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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Martin Running His Own Race
Mark Martin said he’s more relaxed than he’s been in years...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted October 30, 2009   Talladega, AL
NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Mark Martin posted the fastest times in both days of the Goodyear test at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson admitted Friday that he won’t sleep much the night before the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, and that he goes back and forth in his own head, arguing with himself about points.

His Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon said that with each passing year, the urgency and the pressure to win a fifth championship intensifies in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

But the one driver on the team who seems totally at peace with who he is and where he’s at in his career and life is 50-year-old Mark Martin, who already has finished second in points four times and is a distant second to Johnson now.

Asked if it troubled him that Johnson likely will win a fourth consecutive Cup title this year, while he’s still looking for his first, Martin just looked up from his director’s chair in the Talladega garage and smiled a big grin.

“If he goes on to win it, he will have outscored me,” Martin said of Johnson. “So he definitely deserves it. And I won’t, because you have to score the most to win.”

Pressed on the question, Martin said, “I have a lot of thoughts on that. First is, I’ve been beaten by (Dale) Earnhardt, I’ve been beaten by (Jeff) Gordon, I’ve been beaten by Tony Stewart. And I will not be embarrassed if I’m beaten by Jimmie Johnson. I’m not ashamed of any of ‘em. That doesn’t make me have a bad career. In fact, a lot of people would think that’s pretty good.

“And I never stood up and said I was better than any of those guys,” said Martin. “Those are the guys. I believe it was Earnhardt twice (who Martin finished second to). And Gordon and Tony. And I have the greatest respect for all of them. I’m not ashamed of it. I love this sport, I love what I’m doing, and I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I am not bitter about what I have not accomplished. But I am proud of what I have accomplished.”

And while Martin remains fiercely competitive, there’s no question that he’s no longer the ragged edge bundle of nerves he used to be down the stretch. He said again Friday that he’s totally at peace with however the season ends up, and he’s happy about that.


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