Can't get enough of The Kid

Mark Martin deserves every bit of the respect and accolades he has recieved. Even though he has not won a single championship in the top tiers of NASCAR racing, he has truly earned the title of "Legend." It is always good to see a legend in action, and especially good when that legend wins a race.

Martin's first full time Cup season was in 1983, when he raced for car owner Bud Reeder, alternating between Pontiacs and Buicks. For most of the season, his sponsor was Apache Stove, but, after having to sponsor his car at Dover that year, he picked up Jolly Rancher as a sponsor. He had 8 top tens out of 30 races, with 2 of those being in the top 5. After 1983, he raced limited schedules in Cup with various owners, including Morgan-McClure. In 1987, Martin completed only 83 laps at Charlotte, in the Cup series, but raced full time in the Busch series for Bruce Lawmaster. In 27 races he had 3 wins, 5 top fives, and 13 top tens. His Cup career probably would have been finished had his performance in the Busch Series--as well as his performance in the ASA--not caught the attention of Jack Roush.

In 1988, his first full Cup season with Roush, he had 10 top ten finishes, with three top fives and one pole. He won his first Cup victory in 1989, at Rockhingham. Since then , he has won a total of 36 Cup races, including last Saturday's race. Add to that his record setting 48 victories in the Nationwide aka Busch series and his 7 wins in the truck series, and he as a total of 91 wins in the top tier divisions of NASCAR. That is legendary by any definition.

On Saturday, April 18, 2009 Mark Martin became the oldest man to win a race in a major racing series. We can be sure that won't stop him from winning more.

Stats via Racing Reference.info