While a lot of the publicity around the newly revitalized Martin was focused on his bridesmaid finish at the end of the year, a lot of great publicity followed him throughout the year. Was 2009 the best season Mark Martin has ever had? Maybe. But, will 2010 be better?
“To me, 2010 is just an extension of 2009. My sole purpose for racing is not a points tally. So, I really don’t need a fresh start. I’ve had a good year this year and am having a good time. So to me, 2010 is just a continuation of 2009,” he wrote in his final “Chase Diary” for Yahoo! Sports.
He continued that, “The Daytona 500 is really hard to win, but it sure would be the one to win. And that’s the next race. So we will think about Daytona quite a bit between now and then and we’ll give it our best shot. You can’t pick the ones you want to win. If you’re lucky, you just get to win somewhere.”
The man who was once viewed as NASCAR’s version of Eeyore came back with a renewed confidence, and it was a confidence that was tested early on. Even though he won the pole and ran well in the Daytona 500, rain relegated him to a 16th place finish. He blew two engines in consecutive weekends at California and Las Vegas and more bad luck occurred at Atlanta when he blew a left rear tire and finished 31st.Mark Martin, in a season that was supposed to be a dream, found himself in a nightmare. The #5 Hendrick Motorsports team sat just a few markers from being classified as a “go or go homer” when they left Atlanta. But the one bright spot of the first four races was his first pole in eight years in the Peach State.
After the lap Mark was out of breath and commented that he “nearly ran out of talent” coming off of turn four in Atlanta. One week later he grabbed the pole at Bristol. He said, “I love what I'm doing right now and I'm not ready to quit.” Mark Martin was in this for the long haul.
Quite possibly the best stretch of the season was when the man from Batesville, Arkansas made it back to victory lane in Phoenix on a Saturday night in April. He ran up front all weekend and in the end out ran Tony Stewart to claim his first checkered flag in four seasons. “It’s hard to make a car good enough to win, and it’s ten times harder to win one,” Martin said after the race. “We didn’t fall into this one, we took it.”
A few weeks later at the newly rebranded Sothern 500 Mark Martin out ran Jimmie Johnson to capture his second win in a month. Mark Martin fans were excited. Their man was back in Chase contention, sitting eleventh after the race at Darlington.
Throughout the summer Martin continued to thrive, winning a fuel mileage race at Michigan and absolutely obliterating the field on a summer’s eve in Chicagoland. After a week off Mark Martin became the oldest pole winner in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history, capturing the pole for the Brickyard 400. (For more on the Brickyard scroll over to the list on the right and expand to see July’s posts)
Photo courtesy of IMS Media
The results for the second most prestigious race of the season might sound familiar; Jimmie Johnson first, Mark Martin second. “I was beating Jimmie pretty bad off of turn two. I knew that for the last 15 laps for sure. But he was beating me pretty bad off of four,” he said. In the end it was another case of oh so close for Martin, but he remained positive, even as the race to get into the Chase intensified.
Martin would qualify for the Chase by running solidly as the series wound to Richmond. He was leading points when the points were reset as a virtue of his four “regular season” victories. Then, the unexpected happened. At New Hampshire, a track Martin considered, “This is my hardest place, a tough place,” he won.
Never was it a better time to be a fan of Mark Martin. Media types everywhere, who had stated all season that seeing Martin dethrone teammate Jimmie Johnson would be an awesome story, were now thinking that maybe, just maybe, they were right. So were all of Mark Martin’s fans.
Then, just as Martin had predicted, came the wild card, Talladega. After wrecking out and finishing 28th Martin was down over one whole race to Johnson, and he was the closest Chase competitor. Everyone deemed it to be over. “Start etching Johnson’s name on the trophy,” they all wrote.
Even though Johnson’s misfortune at Texas gave Martin and teammate Jeff Gordon a shot at the title, Johnson ended all doubt with a victory at Phoenix and a strong run at Homestead. Johnson, Martin and Gordon did lock up the top three spots for Hendrick Motorsports, who was definitely the most dominant team of the season.
Mark Martin’s year of 2009 was one that was defined by courage, triumph and a never say die attitude. He’s having the time of his life, and even though everyone wants to feel sorry for him, he won’t have it. “There's no frustration, man,” he said after congratulating Jimmie Johnson in Miami. “I know you'd love it. I know you'd love it. I know all y'all would love it. But there's no frustration. There's none. I'm very proud of what we accomplished.”
All the life lessons we’ve learned from Martin this year, all the good times and the bad, the happy and the frustrating have made this NASCAR season one to remember. I often point out that although it’s great to be the best, sometimes it’s just as good to finish second. You often learn more from being on a team that finishes second rather than takes home the title. Mark agreed.
“I probably picked the hardest one ever to try to win, but my race team was so awesomehe said in typical Mark Martin fashion. “I just want to thank the fans and the competitors for their support. Means more to me than that trophy would, I swear.”
We’d all like to thank you to Mark Martin. Thanks for making 2009 an awesome year, and here’s to 2010 being just as awesome.
Martin would qualify for the Chase by running solidly as the series wound to Richmond. He was leading points when the points were reset as a virtue of his four “regular season” victories. Then, the unexpected happened. At New Hampshire, a track Martin considered, “This is my hardest place, a tough place,” he won.
Never was it a better time to be a fan of Mark Martin. Media types everywhere, who had stated all season that seeing Martin dethrone teammate Jimmie Johnson would be an awesome story, were now thinking that maybe, just maybe, they were right. So were all of Mark Martin’s fans.Then, just as Martin had predicted, came the wild card, Talladega. After wrecking out and finishing 28th Martin was down over one whole race to Johnson, and he was the closest Chase competitor. Everyone deemed it to be over. “Start etching Johnson’s name on the trophy,” they all wrote.
Even though Johnson’s misfortune at Texas gave Martin and teammate Jeff Gordon a shot at the title, Johnson ended all doubt with a victory at Phoenix and a strong run at Homestead. Johnson, Martin and Gordon did lock up the top three spots for Hendrick Motorsports, who was definitely the most dominant team of the season.Mark Martin’s year of 2009 was one that was defined by courage, triumph and a never say die attitude. He’s having the time of his life, and even though everyone wants to feel sorry for him, he won’t have it. “There's no frustration, man,” he said after congratulating Jimmie Johnson in Miami. “I know you'd love it. I know you'd love it. I know all y'all would love it. But there's no frustration. There's none. I'm very proud of what we accomplished.”
All the life lessons we’ve learned from Martin this year, all the good times and the bad, the happy and the frustrating have made this NASCAR season one to remember. I often point out that although it’s great to be the best, sometimes it’s just as good to finish second. You often learn more from being on a team that finishes second rather than takes home the title. Mark agreed.
“I probably picked the hardest one ever to try to win, but my race team was so awesomehe said in typical Mark Martin fashion. “I just want to thank the fans and the competitors for their support. Means more to me than that trophy would, I swear.”
We’d all like to thank you to Mark Martin. Thanks for making 2009 an awesome year, and here’s to 2010 being just as awesome.
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