He's won 35 races on NASCAR's premier circuit, come heartbreaking close to winning a title four times, and done it all with class and grace. But Martin's most enduring legacy could be proving that it's possible to race at a championship level without racing every week. The man who once made 621 consecutive starts currently stands 15th in points, well within reach of a berth in the 12-man Chase. This despite competing part time, with three fewer races than everyone else. Now that Martin and his owner Bobby Ginn have discovered a formula that works, everyone is watching.
"I've run them all for several years and not been this high in the points," Martin said. "I guess that speaks highly for what we've done when we were on the track."
Martin splits his No. 01 car with rookie Regan Smith, seen as the heir apparent in the vehicle when Martin eventually steps down for good. The more Martin succeeds, the more other teams may be willing to do the same thing.
i watched trackside last night and thought i caught kyle petty saying he was doing that same thing. he was going to miss a couple races and make his 800th start at the brickyard (something like that, i wasnt really paying attention). hes not mark martin but i thought wow it is becoming a trend. and now with a guy like gordon he can take a few weeks off and still make the chase and contend for the cup. remember jr did it a couple years ago when he got burned in that sports car race at sonoma, and if i recall didn't tony miss one last year, or did he start it and just get out of the car early.
Last edited by williamwilman on May 26th at 6:38 PM.
Martins is not retiring. He is resting up for the last 10 races.. The way he is running lately he can do it. Yep Kyle should go to pasture and turn his car over to a young gun.
Gotta tip my hat to you about Ginn and Jr teaming up. There's an article about it this morning concerning how determined Bobby is at pursuing Jr. I have to agree that it sounds like a great fit. And photo-what would u think about that young gun being Jr? See ya, Shorty.
I think that drivers like Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and even drivers like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart are taking a long hard look at what Mark is doing.
Even though some of these drivers still many good years to race, with the influx of young talent out there, more and more of the older drivers will probably be looking into doing something like Mark.
I can Smoke training Joey Lagano to take over his ride in a few years.
I can even see Gordon tutoring the driver who would take his seat someday.
It would give the vets the chance to race when they wanted to and time to do other things.
It is a win win situation for the driver, team and the new driver.
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