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1999 In Review
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Points: 3rd
Wins: 2 (Rockingham, Dover Downs)
Poles: 1
Top 5s: 19
Top 10s: 26
Earnings: 2,760,296
What Went Right?
It ended? Seriously, a day after the end of the season Mark Martin was on the opperating table having surgery on his back. Martin, however, didn't let a painful back, or broken bones suffered in a July crash at Daytona, derail a challenge for the championship. He won early and then late in the season and even earned a chance to defend his '99 Bud Pole Shootout win at Daytona by grabbing the pole at Rockingham in October.
What Went Wrong?
The crash at Daytona during "Happy Hour" for the Pepsi 400 broke bones in his knee and wrist, along with a couple of ribs. It was painful just to watch Martin walk from the garage to his car, which he needed to be lifted into over the second half of the season.
-- Ron Buck
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The speaker phone sat on the table in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel conference room. Above it hung a banner with the face of the Winston Cup's third-place finisher in points and his 1999 accomplishments. During a 90-minute news conference with the top 10 drivers of the season, reporters stopped by to chat with the missing driver. On the other end of the phone line was the familiar voice of Mark Martin.
One night later, Martin was again absent, this time for the Winston Cup Series awards banquet. Instead, Martin relayed his thoughts on the 1999 season via a videotaped acceptance speech. For a driver who finished in the top 10 every season in the 1990s, it was odd not to see Martin sitting at one of the tables, to say the least.
But Martin had a good excuse, and a note from his doctor. Martin was recovering from back surgery performed just a day after the end of the season. And while he may have been a "no show" for the festivities in New York City, he never failed to show up on race day.
In a season full of pain, Martin could be excused for not making the trip north to pick up his third-place check and congratulations from his peers. And at least his back woes, brought on by years of trading paint, was something he'd grown accustomed to blocking out in the driver's seat over the years.
What made 1999 so miserable were the debilitating injuries suffered in a July practice crash at Daytona. During "Happy Hour" for the Pepsi 400, Martin cut a tire and hit the wall -- fracturing his tibial plateau (knee), wrist and ribs. Despite having to be lifted in and out of his Ford Taurus and surgery on his knee, Martin never missed a lap over the final 4½ months.
Looking back, Martin won't say the injuries kept him from seriously challenging for that elusive Winston Cup. But it's impossible to discount the pain Martin endured each week. For a driver who won twice, claimed 19 top-5s and 26 top-10 finishes, "what if" has to come into the equation.
Right?
Wrong, says Martin.
"I'm happy that I was a contender. I'm happy that I was able to recover from the problems that I had to still compete for the Winston Cup championship," said Martin. " I felt like our performance throughout those injuries were on par. I don't feel like they cost us anything other than a lot of pain."
Martin's recovery will keep him out of his car through the winter. But, while he won't be ready for winter testing, (Greg Biffle will test his new 2000 Ford Taurus during his recovery) Martin expects to be in his No. 6 for the Daytona 500. By the way, Martin is approaching Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip numbers at Daytona. He enters the 21st Century with an oh-for-18 skid in the season opener.
"I don't have any idea how we are going to run at Daytona, until we get to testing for Daytona," Martin said. "Daytona is just one race. We'll either go down there and run superior, or junk, or somewhere in between. We'll do everything we can to be superior,
but all we can do is all we can do.
"I expect to drive 100 percent (by Daytona). I don't know about the rest."
Driving without discomfort will be a pleasant change for Martin. But if anything, the way the team performed despite his injuries encouraged Martin. And as the 2000 season approaches, Martin has a renewed faith in his team and vice versa. After the crash, Martin knows it would have been easy for members to slack off and write the season off to bad luck. But Martin says, "Nobody quit on me."
"The exciting part of the race team is that when I was seriously injured, to the point where it was questionable if I could drive 100 percent, there wasn't anybody on that race team that ever doubted for a second that I could not get the job done for them. They supported me 100 percent," Martin said. "This is a race team that is behind me 100 percent and I don't have to ever worry about ever turning my back, walking away, and any of them having anything negative to say. And that's very hard to find in this business.
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What About 2000?
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"I'd like to win the Cup, but my career is not going to be a failure if I don't -- and it won't be a success if I do. It's going to be what it is.
-- Mark Martin
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"So I have, in my opinion, one of the greatest race teams of all times."
Martin also has some unfinished business.
While he won't say it, 1999 was something of a wasted season. Sure, he finished third in points, but he was coming off a '98 season (eight wins, 22 top-5s, 26 top-10s) that should have propelled him to that elusive first championship. He can only hope that his health holds up and allows him to regain his '98 form.
Martin has long been considered the "Best Driver without a Winston Cup." His fans long for the day he joins Dale Jarrett as a driver who deserved a title and finally got one. But like any great athlete who has yet tasted a championship, Martin doesn't allow his career to be defined by a trophy.
"I don't feel like winning that (Winston Cup) will change the fact whether or not I had a successful career in auto racing," Martin said. "I'd like to win the Cup, but my career is not going to be a failure if I don't -- and it won't
be a success if I do. It's going to be what it is.
"I'm real proud of what I've done -- if I don't ever win another race. And if I win a championship, all that's going to do is put a trophy on the wall and give me a title. It won't change the person that I am, or make me any more fierce a
competitor. It'll just give me a title.
"It's a title that I would like to have and one that I race for, but in the end it won't change who or what I am."
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