ALL-STAR: The Night Martin Hit The Mark

Sprint Cup

ALL-STAR: The Night Martin Hit The Mark

Mark Martin scored an improbable win in the 1998 Sprint All-Star Race when Jeff Gordon ran out of fuel...

Jim Pedley | http://www.RacinToday.com | Posted May 11, 2011 Charlotte, NC

Mark Martin has two wins in the Sprint All-Star Race. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

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The man who symbolizes the heartbreak of finishing second in NASCAR championship battles appeared to be heading for a second-place finish in the 1998 Sprint All-Star Race. With just over a lap to go, Mark Martin could barely see the rear of leader Jeff Gordon's car off in the distance.

But then he could see it a little bit better. And then, much better. Gordon was slowing down at a puzzling pace on the frontstretch near the flag stand where the white flag was in the air at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Martin’s first reaction to the sight of Gordon pulling down to the white line at the bottom of the track was that the then-two-time champion was showing mercy; that Gordon was waiting for Martin so they could make a better show out of the race.

Then, Martin blew past Gordon at nearly 200 mph. Gordon had run out of fuel.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Martin would say.

About 30 seconds later, Martin, then as now, one of the most admired and respected drivers in the series, had his first Sprint All-Star Race victory.

Because of all that led up to that victory, and, yes, for all that has happened to Martin since, the 1998 race checks in at No. 7 on the list of 10 all-time best All-Star events. It was a moment when one of the good guys finally had something really good happen to him on a really big stage.

Martin was celebrating his 10th year with Roush Racing in 1998. In terms of success, he was by far the stud of Roush’s stable, which had grown to five full-time cars that season.

He had 22 career victories heading into ’98 and would get seven more that year. But there were no championships.

What there were, were two disappointing runner-up finishes in the standings – the first one, a painful job where he came up 26 points behind Dale Earnhardt in 1990, and the second one, where he came up an even more painful 444 points behind Earnhardt.

His reputation for being Mr. Second Place was off and running.

Martin had three victories on the season heading to Charlotte in 1998 and he had a stout car in the Sprint All-Star Race. He led all 30 laps in the second segment of the three-segment event.

He was able to avoid a series of wrecks which took out such top contenders as Earnhardt – who had to be taken to a hospital for X-rays – Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte, who had to scramble to get out of his flaming car.

In the final segment, Gordon clearly had the car to beat. As the laps peeled away toward the end, Gordon built and maintained the huge lead.

Martin was third entering Turn 4 on the second-to-last lap, but slid below Bobby Labonte and into second place exiting the turn.

“About the time I was clearing Bobby for second place,” Martin told SPEED.com, “Jeff Gordon was gone up in front of us. He pulled over to the inside and slowed it was like, ‘Whoa, is the caution out or what?’"

Nope, no caution. Gordon had jumped a restart earlier in the segment and the field had to be reset and restarted. That, apparently, had made the difference in Gordon being able to make it to the end on fuel.

Gordon, red-faced, glided into the garages.

He was finally tracked down by the media and asked if his car had run out of fuel.

“I guess it did,” he said. “We’re still not exactly sure.”

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What he was sure of was who was going to win after his Hendrick Chevy started belching.

“When I came off of 4,” Gordon said, “I felt it start to sputter. I was like, ‘Please be the checkered, please be the checkered,’ and it was the white. I looked up and saw Mark coming and I said, ‘Well, it’s all yours, Mark.’ He was fast and he ran a great race.”

Martin still had to hold off Bobby Labonte, who stayed close to the rear bumper of the No. 6 Roush Ford through turns 1 and 2. On the backstretch, the lead stayed at about three car lengths and the victory was by about five.

In Victory Lane, Martin, who turned 41 that year, still seemed confused about what happened. But he also seemed dang happy.

“Unfortunate for Jeff Gordon and those guys, they did the right things, they had her won and I don’t know what happened to them,” Martin said. “We had a good car, but we lucked out tonight. Gordon was strong, man. They did all the right moves.”

After the race, Martin’s crew chief, Jimmie Fennig, called Martin a championship-caliber driver.

And while Martin has won more races – including the 2005 Sprint All-Star Race – he never has gotten that championship. Just three more runner-up finishes in points.

But that just makes the 1998 Sprint All-Star Race a more compelling story.

Jim Pedley is a veteran, award-winning sports journalist who has worked at, among other places, the Boston Globe, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Kansas City Star. Pedley can be reached at jpedley@racintoday.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jim Pedley

RacinToday.com

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