Key Stat: 2nd in points... again
Okay, I have a confession to make. I thought that 2002 was going to be the year
that Mark fired up his Ford Taurus, waved to the crowd, tipped his hat
to the ladies and drove down Main Street into the sunset.Now, before you jump all over me, I would like to point out that I was not the only racing writer to predict such a season. In fact, we all did. I'm just man enough to admit it.
But Mark, never one to waste time reading what is written about him (and certainly not what shows up on the Internet), instead turned his car away from the setting sun and drove it straight at all of us who had predicted his demise as a Winston Cup title contender.
He kicked the resurrection into high gear in May by winning the Coca-Cola 600 and the Winston No Bull million-dollar bonus. By September 15, he was back in the points lead. If not for a bizarre pace-lap mishap at Talladega three weeks later, Mark may have finally ended his Susan Lucci-like career of runner-up points finishes. Instead, he finished second behind Tony Stewart -- his excruciating fourth bridesmaid effort.
"I don't think I'm the greatest race car driver that ever lived," says the typically honest Arkansas native. "I don't want anybody to write that about me, either. I do what I do, and I've been very fortunate. I've got a lot of respect, and I've got a lot of trophies -- a lot more trophies than most people. I've done a lot of really neat things in my career, and that's all I can do."
Including the service of about 10 tons of crow to us so-called experts.
What's different for 2003
Not a lot, and that's a good thing. One year ago, the all-new Pfizer team was still busy trying to find their way around new digs by the time Daytona Speedweeks rolled around. In December of 2001, crew chief Jimmy Fennig and company were shipped over to Kurt Busch's team in exchange for Ben Leslie and his gang. Martin and Busch finished second and third in points as result.
The biggest adjustment for 2003 will be the loss of Mark's number one weapon in 2002 -- the element of surprise. This just in, kids, old dude can still drive.
Why he won't do better than 11th.
Some garage insiders believe that Mark's gang ran the well dry making one final push for his (and Roush Racing's) first Winston Cup title. With Busch, Matt Kenseth and now Greg Biffle all in prime championship form, the unofficial motto at Roush is becoming "the future is now." With Jeff Burton waiting in the wings to take over the leadership role with the team (see Countdown No. 12), Martin could be ready to take a backseat to the "Young Gun" movement, of which he is an admitted fan.
Then again, I wrote all of this same stuff one year ago, didn't I?
