Sports Radio Interviews

Mark Martin: “It has been the best year that I can remember personally and professionally.”

Mark Martin is having one of the best seasons of his life. It wasn’t long ago that people were starting to call for Martin to step down because his racing skills had diminished. Before this year, he had gone three full seasons without a win and seven seasons without winning a pole. Then he signed with Hendrick Motorsports and things started to take a turn for the better. Earlier this season, he became the fourth driver to win a Cup race in NASCAR after turning 50 and has won five races and seven poles this season alone. That is incredible! There aren’t many people that win five races in their career let alone five races in one season after turning 50. I guess being on a great team really does mean something in racing. If you aren’t sure who Hendrick Motorsports is, then maybe you better start learning. They finished one, two and three this season and Jimmie Johnson just won his fourth points standings championship. That is absurd!

Mark Martin joined Fox Sports Radio to talk about whether he is second-guessing the 2^ndplace finishes, whether there is a way for people to find out when it is time to hang it up, and the importance of being on a great team and Brett Favre being on a great team.

Whether he is second-guessing the 2^nd place finishes:

“Well I am not thinking about the past. I felt real fortunate to have the opportunity to do this, to have ever had the opportunity to do it, but especially at this stage of my career to have an opportunity to be a part of all of this. It is huge and it is not something that I worry about. I am really, really, really luck to drive such a fast race car. I sat on seven poles, won 5 races and have the relationships that I have had with my teammates and Allen Gustafson and Rick Hendrick. It has been the best year that I can remember personally and professionally. Something that I will always remember.”

Whether there is a way for people to find out when it is time to hang it up:

“Well that is a dilemma. Most people need to think about it before they comment on it because a lot of people make negative comments on it without thinking it through and there is a lot of different sides to it. From my standpoint just think of it this way, I was fifteen years old when I started racing. I have raced 35 years. It has been the focus of my life, the passion of my life. I don’t like doing anything else. No golfing, no fishing, no nothing. I don’t have anything else that I even like doing. So even if I wasn’t real fast on the racetrack, if it was really my life’s worth and I enjoyed going to the race track and being around those people because those people at the racetrack are really my friends and that kind of thing. Even if my performance tailed off, I am not sure, if I still wanted to do it, I am not sure if I wanted to quit. But everyone hates to see someone that is good or maybe even approaching great or great go on past where they were really good on the racetrack. Got good results at whatever there sport is. That is hard to watch from a fan’s standpoint. All of these professional athletes, there dilemma is how bad is this? Because this is really what I wanted to do because no one really wants to quit. Somebody asked me if I win the championship would I retire? Heck no! Why would I want to retire? That is a great question. The fans just need to be careful before they speak with such a sharp tongue about that subject because there is a lot of things that go into it and I didn’t know. I thought that in 2005-06 that I was in decline and that I wasn’t able to do this stuff anymore.”

On the importance of being on a great team and Brett Favre being on a great team:

“That is awesome. I am so happy for him. I am going to be honest with you. I am not a sports fan. If it doesn’t have wheels on it, I don’t know much about it. I have followed the Brett Favre story because I identify with him and it is so good to see him having success because you can do it. There are people who don’t lose the fire and desire and the drive that will push them to do whatever it takes to continue for them to be successful in this business. That is the thing that goes more than your ability to do anything else is that, is the drive that will force you to do whatever training it takes to do whatever it takes to overcome whatever physical declines that you might be facing because of your age. I am really proud for him and I have watched that with great interest.”

Mark Martin on Fox Sports Radio with Chris Myers and Steve Hartman

Tags: Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Mark Martin is 50 years old, Mark Martin to retire, NASCAR, NASCAR Points standings