Now that Dale Jarrett
has a championship ring, Mark is now everybody's
sentimental favorite to win a Winston Cup. Even
Jarrett made a point of talking to Mark on that very
subject at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the 1999
title was decided last week."We talked before the race at Homestead," Jarrett said. "It was kind of strange because it's kind of hard to say to someone, but I told Mark, These things all happen for a reason. Your time is going to come. Good people have good things happen to them.'
"Mark Martin is a really good person. He'll win his championship. Probably more than one. When he breaks loose, he'll probably win two or three in a row. With his talent and the people he has surrounding him, his time will come."
Jarrett is relatively new
to the championship scene. He scored his first top five
points finish (third) in 1996, his first year with the
No. 88 Robert Yates Racing entry. Jarrett knocked on
the door three straight years before earning the title
this year.Martin has more than 10 years of championship chase experience.
"Why did it happen to Dale Jarrett before Mark Martin?" Jarrett asked. "We don't have that answer. If this was a perfect world and a fair world, he would have won his championship already. He's had years, just like last year, that would have won the championship, but he didn't.
He'll get his. I know Mark is a battler. He'll keep fighting. I know he's going to have his surgery done in the off-season and he'll probably be back stronger than ever and I look for him to be the one to beat next year."