rpm.espn.com: Martin threatening to crack top-10

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Thursday, August 2
Martin threatening to crack top-10
By Jerry Bonkowski
ESPN.com

It's not uncommon for a driver to go into one or more slumps during the course of a lengthy 36-race Winston Cup season.

But it's extremely rare when an entire four-car operation, headed by one of the most respected and knowledgeable team owners in the business, collectively goes into the tank together, all at the same time.


	Mark Martin is creeping up on the top-10 in the Winston Cup standings.

However, that's exactly what happened at the beginning of this season, as Roush Racing's Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth all struggled together from the season-opening Daytona 500. And as hard as they and everyone associated with their respective teams worked and tried in the ensuing weeks, it seemed the further and further the team fell behind the competition.

As is typical in Winston Cup, whispers and rumors began to fly. "What's happened over at Roush?" was a common query. How could such a legendary team be so lost for so long? It was more than just a run of collective bad luck; all four parts of Team Roush were racing as if Lady Luck had given them a messy divorce.

The more the team struggled through April and May, the more the rumors got hotter that there might be some changes made among the team's four drivers, crew chiefs or team personnel. But team owner Jack Roush kept things in place, didn't panic and results started to improve.

The elder statesman of the four-team group, 18-year veteran Martin, was arguably the hardest-hit when it came to misfortune. As hard as both Martin and crew chief Jimmy Fennig tried, the further Martin slipped in the standings.

Finally, about a month ago, things began to take a turn for the better for Martin and Fennig. The No. 6 Ford began a climb upwards in the standings to its current position of 11th heading into Sunday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Brickyard 400 could be a watershed mark for the team. Not only are things starting to look up for the Martin militia, Indianapolis would be the perfect venue for his first win of 2001. In seven previous starts there, Martin has had four top-fives (including a runner-up effort in 1998) and five top-10s there. He also has qualified twice on the outside of the front row. His worst finish there was in last season's race, when he crashed out on lap 15, finishing last in the 43-car starting field.

ESPN.com had a chance to talk with Martin this week about the trials and tribulations he has endured this season, his thoughts on the remainder of the 2001 campaign and how long he plans on driving competitively.

ESPN.com: This has to have been one of the most frustrating starts to a season for you in your career. Can you talk about how rough a start it was for you and the team?

Martin: "It's hard for me to give you a colorful story about that. We've all been working real hard. Some of us have been working in racing for 25-plus years and none of us have had everything go our way for 25-plus years.

"So, if things are going good, you're working hard to be there. If things are going bad, you're working hard to get there. And if you're caught in-between, you're working hard to try to get back on top. We've been in all phases of the cycle.

"It's just part of the business. I haven't won every race I've ever entered. This isn't the only year I haven't won every race I've run."

ESPN.com: Conversely, it looks like you've turned the corner and things have been getting better in the last few weeks. Your thoughts on the turnaround?

Martin: "We're running a little bit better, but we're not where we need to be. We're not where we were, obviously, but we've made some progress. We had some real bad luck at the beginning of the year on top of some poor performances. We've gotten beyond the poor performance thing. Now we're getting closer to average performance, and we'll keep working until we get that to be spectacular performance, we hope."

ESPN.com: With 20 races in the record book and 16 to go, we're well into the second half of the season. You're currently in 11th in the standings. What are your hopes for the remainder of the campaign?

Martin: "I look at it race by race, just like I always have. We're going to Indy this weekend with our very best stuff, the best engines that we have, the best car we have right now, with the same determination that has failed miserably and has won convincingly, and the same drive and determination. I guess we'll just see what happens when we get there."

ESPN.com: Speaking of Indianapolis, what do you like and dislike about racing there?

Martin: "I don't like it because you can't really race there. You don't race through the corners. You can race down the straightaway, but there's not a whole lot of racing going on in the corners. That's probably the only thing I don't like about it. We've always managed to run well and do well. It's a wonderful place to race, and the fans love it."

ESPN.com: You have finished second in the Winston Cup championship race three times (1990, '94 and '98). Prior to finishing eighth last season, you had not finished lower than sixth from 1989 through '99. That shows the outstanding consistency you've had in your career. At the same time, you've come close but never won a championship. Does that grate upon you?

Martin: "That doesn't have any effect on the outcome, so why should I waste my time worrying about that? I keep my eye on the target. The target is to do the best you can all the time. It's not what if, if it comes, shoulda, woulda, all that stuff is a waste of time.

"The reality is I have to go score more points than anyone else in order to win a championship. I look at that every year. In order to be first, you have to beat everybody else on the racetrack. That's the target, to win the races.

"I keep my eye on the target and don't waste my time on all the other stuff. If I did, I probably wouldn't have been as successful as I have been. I've always been focused on what's ahead. I've been very, very fortunate to be so successful in my career, and I don't feel bad or disappointed in the least in the results I've gotten in my career."

ESPN.com: You're 42, yet you keep yourself in top physical condition and still have drive and determination. Do you see yourself racing another 10 or 15 years?

Martin: "I won't race that long. This sport is becoming a young man's sport with the racing and demands that's out there. I see no interest in racing that long. I don't have a definite date in mind right now, but I'm certainly not good for 10 or 15 more years."

ESPN.com: What do you think you'll do after your racing career is over?

Martin: "I'm going to do whatever I want to, whenever I want to. I'll make my own schedule."

ESPN.com: Any final thoughts or comments about this season for either you or the team as a whole?

Martin: "None of us have run real good. That's disappointing because there's a lot of us there working on it real hard, and we haven't had the performance fit that we should have. Plus, most of us have had some pretty rotten luck on top of that.

"It all depends on what cycle you're in. In 1996, things looked like gloom and doom. And two years later, we won seven races and The Winston and finished second in the championship. I went through '96 thinking I would never win another Winston Cup championship to winning nearly 50 percent of my career total (14 of 32 career wins). And I thought in '96 it was all over. That's just the nature of the business.

"I would certainly expect to rebound from all the hard work and determination by all of us at Roush Racing ... I think we're getting pretty close to putting everything together to get our first win of the season. It sure would be nice to get that win at Indy."

Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.

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