by Jerry Bonkowski, Yahoo! Sports
October 14, 2004
CONCORD, N.C. – The slow trickle of veteran NASCAR drivers calling it quits has suddenly turned into a flood, leaving many wondering who's next and who ultimately is going to be left.
Thursday, Mark Martin became the latest stock car cowboy to announce he'll be riding off into the sunset. The pride of Batesville, Ark., revealed that 2005 will be his final season as a full-time driver on the Nextel Cup Series circuit.
"I'm too young to retire, but I've had enough of this full schedule and this battle," Martin said. "It's been very tough on me and it's been tough on my family. I look forward to opening the next chapter."
Martin's so-called "retirement" will be anything but. All he's retiring from is Cup competition, calling his final season in 2005 the "My Salute to You" tour. He still intends to continue as a driver, just in a less pressure-packed circuit – perhaps the Craftsman Truck Series, which he described as "kind of interesting."
"I want to step out where I'm at the top of my game," Martin said. "I wanted to go out that way, instead of on the decline. I'd like to stress that I am not announcing retirement today, but 2005 will be my final year to race for the Nextel Cup. I don't have 2006 plans totally in order yet, but certainly look forward to driving race cars."
Martin's name is the latest to be added to a list that now includes Bill Elliott (now semi-retired), Rusty Wallace (who will retire after 2005) and Terry Labonte (who will run only part-time after this season).
Team owner Jack Roush, never one to show much emotion, had to fight back tears in telling reporters that Martin, who helped Roush get started in NASCAR racing in 1988, was stepping aside.
"My association with Mark has been made up of keeping the faith in one another and carrying on the good fight against all who would challenge us," Roush said. "My enduring relationship with Mark has been the proudest accomplishment of my business life."
But that relationship goes far beyond business.
"Perhaps most importantly, Mark's been the second brother I never had, the best friend and the cornerstone of the effort of which I pursued my own competitive ambitions."
Roush then broke out a number of spectacular statistics to reflect the impact Martin has had in his illustrious driving career: 539 consecutive Cup starts, a combined 79 career wins (34 in Cup, a series record 45 in Busch and one in trucks) and finishes in the top-10 over 56 percent of the time during his nearly 17-season tenure with the Roush organization.
"Mark put Roush Racing on the map," Roush said.
Martin was also one of the key players in helping put NASCAR on the road to becoming what it is today: the second-most popular spectator sport in the country.
"Mark is leaving a heritage that will exist forever in our sport, and that's a great and positive and wonderful thing," NASCAR president Mike Helton said. "The tough part is he'll be missed, certainly, walking around the garage with a uniform on, or in the driver's meeting, or at the level of chasing the Nextel Cup.
"I don't know if the true value of a Mark Martin will ever be realized and it's unfortunate because the state of NASCAR today is because of the character that Mark Martin portrays."
That Martin would decide to retire from Cup racing after next season caught many people by surprise. As late as last season, he said he might continue racing through 2006 or 2007. But the pressure brought on by NASCAR's inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup has taken a toll on the 45-year-old Martin.
"Chasing for the Cup in 2004 has definitely been the most consuming season of my life," said Martin, who enters this Saturday night's UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in fifth place in the standings. "No one can understand how important it has been for me to be a contender, and we have the opportunity in 2004 to go win this championship."
And if he falls short of that goal by season's end? Well, there's always next year.
"2005 looks like the best-ever for me and my team," he said. "2005 for me is about commitment, racing for a championship for one last time for the Nextel Cup."
While he has finished seasons runner-up a NASCAR-record four times and recorded 213 top-five and 338 top-10 finishes in 596 career Cup starts, Martin, who will make his 600th career start at Phoenix early next month, has never won a Cup championship. While there's some lament in his voice, he tries not to let his body language betray his disappointment.
"There are a lot of guys out there who never got to win their first race in NASCAR and I've been fortunate to accomplish a lot of things," Martin said. "I never worry about the things that I haven't done, instead I focus on all the things that I've been able to do and that makes me very proud."
Still, Martin plays it humble in the face of all his accomplishments.
"One of the reasons for my stepping out of the Cup series at this time is because I never really was convinced deep down inside that I was all that good," Martin said. "I think I've fooled a lot of people for a long, long time, and I don't want to take a chance on getting caught up in something where everybody figures out that I was a sham and I really wasn't as good as the results I got."
Well, if that's indeed true, Mark, you certainly did a heck of a job fooling so many of us for so long. But the record book speaks volumes of just how good you truly are, and there will never be any disputing that.
Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR columnist. Send Jerry a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Updated on Thursday, Oct 14, 2004 5:56 pm EDT
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