Cesna Citation jet had several offers to get involved with dealerships in
metropolitan locations.But he passed them over in favor of the location in his hometown of Batesville, Ark., population 9,000.
''We draw from a lot of 250 to 500 little towns, scattered everywhere,'' Mark said with the enthusiasm of a 15-year-old getting his first racecar. ``I draw from about a 50,000 population area.''
About 3,000 of them showed up at the dealership in April, many standing for hours in the rain, to get autographs and photos with him and his 17-year Roush Racing owner, Jack Roush, and his teammate, defending Cup champion Matt Kenseth.
LOVE FOR RACING
''The car business has been the only thing that I've had any passion for, whatsoever, since I started racing at age 15, if that tells you anything,'' Mark said. ``For 30 years, I haven't had a passion for anything else other than racing, so I know it's right.''
Plans are in the works to build a museum on the grounds to house some of his old racecars, driving suits, racing memorabilia and trophies that are now housed in his jet's hangar 15 minutes from Daytona International Speedway.
''No one sees them now and it's kind of a shame,'' he said.
The driver of the No. 6 Viagra Ford has got quite a collection of hardware, but he's missing the coveted Cup championship.
He has come close -- four times finishing second and three times ending up third.
Some see it as a big blemish on his career. Mark sees it much differently. ''I'm a little guy from Arkansas who's been more successful than I deserved,'' he said. ``I've had a career most drivers would trade theirs for.''
But that doesn't mean he won't continue to go 180 mph toward getting a title before he retires, at least another year down the road.
Mark was at the Omni Collanade Hotel in Coral Gables on Wednesday to help unveil the Ford Mustang that will be used as the pace car for NASCAR's Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
He'd love to return to South Florida in November for the season finale and still be in contention for the title, as he was in 2002 when he settled for second to Tony Stewart.
''But I think it would be very optimistic to make it from where we are right now,'' said Mark, who is 15th in the standings -- 685 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. ``I'm a realist.''
TOUGH LUCK
He started the season with engine failure at the Daytona 500. Since then, there has been three more engine failures, a broken transmission, two ignition box failures at the same time and a fuel line failure.
''That's seven races we've went out of,'' Mark said. ``If we could have just four of them back, we'd be about third or fourth in the points.''
Still, he broke a 73-race winless streak with a victory at Dover and is only 138 behind 10th-place Ryan Newman.
Under the old points system, Mark would have about as much of a chance of winning the title as Dale Earnhardt Jr. does of walking through a mall unnoticed.
But under the new system, Mark knows that if he can somehow manage to get to 10th in the next eight races, he has as good a shot as the others who make the final 10-race Chase for the Championship.
''I'm in a position that I might be able to be a benefactor of the new system,'' he said.
