Daytona 500 2000 - When will all the hard work pay off?

When will all the hard work pay off?
ESPN The Magazine

'99 EARNINGS: $2,783,296 | POINTS: 3rd | WINS: 2 | TOP 5: 19 | TOP 10: 26

MARK MARTIN

What Makes Him Go: An hour in the gym at 6 a.m. every weekday, including Mondays, has made Martin the fittest driver in the garage, bar none, even if he does look older than his years. A serious injury in practice at Daytona in July hardly set him back. He was 17th in the Pepsi 400, but posted seven straight top-10 finishes after that.
What Makes Him Slow: Martin dislikes how the power of his car is "dumbed down" by carburetor restrictor plates. Plus he hates the random nature of the big crashes that now mar the superspeedways. (He seems to get in more than his share of them, so maybe it isn't all that random.) In the four big-track races of 1999, Martin's third place at Talladega in April was his only top-10 finish.
Key Stat: 5 That's how many yellow-flag spins and crashes Martin was involved in last year, about twice as many as his usual for a season. These incidents, as well as blown engines at Fontana and Richmond, kept him from seriously challenging for the Winston Cup.

The hardest worker on the circuit, Mark Martin has never had it easy.

Even in 1998, when he drove to a career-high seven wins, fate hit him hard. In the heart of his greatest season, Martin's father, Julian, died while piloting his private plane.

The 1999 season brought no tragedy for the driver of the No. 6 Valvoline Ford, but it was his flattest season since his winless 1996.

He did win twice in '99 -- at Rockingham in February and Dover in September -- but he failed to mount any serious challenge during the stretch run to points leader and eventual champion Dale Jarrett. In fact, Martin slipped from second to third in points behind Pontiac driver Bobby Labonte with six races remaining.

True, as every Mark Martin fan well knows, finishing second or third in the championship race is just about par for the course for the 41-year-old veteran. He has finished second or third in points in seven of the last 11 seasons, and hasn't finished lower than sixth since 1988, his first year with Roush Racing.

But his championship dreams keep getting dashed.

He can take solace in his reputation as the best NASCAR driver never to have won a championship. Martin's intensity is unmatched among his fellow competitors.

But could that virtue be working against him? Is he too intense?

Having fun is not a priority for Martin or his workaholic car owner, Jack Roush. A crew member needs a strong constitution to work under that kind of all-work-and-no-play regime. Maybe everybody needs to knock off early once in a while.

But both Martin and Roush are comfortable with the way they are, even if people around them aren't. And if the devoted, disciplined team remains driven and united, Martin could easily win his first championship in the year 2000.

If not, you know he'll still be this close.

Martin's biggest question entering the 2000 season may wind up being his biggest asset. He has been plagued by an aching back for several years now, and was considering surgery at the end of the 1998 season. But he put it off until the end of last season.

He went under the knife for a lumbar fusion the day after the '99 season ended. If he isn't wracked with pain this year, he may find out how much more fun he can have when his back doesn't feel like it's in a vise grip.

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