| | There's something different about the Winston Cup Series as it prepares for the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at the California Speedway. No, it's not the colorful, one-time paint schemes that sponsors make teams run because they think it gets them more airtime. It's not a driver or crew chief change. It's not the tires. It's not the track. And no, Benny Parsons is not starting a new diet!
It hasn't happened very often in recent years. In fact, the last time it happened was in 1997. And it only happened one time that year. It didn't happen the year before, or in any of the five seasons prior to '97.
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MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
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| Martin |
How did Mark Martin rise to the top of the Winston Cup points standings? By being his old consistent self in 2000:
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TRACK
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FINISH
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Daytona
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5th
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Rockingham
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8th
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Las Vegas
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3rd
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Atlanta
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3rd
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Darlington
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9th
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Bristol
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16th
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Texas
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11th
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Martinsville
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1st
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Talladega
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6th
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Here's where Mark Martin has finished in points since joining Winston Cup full-time:
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YEAR
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POINTS
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1988
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15th
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1989
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3rd
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1990
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2nd
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1991
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6th
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1992
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6th
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1993
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3rd
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1994
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2nd
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1995
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4th
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1996
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5th
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1997
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3rd
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1998
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2nd
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1999
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3rd
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Any ideas yet? Want a few more hints? OK, other than that one time in 1997, the last time this happened was October of 1990. And it hasn't happened in the last 87 races. But it will happen this Sunday.
Enough already, because you've probably already figured it out. Yeap, that's right, Mark Martin will take the green flag on Sunday as the Winston Cup point leader.
The last time Martin led the points was Aug. 31, 1997 when he took the green flag at Darlington. His reign would last all of eight days, after having taken over the points lead in Bristol the previous Saturday night. Martin finished eighth at Darlington that day, and he slipped to second in points -- 25 behind Jeff Gordon. Martin did not get any closer than 25 points the rest of the season.
Gordon never surrendered the point lead the rest of the way, winning the championship by 14 points over Dale Jarrett. Martin finished third, 29 points back. Those eight days were the only time that season Martin led the points. It was the last time Martin led the points.
Sunday, no matter where he starts on the grid, Martin starts first in the points. That's a place he hopes to be at the end of the day and obviously at the end of the season.
How did Martin get to the top of the point standings? Here's what Martin might say:
"Well, that Valvoline crew never stopped working. They gave me some good cars, we had some good breaks along the way, things just went our way."
That sounds like something Mark might say. And you know what, he would be right on the money.
Martin does have a crew that puts together a solid car from bumper-to-bumper, from under-the-car to under-the-hood. His Fords are fast and reliable. In the nine races this season, Martin has seven top-10 finishes; and his two "bad" finishes are 11th at Texas and 16th in Bristol, where he pitted on the backstretch and had a bad stop late in the race.
Martin has four top-five finishes, including his win at (where else?) "Martin's-ville." Martinsville would be the race where even Mark would admit the team got a few breaks along the way. But there are no small wins in the Winston Cup series, just wins that come at small tracks.
The Winston Cup point system is flawed, but that's another column for another day. Right now, the system is the only one we've got, and it rewards consistency. And right now, Martin is being rewarded. The No. 6 car has been 16th or better in every race this season. No, make that 16th or better in the past 17 races dating back to last season.
|  | | Getting Mark Martin to the top of the points standings has been a team effort -- just ask Martin. |
Jeff Gordon had gone 13 races without with a win before the victory in Talladega last week. He now has three wins in his past 15 starts. But you can throw in a 38th here, and a 34th there, along with a 25th and a 28th in those 15 races.
Martin has two wins in his last 17 races, but no finish worse than 16th. A second, here, third there, a fifth, a sixth, an eighth, even a ninth -- but nothing worse than 16th since he won at Dover. That's consistency.
Certainly, Mark is proud of his past, he has finished in the top 10 in points for 11 consecutive seasons. He has finished in the top-five for seven straight years. That's consistency.
Martin finished third in points last season, 319 behind Dale Jarrett and 118 behind second-place Bobby Labonte. The Valvoline crew had some disappointments during the season, including 31st at Daytona to start the 1999 season. Martin also finished 34th in the Texas race last season. And one race that really hurt him, you guessed it, the NAPA Auto Parts 500 in California, where he finished 38th.
That's bad, but what makes it sting even more, Mark could have won the race. Great car. In good position. But this was one of those rare occasions where one of those reliable Roush engines quit on lap 196. The problem with that, the race is 250 laps. Oops.
He also finished 35th at Richmond last fall. That hurt, too, but we're not going to Richmond until next week, we're racing at California -- the 10th race of the season.
Martin won the California race two years ago. You would have to figure he is among the favorites to win it again. Fuel mileage could be a factor, and that has hurt the Roush teams at tracks like this in the past. But that's the past.
In 1999, Martin had just four finishes outside the top-20. Actually, he had four finishes outside the top-17, three of those came in the first ten races of the season. In the first nine races this season, he hasn't been ... well, you know, worse than 16th.
Martin is the driver, but he is surrounded by quite a team -- a team willing to put ego on the top shelf in the shop last season when things weren't going so well. They pulled out an old car that Mark liked, took it to Dover last September and won the race. No heroes. Jimmy Fennig is the boss, Shawn Parker is the car chief, the rest of the guys are just guys, working hard, happy to be in racing, happy to be leading the points, happy they haven't finished ... well, you know, worse than 16th.
It's kind of funny, the season is so long and things always seem to blur together, causing me to forget interesting things that I could throw into a column or a NASCAR 2Day story. So, I sit here, and try to remember things. For example:
Wasn't Mark Martin the guy who decided the best way to prepare for this season was lay on his back for almost all of the offseason? No testing. No racing. Not even a few laps at the Malibu Grand Prix. It's a amazing what a little back surgery can do for a guy who is dedicated to winning. Of course, even with the pain last season, Mark did OK.
I must admit, I was a little worried when Mark began this season nearly running over his jackman in the Bud Shootout. That would be a case of bad brakes. But things have improved since then. Driver is doing well, crew doing well, and the jackman, he's doing just fine, too.
A message from the 6 bunch to the rest of the guys in the garage could be: California, here we come, and we're bringing the point lead with us. | |
ALSO SEE
Weber's mailbag
Yocum: The nominees for Winston Cup champion are ...
Stewart struggling through 'sophomore slump'
Martin honored as top driver in first quarter
Furr: First-quarter report
McReynolds: Report card time
Ask Bill Weber
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