Steve Waid: Mark Martin made the most of his second chance
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.
