Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959), nicknamed "the Kid", is an American former stock car racing driver. He most notably drove the No. 6 Ford for Roush Racing for the majority of his career.
From 1989 to 2009, Martin recorded 40 Cup Series victories, 35 of which were achieved with Roush Racing. He is frequently cited as one of the most accomplished drivers to never win a NASCAR Cup Series championship, having finished second in the overall standings five times (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2009) and third on four occasions.
Recognized for his longevity and consistent performance, Martin remained competitive into his early 50s, placing second in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings at the age of 50. Martin also failed to win the Daytona 500 during his career despite coming close on numerous occasions.
Although considered a strong contender in multiple seasons, Martin did not secure a victory in the Daytona 500, despite several close attempts. In the O'Reilly's Series (formerly the Busch Series), he ranks second in all-time wins with 49. He also earned five International Race of Champions IROC titles and recorded thirteen race wins in the series, the highest total in its history.Mark Martin prevails in frantic finish at Chicagoland SpeedwayMark Martin conquers Phoenix for first victory since 2005 Martin was the final driver born in the 1950s to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Early career Martin was born in Batesville, Arkansas in 1959. He began his racing career at a young age on local dirt tracks before transitioning to asphalt competition and entering the ASA racing series. During his time in the ASA, he competed against notable drivers such as Dick Trickle, Jim Sauter, Joe Shear, and Bobby Allison. Martin earned the ASA National Tour Rookie of the Year Award in 1977 and went on to win 22 ASA races and four series championships, secured in 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1986.
NASCAR career 1981–1982 Martin experienced an unsettled start to his NASCAR career, competing for six different teams between 1981 and 1987. He made five starts in 1981 with a team owned by Bud Reeder, earning pole positions at Nashville and Richmond and recording a third-place finish in his final race of the season at Martinsville.
Martin raced full-time in 1982 with the Bud Reeder team, supported by sponsorship from Apache Stove. As the season progressed, however, the team went bankrupt, and Martin did not receive payment. He was competing for Rookie of the Year honors that year. Overall, the team struggled for consistency, recording eight top-ten finishes but twelve DNFs in thirty starts, including a stretch of five DNFs in six races. Martin completed only 73.7% of the season's laps and led just four laps, resulting in a 14th-place finish in the final standings and a second-place result in the Rookie of the Year competition behind Geoff Bodine.
Despite ending the season with improved performances, including two top-ten finishes in the final two races and a fifth-place result at Riverside, Martin and Reeder parted ways after the season. He remains the only driver to have competed in more than six races for a team owned or co-owned by Reeder. At the conclusion of the season, Martin sold off his equipment and signed with Jim Stacy to compete in 1983.
1983–1986 In 1983, Martin began driving for Jim Stacy. The two parted ways after just seven races, posting three top-11 finishes while having four races in which they finished 24th or worse. Following a two-race stint driving for D. K. Ulrich and one for Emanuel Zervakis, he landed a ride with Morgan-McClure Motorsports for six races, becoming the organization's first driver. While with Morgan-McClure, Martin recorded four top-20 finishes, including a 10th-place run at Talladega.
Unable to secure a ride for 1984, Martin returned to the American Speed Association. Jimmy Fennig joined as crew chief in 1985, and the two went on to win the ASA championship the following season, which became Martin's fourth series title. His success during his three-year stint in ASA earned him a part-time ride with Jerry Gunderman. In five starts, he posted two top-15 finishes and started on the outside pole at Atlanta.
1987 Martin's success over the previous three seasons earned him a full-time ride with Bruce Lawmaster in the Busch Series. The season began strongly, as he posted two wins, three poles, nine top-tens, and held fourth place in the standings after fifteen races. After recording just one DNF in those first fifteen events, Martin suffered seven DNFs in the final twelve races, including six caused by mechanical failures and four by blown engines. Despite finishing in the top-ten in the other five races, the team's inability to finish races late in the season dropped Martin from fourth to eighth place in the final standings.
Although the late-season collapse ended Martin's chance at the championship, his performance in 1987 attracted the attention of Jack Roush, who selected him to drive in the Winston Cup Series for 1988. Martin ended the 1987 season with three wins, six poles, thirteen top-tens, and an eighth-place finish in the points standings.
Roush Racing 1988–1991
Martin came aboard the newly formed Roush Racing, with crew chief Steve Hmiel, for the first of nineteen seasons in 1988, driving the No. 6 Ford Thunderbird. Martin showed both signs of struggle and potential in his inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, recording three top-five finishes and ten top-ten finishes, along with winning the pole at Dover. He finished a season-high second at Bristol early in the year. Consistency proved crucial, as ten DNF's prevented Martin from cracking the top-ten in points at any point during the season. He finished his comeback year 15th in the standings. Martin also competed in the Busch Series on a limited basis for Bill Davis Racing from 1988 to 1991.
Martin's 1989 season began much like his 1988 campaign, with a DNF in the Daytona 500. After the first four races, he was 18th in the standings but went on to continue the year with four poles and a stretch of finishing sixth or better in the next seven starts. He spent much of the season fluctuating between second and fifth in the standings. With three races remaining, he won his first Winston Cup race at Rockingham, beating eventual series champion Rusty Wallace by three seconds. It was the first win for Roush as an owner. An engine failure in the season finale at Atlanta relegated him to a third-place finish in the standings. Martin led the series with a 5.3 average starting position, posting six poles and twenty-six top-ten starting positions in twenty-nine races. He also posted fourteen top-five finishes, eighteen top-ten finishes, and reduced his DNF total from ten to four.
Martin entered the 1990 season as a favorite to win the Winston Cup championship. He started the year with a 21st-place finish in the Daytona 500, his first completed run in the big race in six attempts. His team was met with controversy following his second career win at Richmond. During post-race inspection, it was determined that he had raced with an illegal carburetor spacer. Had the spacer been welded instead of bolted on, it would not have been considered illegal. The consensus among Martin's fellow competitors was that the part did not provide a performance advantage, but it also was not strictly within the "letter of the law" with regard to the NASCAR rulebook. As a result, Martin was penalized 46 championship points, and crew chief Robin Pemberton was fined $40,000.
Following a DNF the next race, Martin finished no worse than 14th over the final twenty-six races. He gained the championship points lead one-third into the season and held onto it for sixteen races before dropping it to Dale Earnhardt with two races remaining. Despite having three wins, sixteen top-fives, twenty-three top-tens, and three poles, Martin lost to Earnhardt by twenty-six points in the final standings. Had the 46-point penalty never occurred, he theoretically would have won the championship over Earnhardt by twenty points.
Martin's 1991 season was disappointing compared to the previous year, as he entered with expectations of winning the series championship. Although he ran well, he never achieved the points lead throughout the season and was winless entering the season finale at Atlanta, a race that he ultimately won. He also came close to winning at Charlotte three races prior, leading 198 of the first 212 laps before engine failure ended his race. Along with his win at Atlanta, Martin finished the year with fourteen top-fives, seventeen top-tens, five poles, and a 6th-place finish in the standings.
1992–2004 Mark entered the 1992 season's final race, the 1992 Hooters 500 in Atlanta, as one of six drivers in contention for the championship, but an engine failure on lap 160 ended his championship hopes. He finished the season with wins at Martinsville and Charlotte, along with ten top-five finishes, seventeen top-ten finishes, one pole, and a second consecutive sixth-place finish in the standings.
Martin began the 1993 season with a 6th-place finish in the 1993 Daytona 500, his first Top 20 finish in the event. In the second half of the season, he became the sixth driver in NASCAR's modern era to win four consecutive races, winning at Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, and Darlington. Along with a win at Phoenix, Martin finished with five wins, twelve top-five finishes, nineteen top-ten finishes, and five poles en route to a 3rd-place finish in the standings, 376 points behind Dale Earnhardt and 296 points behind points runner-up Rusty Wallace. It was his first top-five finish in the standings since his near-championship win three years earlier.
Despite having eight DNF's, Martin finished 2nd to Dale Earnhardt in the 1994 standings, 444 points behind. He posted two wins, including winning from the pole at Watkins Glen for the second consecutive year, and the season finale in Atlanta. Martin also scored fifteen Top 5's and twenty top-tens during the season, his most since 1990. Other than the season opener at Daytona, Martin was never outside the top-five in the standings. Among the highlights of Martin's 1994 season was a spectacular and frightening crash at the 1994 Winston Select 500: on Lap 103, Todd Bodine, Greg Sacks, and Jeff Gordon got together in the tri-oval, collecting an additional eight cars, including Martin. Martin's car lost its brakes, ran through the infield grass, smashed the inside wall, and plowed through a guardrail, a chain-link fence, and another guardrail protecting the infield road course, coming to rest only feet from a spectator area.
In 1994, Martin raced in the Busch Series. That year he became known for a mistake he made at Bristol. Martin led the field to a white and caution flag to win. When coming back by, Martin went down pit road thinking it was over, but he did not take the checkered flag. David Green took the win, and in victory circle Green said "I feel bad for him. A tough way for me to win, but I will take it." Martin finished eleventh; afterwards he stated "I can't believe anybody else would be that stupid," and that the mistake was "the stupidest thing I've ever done".
Martin won four races in 1995, including his third consecutive win from the pole at Watkins Glen and a victory at Talladega, his first restrictor-plate win. He also finished with thirteen top-fives and twenty-two top-tens. Though he had only one DNF, he had five finishes of 28th or worse, which earned him fourth place in the standings. Martin was one of three drivers, the others being Dale Earnhardt and Sterling Marlin, to be ranked in the top-five for all thirty-one races; none of them won the championship. For the Busch Series in 1995, Martin won three races, including the controversial Detroit Gasket 200, where Dale Jarrett won before being disqualified, handing victory to Martin.