Mark Anthony Martin was born on January 9,1959 and is an American retired stock car racing driver.
117 Facts About Mark Martin
2.
Mark Martin has the second most wins all time in what is the Xfinity Series with 49.
3.
Mark Martin has five IROC Championships, more than any other driver.
4.
Mark Martin is the final driver born in the 1950s to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.
5.
Mark Martin began his racing career as a young man on the dirt tracks of Arkansas.
6.
Mark Martin moved on to asphalt racing and joined the ASA racing series.
7.
Mark Martin won 1977 ASA National Tour Rookie of the Year.
8.
Mark Martin won twenty-two ASA races and four championships, in 1978,1979,1980, and 1986.
9.
Mark Martin had a tumultuous beginning in NASCAR, driving for six different teams from 1981 to 1987.
10.
Mark Martin made five starts in 1981 driving for a team owned by Bud Reeder, earning two pole positions at Nashville and Richmond and finishing third in his final race at Martinsville.
11.
Mark Martin raced full-time in 1982 with the Bud Reeder team, competing for Rookie of the Year.
12.
Mark Martin remains the only driver to run more than six races for a team owned or co-owned by Reeder.
13.
Unable to secure a ride for 1984, Mark Martin went back to driving in the American Speed Association.
14.
Mark Martin finished 1987 with three wins, six poles, 13 top tens, and an eight place finish in the standings.
15.
Mark Martin came aboard newly formed Roush Racing, with crew chief Steve Hmiel, for the first of 19 seasons in 1988 driving the No 6 Ford Thunderbird.
16.
Mark Martin showed both signs of struggle and potential in its inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, recording three top fives and ten top tens along with winning the pole at Dover.
17.
Mark Martin finished a season-high second-place at Bristol early in the season.
18.
Consistency proved to be crucial in that ten DNFs prevented Mark Martin from cracking the top ten in points the entire season.
19.
Mark Martin finished his comeback season 15th in the standings.
20.
Mark Martin competed in the Busch Series on a limited basis for Bill Davis Racing from 1988 to 1991.
21.
Mark Martin spent much of the season bouncing around from second to fifth in the standings.
22.
Mark 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.
23.
Mark Martin posted fourteen top fives, eighteen top tens, and cut down his DNF total from ten to four.
24.
Mark Martin entered the 1990 season as a favorite to winning the Winston Cup championship.
25.
Mark Martin started the season with a 21st-place finish in the Daytona 500, his first finish in the big race in six attempts.
26.
Mark Martin's team was met with controversy following his second career win at Richmond.
27.
Mark Martin 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 to go.
28.
Mark Martin came close to winning at Charlotte three races prior, leading 198 of the first 212 laps before engine failure ended his race.
29.
Mark Martin entered the 1992 season's final race, the Hooters 500 in Atlanta, as one of six drivers in contention to winning the championship, but an engine failure on lap 160 ended his championship hopes.
30.
Mark Martin finished the season with wins at Martinsville and Charlotte, along with ten top fives, seventeen top tens, one pole, and a second consecutive sixth place finish in the standings.
31.
Mark Martin began 1993 with a sixth place finish in the 1993 Daytona 500, his first top twenty finish in the big race.
32.
Mark Martin posted two wins, including winning from the pole at Watkins Glen for the second consecutive year, and the season finale in Atlanta.
33.
Mark Martin scored fifteen top fives and twenty top tens during the season, his most since 1990.
34.
Mark 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 lastly another guardrail protecting the infield road course, coming to rest only feet from a spectator area.
35.
When coming back by, Mark Martin went down pit road thinking it was over but he did not take the checkered flag.
36.
Mark Martin won four races in 1995, including his third consecutive win from the pole at Watkins Glen and at Talladega, his first restrictor plate win.
37.
Mark Martin finished with 13 top fives and 22 top tens.
38.
Mark Martin was one of three drivers, the others being Dale Earnhardt and Sterling Marlin, to be ranked in the top five for all 31 races; none of them won the championship.
39.
In 1996, Mark Martin was winless for the first time in eight seasons.
40.
Mark Martin finished a season-high second four times, including at Michigan when he was passed by winner Dale Jarrett with eight laps to go.
41.
In 1998 Mark Martin had his best season as he scored 7 wins, 22 top fives, 26 top tens, and 3 poles with an average finish of 8.64.
42.
In 2000 Mark won just once that season at the spring Martinsville race and finished 8th in points.
43.
Mark Martin's struggles continued into 2001 as he went winless for the first time since 1996 and finished 12th in points.
44.
In 2002 Mark Martin would get a new crew chief in Ben Leslie as Fennig moved to second year driver Kurt Busch.
45.
The move would pay off for both sides as Mark Martin would win one race that season at the Coca-Cola 600 and was a championship contender all season and even lead the standings at one point but a late season penalty at Rockingham arguably costed him the championship as he came home second again this time to Tony Stewart.
46.
Mark Martin struggled again in 2003 going winless and finishing 17th in points.
47.
Mark Martin announced he would cut back from 'full-time' Cup Series racing after the 2005 season, dubbing the season the "Salute to You" tour as a thank you to his fans.
48.
Mark Martin won the Nextel Challenge in a 'Retro 93' paint scheme, picked up his final win with Roush at Kansas and again made the Chase for the Cup with a ninth-place in the standings at the end of the year.
49.
Mark Martin later agreed to come back and drive for the 2006 season.
50.
In 2006, Mark Martin competed in 14 of 25 races in the Truck Series.
51.
Mark Martin won 6 times, including the opener at Daytona, and recorded 12 top-ten finishes.
52.
However, Mark Martin drove two races for Roush Fenway Racing in the Busch Series, and drove in three races for Hendrick Motorsports, sharing the No 5 with Kyle Busch.
53.
Mark Martin finished second in the 2007 Daytona 500, only 0.020 seconds behind Kevin Harvick in one of the most controversial finishes in the races' history.
54.
Mark Martin led going into the final lap before Harvick stormed from seventh to win on the outside.
55.
Mark Martin is the only part-time driver in NASCAR history to not win the opening race but still be leading the points standings.
56.
Mark Martin is the oldest driver in the modern era to lead the Nextel Cup points for more than one week.
57.
Mark Martin led the Nextel Cup points from the second race of the season, the Auto Club 500, through the fourth race of the season, the Kobalt Tools 500.
58.
Mark Martin did not compete in the Food City 500, becoming the first driver since Cale Yarborough to sit out a race as the points leader.
59.
On July 25,2007, Dale Earnhardt, Inc announced it had acquired Ginn Racing, and Mark Martin joined Dale Earnhardt Jr.
60.
Mark Martin shared the No 01 car with Aric Almirola for the rest of the season.
61.
Mark Martin made his 700th career start at the 2008 Auto Club 500.
62.
On March 1,2008, Mark Martin won the 2008 Sam's Town 300 driving the No 5 Delphi Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.
63.
Mark Martin finished out 2008 with 11 top-10s in 21 starts.
64.
On July 4,2008, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and Mark Martin announced that he would replace Casey Mears in the No 5 car for the 2009 season, running a full-time schedule for the first time since 2006.
65.
Mark Martin signed a two-year contract with Hendrick, with a full-time schedule for 2009 and 2010.
66.
Mark Martin grabbed his first pole since 2001 at the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta, and followed up with back-to-back poles in the following week at Bristol.
67.
Mark Martin's win snapped a 97-race winless streak going back to 2005.
68.
At Darlington, it was announced after the Richmond race that Mark Martin would drive full-time again in 2010; Mark Martin would go on to win the Southern 500.
69.
Mark Martin got his fifth pole of the 2009 season at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Sharpie 500.
70.
Mark Martin extended his lead to 35 points over Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, who were tied for second in the standings.
71.
Once righted, Mark Martin managed to drive his car back to pit road.
72.
Mark Martin finished 12th in the race, which was not enough to overcome Johnson's lead.
73.
Mark Martin again finished second in the standings, for the fifth and final time in his career.
74.
In 2010, Mark Martin started the year off strong and won the pole for the 52nd Daytona 500.
75.
Mark Martin ran well in the Bud Shootout, but was caught up in the "big one" during a green-white-checker finish and finished 21st.
76.
Mark Martin started the Daytona 500 well, leading the majority of the first 30 laps, but after being stuck in the middle line of the racing pack, he dropped down as low as 33rd and had to pick his way through the rest of the day, eventually finishing 12th.
77.
Mark Martin ran well at California and Las Vegas, scoring back-to-back 4th-place finishes, and advancing as high as 3rd in the points standings, only 49 points out of the lead.
78.
Mark Martin got caught up in wrecks at both Atlanta and Bristol, finishing 33rd and 35th, respectively.
79.
Mark Martin started 15th and finished the first 50-lap segment in 15th.
80.
Mark Martin used a two-tire pit stop to gain position and finished the second 20-lap segment in 3rd.
81.
Mark Martin held his position in the third 20-lap segment and finish third.
82.
Mark Martin lost a spot during the mandatory 4-tire pit stop before the start of the final 10-lap shootout for the $1 million.
83.
However, as the field took the green, Mark Martin was hit by another car and crashed, finishing 17th.
84.
However, during a caution with 20 laps to go, most of the field pitted, and Mark Martin opted to stay out.
85.
Mark Martin restarted 2nd and finished the race in 4th.
86.
Mark Martin had a season best finish of second at the 2010 TUMS Fast Relief 500.
87.
Mark Martin crashed with 275 laps to go, but managed to work his way up 15 spots with bent fenders and no rear end.
88.
One week later, Mark Martin participated in the Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he was able to win his 49th race in the series.
89.
Mark Martin finished the Sprint Cup season 22nd in points.
90.
Mark Martin parted ways with Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the 2011 season, with Kasey Kahne taking over the No 5 Chevrolet.
91.
On November 4,2011, Michael Waltrip Racing announced that Mark Martin would replace David Reutimann in 2012, signing him to a two-year deal to drive the No 55.
92.
Mark Martin was signed to drive 25 races in both 2012 and 2013, sharing the car with Michael Waltrip and Brian Vickers.
93.
Mark Martin finished the year with 4 top 5s and 10 top 10s.
94.
Mark Martin led the most laps after winning the pole at the 2012 Pure Michigan 400, but was involved in a bizarre accident around lap 64.
95.
Mark Martin was about to lap Bobby Labonte and Juan Pablo Montoya when Labonte's car got loose, collecting Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne.
96.
Mark Martin's car skidded down pit road and the car was penetrated on the opening in the pit wall right behind the driver's compartment, breaching the car's oil tank, and sending Kahne's pit crew scrambling for cover.
97.
Mark Martin backed up his strong Daytona finish by winning the pole for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, becoming the second-oldest driver to win a pole in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
98.
Mark Martin finished 21st at Phoenix, followed by a 14th-place finish at Las Vegas.
99.
When Mark Martin returned at Fontana, he finished 37th after spinning on the back straightaway late race, collecting David Gilliland.
100.
At the Coca-Cola 600, on lap 324, Mark Martin was involved in a crash with Jeff Gordon and Aric Almirola, which brought out the red flag.
101.
At the 2013 Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Mark Martin nearly won before running out of fuel with three laps remaining.
102.
Mark Martin drove in all but one race for the remainder of the season as a substitute driver for the injured Tony Stewart.
103.
On November 8,2013, Mark Martin announced that he would not race in 2014, but was not yet ready to use the word "retirement".
104.
Mark Martin worked with Stewart-Haas Racing in a consulting role, which included testing.
105.
Tony Stewart underwent multiple surgeries following a broken leg from a sprint car crash, and Mark Martin remained in the No 14 Chevrolet for all off-season testing activities.
106.
On July 31,2014, Mark Martin tweeted he had become a driver development coach with Roush Fenway Racing.
107.
On February 6,2015, Mark Martin tweeted that he was no longer a driver coach at Roush, in response to a fan's question.
108.
Martin owns a family of automobile dealerships in Arkansas under the umbrella of Mark Martin Automotive, based in Batesville, Arkansas, with dealerships selling Ford, Kia, Chevrolet, GMC, and Buick vehicles.
109.
Mark Martin owns Mark Martin Powersports in Batesville, Arkansas, selling boats, motorcycles, ATVs, and UTVs, by manufacturers like AlumaCraft, Mercury Outboards, Tohatsu, Excel, Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha.
110.
Mark Martin resided in Jamestown, North Carolina, followed by a move to Daytona Beach, Florida.
111.
Mark Martin won at Bristol two weeks after the incident and fought back tears as he dedicated the win to his family.
112.
Mark Martin was regarded as one of the first drivers in the United States to adopt a personal fitness and nutrition regimen, which he credited for allowing him to race at a high level into his 50s.
113.
Mark Martin was well known around the NASCAR paddock for sometimes lifting thousands of pounds every day except race days.
114.
Mark Martin spends most of his time now on the road touring the country in his RV.
115.
Mark Martin is a fan of rap music, citing rapper Gucci Mane as his favorite.
116.
Mark Martin recounts that what had gotten him into rap music was a test at Charlotte Motor Speedway where crew chief Ben Leslie was playing Dr Dre in the transporter.
117.
Mark Martin is an avid watcher of Anime, specifically Mobile Suit Gundam.