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Martin says he's as motivated as ever

But at 42 he is having maybe his worst season.

By JOANNE KORTH

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 20, 2001

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- The concerned father said the swelling around 9-year-old Matt Martin's eye left a slit just big enough for tears to seep through.

He'd been kicked -- accidentally, of course -- but what made the boy cry was the notion of packing up his car and heading home before the quarter-midget final.

So he drove.

That, Mark Martin said, is commitment.

"His mother and I tried to get him to go home, but he said that he wanted to race because he wanted to get the points," Martin said. "That's a 9-year-old's commitment."

That, Martin said, is how he still feels about his own racing career. Mired in his worst season in more than a decade, the 42-year-old Winston Cup driver has gone out of his way to say he is completely committed to driving the No. 6 Ford.

"There have been some things written this year that have hurt my feelings," Martin said. "I'm telling you right now, do not question my commitment or my will. It's the same as it always has been and it will continue to be, because that's me."

Martin is an accomplished racer with 32 Winston Cup victories -- plus a record 45 in Busch Grand National before retiring from the series last season. He has finished eighth or better in the Winston Cup standings for 12 consecutive seasons, including runner-up efforts in 1990, '94 and '98.

But Martin has not won in 56 Winston Cup races -- since Martinsville on April 9, 2000 -- his longest winless streak since car owner Jack Roush hired him in 1988. The slump has made Martin, one of the most intense personalities in the garage, an easy target.

"Mark is an honest guy, probably to a fault," Roush said. "He's likely to tell you exactly what's on his mind. He's talked a lot about Matt because he's doing so well, but the dark side of that is everybody said, "Mark's ready to quit.'

"Mark never said that, but he left himself open for it by talking about what was on his mind rather than talking about the things that might have promoted Mark the best in this garage."

The evidence seemed to be mounting. Not only was there Matt's success, but Martin had often shared his opinion that the 36-race Winston Cup schedule is too long. He even said he does not love driving a race car.

Huh?

"When I say I don't love to drive a race car, that means that if no one was here and you had a race car sitting on pit road and there wasn't a race coming up that I was testing for or trying to prepare for, I wouldn't drive the car," Martin said.

"I don't like to make laps. I like to win. I like to sit on the pole. Driving a car fast is really not where the thrill is for me. Beating the competition is where the thrill is. It's that pride you get."

Thrills have been few and far between for Martin this season. He won poles at Bristol and Richmond in the spring, but has just three top-five finishes and is 11th in points. For Martin, that qualifies as a disappointing season. Johnny Benson, on the other hand, is having a terrific season -- he's 12th in points, one spot behind Martin.

"Expectations tend to take the fun away, and you just can't always meet those expectations," Martin said. "A lot of drivers would quickly trade places with me for my performance this year and, more than that, for the organization that I have behind me."

All of Roush Racing is struggling this season. Jeff Burton, who competed for the championship last season, is 10th. Matt Kenseth, the 2000 rookie of the year, is 15th. Rookie Kurt Busch is 25th.

Solutions have been elusive.

"We've had a year where we aren't as competitive on the racetrack as we've been in the past," Martin said. "I don't know why, because we've got everything that we need here, but right now we're being outperformed on the racetrack by some other teams.

"That's how it goes in this sport. I still can't give you an answer for why we haven't won seven races like we did in '98. I couldn't tell you then why we were running so good."

One thing Martin knows: he has no intention of breaking his contract with Roush Racing, which runs through 2006. He wants to fix his ailing team. He wants to win races.

No sacrifice is too great.

"My commitment is that I believe when you have a broken bone, when you're sick as a dog or you have a death in the family, you still test, you still practice, you qualify and then you race," Martin said. "I have a long-term commitment and the priority will never shift until that commitment goes away."

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