For the past three years, Mark has been a serious
championship contender, dogging Gordon and Jarrett relentlessly.
And the whole time, his back was killing him. Since May of
'97, Mark has been racked with a back so crippled that it
desperately needed surgery. He didn't have that surgery until
the end of the 1999, when he finished a distant third to
Jarrett. After a crash at Daytona last July, which broke
his left wrist, a bone in his left knee and severely bruised
his ribs. Mark was so battered that his crew had to lift
him into his race car. He drove the second half of the season
in intense pain. "August and September were pretty hard on
him," teammate Jeff Burton said. "His back was hurt and he was
having trouble doing everyday things. His kid wanted him to pick
him up and you can't pick him up. Stuff like that drives
you crazy. There for a while, he was driving really hurt
and he really didn't complain about it." Two days before traveling
to New Hampshire for the July 11 race, Mark had a screw inserted
into his knee. With a brace on his left leg and a cast on his
left wrist, he finished sixth at New Hampshire, third the
next week at Pocono and fouth in the Brickyard 400, starting
a streak of seven straight top-10 finishes. "That's pretty tough,"
Burton says. "Mark's endurance is incredible and his tolerance
for pain is unsurpassed," team owner Jack Roush adds. Now, after
back surgery and two months of rehabilitation, Mark is healthy
for the first time in three years. "I feel like a brand-new person."
he says. "My strength is coming back, my stamina is coming
back, I'm pain-free and I'm really excited about what my future
holds for me." In the past three years, Mark has won 13 races
and finished third, second and third in the points race,
all the while nursing a severely damaged back and an
assortment of injuries. What can he do now that he's finally
healthy? "He's going to be scary this year," Burton says.
"He's going to be the man. I really believe that."
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