For Allison, only title was a long time in the making

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- As one old racer to another, Bobby Allison can relate to Mark Martin.

In fact, it was Allison who recommended Martin to car owner Jack Roush in 1988 when Roush was looking for a new driver. Thus began a 19-year relationship that ended only when Martin decided he wanted to try a part-time schedule for a while following the 2006 Cup Series season.

Allison / Martin

Career comparison

	Allison	Martin
Starts	718	757
Wins	85	40
Top-5s	336	257
Top-10s	446	417
Poles	58	48
Avg. Start	8.5	11.7
Avg. Finish	11.5	13.3
Titles	1	0
Runner-ups	5	4

Up close

On the verge of one of the biggest races of his career, Mark Martin opens up about all things NASCAR in his one on one with Marty Snider.

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Allison, who is 21 years and a little more than one month older than Martin, remembers how the conversation with Roush transpired.

"I had raced against Mark on the short tracks, in ASA and ASA-type races throughout the Midwest," said Allison, who will turn 72 on Dec. 3. "He made a swing down through NASCAR territory. So I knew of him and I knew him personally. He had a great mixture of talent and enthusiasm.

"Jack Roush said to me, 'You're always around everybody everywhere. Who should I put in this car?' So I said, 'Why don't you try Mark Martin?' And so he did. It worked out pretty well."

Martin enters this Sunday's 2009 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway second in points in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He is not likely to catch leader Jimmie Johnson, who is 108 points ahead entering the race as Johnson pursues his unprecedented fourth consecutive title.

For Martin, finishing second would be nothing new. He already has done it four times in his long, storied career -- giving him the unofficial title these days as the greatest Cup driver to never win the series championship.

Allison once carried that unwanted mantle for many years. He won his only championship in 1983 after he had been driving in the Cup Series since 1961, full time since 1966. He finished second five times before winning his first and only title, including in each of the two years leading up to his '83 championship run.

Martin keeps insisting that he didn't return to the full-time grind of Cup racing this year intent on chasing the championship that has eluded him all these years.

"Everybody knows and has heard me say this, and I'll say it one more time," Martin said. "The reason I took this deal is because I got close to winning a race or two in 2008, and I could just taste it. I really wanted a chance to try to win again before I wasn't able to ever experience that again. That was the motivation for me, taking this opportunity.

"It definitely has turned out to exceed my expectations. I knew that the race team would be awesome. I knew the car would be fast. I just hoped that I would be able to get the job done. One of my biggest goals coming into this year was just to be considered a good teammate, to make a contribution to Hendrick Motorsports so that when the season was over everyone involved would be glad that I, you know, was a part of the organization. That was probably as important as maybe squeaking out a win for me personally." (Continued)