NASCAR Hall of Fame Class, Class of 2017
Despite a legendary career as one of the best drivers of his era, Mark Martin never won a championship in NASCAR’s premier series. He came incredibly close on a number of occasions — finishing second in the standings five times.
Born: Jan. 9, 1959
Hometown: Batesville, Arkansas
Premier Series Stats
Competed: 1981-2013
Starts: 882
Wins: 40
Poles: 56
In 1990, Martin finished 26 points behind Dale Earnhardt, his closest run at the championship. He set career highs for wins (seven), top-five finishes (22) and laps led (1,730) in 1998, but was left with another second-place finish, this time to Jeff Gordon. He also finished second in 1994, 2002 and ’09.
Over the course of his 33-year premier series career, Martin compiled 40 wins (17th all time) and 61 runner-up finishes (sixth) in 882 starts (fifth). His 56 career poles rank seventh on the all-time list.
Martin saw success at every level of NASCAR. He won 49 times in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, holding the series wins record for 14 years. He retired with 96 wins across NASCAR’s three national series, sixth on the all-time list.