 | | Mark Martin is one of five drivers to win multiple All-Star events. Credit: Autostock |
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
May 17, 2006
12:54 PM EDT (16:54 GMT)
CONCORD, N.C. -- Mark Martin insisted he couldn't remember what happened at his first appearance in NASCAR's all-star race. Something about losing too many brain cells during the past 47 years. In the same breath, he recalled how he had the 1990 race won until Terry Labonte blew an engine on the last lap. He remembered how Labonte's misfortune forced a one-lap shootout in which there was a double-file restart, not single-file as is the case in a points event. He recalled how that put Dale Earnhardt in the fast groove on the outside, pushing the seven-time Cup champion to the win and leaving him a disappointing third. He didn't remember that was his first all-star race. "When you get as old as I am your brain gets kind of rough and you don't remember much,'' Martin said as he looked ahead to Saturday night's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "I don't remember much anything else except the last one. That's the only one I care to remember. "It's a good one.'' It certainly was. Martin, in what was supposed to be his final Nextel Cup season until team owner Jack Roush asked him to stay in the No. 6 Ford another year, led the final 19 laps to win the annual shootout and the $1 million prize. He then dedicated the win to the fans that supported his career and promised to keep coming back for the event as long as Roush gave him a car, which became a non-issue when he opted to extend his farewell tour into '06. "It was just really incredible to share that with my team and with my family and the fans,'' said Martin, whose retro paint scheme resembled the red, white and blue car he drove in 1993. "It showed tremendous respect. Even those that weren't my fans were happy, and that shows great respect.'' The rest of Martin's All-Star memories blur into one. Oh, he recalls Dale Earnhardt's famous "pass in the grass'' to beat Bill Elliott in 1987 even though he wasn't in the race. He also remembers the controversial 1989 race in which Rusty Wallace spun out fan favorite Darrell Waltrip. But ask if he remembers a key moment when he won the event last year or in 1998 and his answer is the same. "Nope,'' Martin said. But Martin does remember his first impression of Lowe's Motor Speedway, which he doesn't hesitate to call his favorite on the circuit even after a repaving job that has drivers, NASCAR and Goodyear wondering what to expect this weekend. "I remember taking about three laps and coming on the radio and saying, 'Man, this is great! It's just like racing this quarter-mile [track] back home, only bigger,''' said Martin, who first ran at LMS in 1981. "What I meant by that is I was just as comfortable as I was on any quarter-miler. "It was a Busch race and we qualified second and finished fifth. I had huge success and loved the place.'' The love affair continues. Martin has won four points races at LMS, tied for second among active drivers with Jeff Gordon and one behind Jimmie Johnson. His two all-star wins at LMS are one shy of Gordon and Earnhardt for the most in the event. Yet Martin doesn't take any more chances in the All-Star event than he does in the Coca-Cola 600 the following weekend, which goes against the trend in an event promoted as no-holds-barred racing. Sometimes that works against him, which may explain why his average finish in 16 races is 10.94 and he has seven finishes of 16th or worse.  |  | | Mark Martin shows us the money he won. Credit: Autostock |
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"It's set up so the guy that's got the biggest advantage to win doesn't win,'' Martin said. "That's the whole point of the whole format, to get somebody else to win instead of the guy that's got the hammer. "It's entertainment, man. They wrote me a check for a million dollars.'' At the same time, Martin doesn't claim to be as much of a gentleman in this event as many of his peers make him out to be. "I'm not polite,'' he said. "I just race right.'' And he always races the same way, whether it's the all-star race or a 600-miler. "I race to win,'' Martin said. That's why he remembers the details of the 1990 race. He tends to remember the ones he should have won more than the ones he won. "They put Eanhardt on the outside of me and we couldn't get it done from there,'' said Martin, shaking his head as though he'd just lost again. "That was a disappointment, not realizing the rules were Saturday night short-track racing instead of typical NASCAR stuff.'' | 
