct 8, 2009 at 7:43 PMNo. 6, I like the way you think and I agree wholeheartedly with the manner in which Mark Martin seems to face each day. He never says bad things about anyone else and he is a heartfelt racer. He plays the game very well.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdtk1952 said:
Oct 8, 2009 at 8:04 PM#6 and & 7, you both said it very well. Mark will always be a champion in my mind whether he captures the Cup Championship or not. He was the King of IROC, where the driver really made a difference, as the cars were all set up the same. He probably would have been the truck king if he had gone there. He was one of the few who could run against Hornaday or Skinner in the early years. He's got the most wins in what used to be the Busch Series. When you saw the Winn-Dixie car you could almost have a 100% bet that that was the car that was going to win. Mark has always treated other drivers the way he wants to be treated. The man is probably the most respected driver in the garage. Yes, the man is a CHAMPION!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportlady6nascar said:
Oct 8, 2009 at 8:22 PMAMEN 2 MOST ALL OF YOU POSTERS.you see the Mark i love and respect so much. rare theses days.{INTEGRITY}
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» Confirm Abuse Reportjbbigrod said:
Oct 8, 2009 at 10:54 PMMark and Jack are still close, though understandably not AS close as they once were. But they both understand it is a business. And you have to do what you have to do. - - - GO Mark.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDWARFCAR75 said:
Oct 9, 2009 at 1:00 AMTo all of the previous posts....Thank you.....Mark Martin is THE MAN.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportbthompson133 said:
Oct 9, 2009 at 8:41 AMMARK is the best all around driver ever!!!!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdewiz88 said:
Oct 9, 2009 at 2:58 PMWerner you got that right! I loved Dick Trickle. My father and I followed him everywhere, I even met my husband due to Dick, but that man drank all the time. I have fifty million pictures with him and he has a beer in his hand on almost all of them. They all drank a lot back in the 80's. I commend Mark for doing such a great job! I'm kinda of proud of the 50 year old. I'm not a fan but I can appreciate his accomplishments! God Bless!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdewiz88 said:
Oct 9, 2009 at 2:59 PMI should say they all drank a lot back in the 70's!
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