Looking purely at the numbers, Mark Martin has raced his way into Chase contention with his victory at the 2009 Southern 500 at Darlington. As of this writing, Martin sits in 11th- pretty impressive when you consider that Martin was mired at near “go or go home” status before he began to turn things around at Bristol.
What the number don’t tell you consistently good his car has been all season long. Other than a qualifying effort of 31st at Martinsville and a 23rd at Texas, Martin has had a stout car off the track. I should take occasion to note that in these two races, “The Kid” rallied for top 10 finishes.
It makes one wonder how things might right now if Martin hadn’t been caught up in “Big One Number One” at Talladega, or if he hadn’t had engine failures at Fontana and Las Vegas. The good news for the 50-year-old Arkansan, his crew chief Alan Gustafson and everyone else associated with the #5 team is that they’ve hit the ground running in their first season together. It seems like every week, Martin is wearing a Cheshire cat grin on his face when being interviewed about his car during practice. It also says good things that you don’t hear bickering between driver and crew chief during the race, and Martin’s crew hasn’t killed his chances with screw ups and penalties.
There were plenty of people out there who questioned Rick Hendrick’s commitment to a
driver he might only get a year or two out of at best, and one who at times has resembled NASCAR’s answer to Brett Favre. Certainly the opportunity would make more sense for an up and coming driver- perhaps a Brad Keselowski or a Landon Cassill. It would be an investment in the future, while a nod towards Martin seemed nostalgic. Going into the season, how many times did you see Mark Martin’s name tagged with “sentimental favorite?”
Given how the open weeks of 2009 went, it initially appeared that this would be a season of discontentment for Martin. Until Martin started reeling off good finishes that culminated with a victory at Phoenix, there was a prevailing “Here we go again” sentiment regarding his fortunes.
How Martin handled Jimmie Johnson in the closing laps of Saturday’s race is in my mind an “Exhibit A” for Martin’s skill and precision behind the wheel- offering insight into the admiration competitors and fans have for him. Johnson simply couldn’t get around him. Without theatrics, Martin held his ground, and Johnson finally relented and said “I’ve got nothing for him.”
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the uber-competitive Johnson cry “Uncle.”
As of now, it appears the bad luck is behind Martin and it will be intriguing to watch his ascent in the standings. He seems to be catching fire at a time when several of his competitors: Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards to name a few- are experiencing wavering fortunes. One can’t help but think that Martin’s chances of capturing that elusive championship trophy may actually be well within reach.
It’s a long season, and just as sure as Mark Martin has rallied to get to this place, it could all unravel tomorrow. Fortunately for him, he’s “man of the moment” and not letting himself get caught up in all this big picture talk. The way Martin talks, if it all falls apart, he’ll take the bad with the good- a season where he’s pulled off a pair of victories, enjoying the thrill of the race in some of the best equipment in the business, backed by top flight racing people.
What to make of this? If I’m Mark Martin’s competition, I would be concerned. So far only bad luck and equipment failure is the only thing holding him back.
With 2 wins, 3 poles, 3 top 5s and 6 top 10s in 11 starts, the driver known as one of the best to never win a championship is on quite a run. Take the “bad luck” factor out and you have the most consistent racer on the circuit outside of Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.
Mark Martin is having an even better season than the numbers suggest. At the rate he’s going, the stats will catch up to make for what may very well be one of sport’s best feel good stories of 2009.
PHOTO CREDITS- Martin with champaign by liontattoo. Martin’s car courtesy of Chris Mc Grath/ Getty Images.
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