Passing Lane
A NASCAR BLOG BY Mike Hembree
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Explain Martin's move? No chance
Jul
4
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Don’t look for those of us who have been around racing virtually for Mark Martin’s entire career to explain him.
None of us, as far as I know, has a degree in psychiatry.
When Martin can’t even explain why he does things, it’s even tougher for others.
On Friday, Martin officially added a ton of interest to the 2009 season when he and car owner Rick Hendrick confirmed what most of the racing world already knew – that Martin will race full-time for Hendrick in ’09 in a final (well, as final as anything ever is with Martin) pursuit of the Sprint Cup championship Martin hasn’t won.
After two seasons as a part-time driver, a role Martin claims to have absolutely relished, he’ll be back in the saddle for the 38-week schedule next season. This, despite the fact that he said repeatedly – so many times that he didn’t want to say it again and no one wanted to hear it again – that he never wanted to commit to the grind of the complete schedule ever again.
On Friday, mention of that elusive championship – Martin has finished second in points four times – brought a half-hidden gleam to Martin’s eyes. This, despite the fact that over the years he has responded aggressively – sometimes, even sort of angrily, or as angry as Martin ever gets – to questions about his career not being complete without a championship.
That doesn’t matter, Martin said, so many times that he tired of saying it.
When the 2009 season cranks up in February, Martin will be 50 years old. The statistics are clear, and, although statistics sometimes lie, there is no question that NASCAR drivers’ performance levels generally take a significant dip as they cross over into their 40s.
Martin hasn’t won a race since October 2005. Of course, winning races isn’t necessarily the way to win championships, as we’ve seen all too clearly. But there are other daunting numbers – the oldest Cup champion ever is Bobby Allison, who was 45 when he won in 1983. You have to go back to 1959 to find another champion that old. Lee Petty won the title at 45 that season.
All this makes Martin’s decision even weirder.
Martin is one of the best racers in NASCAR history and certainly has earned the right to end his career in whatever way he sees fit.
Stay tuned to help figure out what that is.
None of us, as far as I know, has a degree in psychiatry.
When Martin can’t even explain why he does things, it’s even tougher for others.
On Friday, Martin officially added a ton of interest to the 2009 season when he and car owner Rick Hendrick confirmed what most of the racing world already knew – that Martin will race full-time for Hendrick in ’09 in a final (well, as final as anything ever is with Martin) pursuit of the Sprint Cup championship Martin hasn’t won.
After two seasons as a part-time driver, a role Martin claims to have absolutely relished, he’ll be back in the saddle for the 38-week schedule next season. This, despite the fact that he said repeatedly – so many times that he didn’t want to say it again and no one wanted to hear it again – that he never wanted to commit to the grind of the complete schedule ever again.
On Friday, mention of that elusive championship – Martin has finished second in points four times – brought a half-hidden gleam to Martin’s eyes. This, despite the fact that over the years he has responded aggressively – sometimes, even sort of angrily, or as angry as Martin ever gets – to questions about his career not being complete without a championship.
That doesn’t matter, Martin said, so many times that he tired of saying it.
When the 2009 season cranks up in February, Martin will be 50 years old. The statistics are clear, and, although statistics sometimes lie, there is no question that NASCAR drivers’ performance levels generally take a significant dip as they cross over into their 40s.
Martin hasn’t won a race since October 2005. Of course, winning races isn’t necessarily the way to win championships, as we’ve seen all too clearly. But there are other daunting numbers – the oldest Cup champion ever is Bobby Allison, who was 45 when he won in 1983. You have to go back to 1959 to find another champion that old. Lee Petty won the title at 45 that season.
All this makes Martin’s decision even weirder.
Martin is one of the best racers in NASCAR history and certainly has earned the right to end his career in whatever way he sees fit.
Stay tuned to help figure out what that is.
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Comments
3 responses to "Explain Martin's move? No chance"
Lane grant said:
Jul 6, 2008 at 5:59 AMMark Martin has been a good driver and team mate but he doesn't really know what he wants. Now he has signed with Hendrick for 2009, what about thereafter? Will he "semi-retire" again or go somewhere else? At the begining he was retiring to spend time with his family. Did he get a divorce? Well,in all honesty I am tired of the hole mess.
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
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» Confirm Abuse ReportRobin Musselwhite said:
Jul 7, 2008 at 7:54 AMMark Has earned the right to stay in Nascar for as long as he wants! He has paid his dues more then any other driver on the track! Check out Mark's Racing history from the beginning and You just might see where I'm coming from.
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse ReportAnonymous said:
Jul 7, 2008 at 7:37 PMI believe that Mark deserves to do what it is he wants to do with the rest of his career. If he still thinks that he is fit enough to go through the grind of a 38 week season then so be it. It dosen't matter if he has said before that he didn't want to run full-time anymore, if he changed his mind, he changed his mind. Even Bill Elliott considered a full-time ride with some Toyota teams. And Bill said over and over that he didn't want full-time anymore. But these drivers change their minds like they change their clothes, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Especially if they are true legends like Bill and Mark.
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» Confirm Abuse Report