Always one of the most obsessive, yet passionate
drivers in the series, Mark would be the first to admit
he has wilted under the heavy weight of public
attention and the burden of being a NASCAR star.The long season, the travel, the public appearances and the constant juggling of being a private individual in a public life has added many wrinkles to Mark's face.
Many times, that face has resembled a scowl as pensiveness often took over the way Mark viewed the world and his sport.
But Mark underwent a revelation the week after Christmas as he spent time with his young son, Matt, and his quarter-midget team in Central Florida.
Mark is dedicating himself to the kids and welcomes the responsibility of being a role model.
"Not necessarily more refreshed do I feel from the break, but I certainly do feel different right now than I've felt any other time," he said. "I've had some experiences with our sponsor change and with racing with my son.
"I spent December 26 through New Year's Day, six days with my son and we raced six times in seven days. Five of those days, we were at a race where there was 185 cars from all over -- from California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, whatever.
Mark has come to understand that he makes a difference to the kids.
"These kids have an impact on me because I see without being bombarded by 100,000 fans where you miss the point," he said. "The crowd was large enough but small enough that I get the picture that we really make a difference and that they look up to all of usas NASCAR drivers and what we do, no matter if we have won races lately or if we haven't. They really do look up to all of us.
"I had an opportunity to spend time with those kids over the holidays. I have a renewed commitment in my heart to try to be there for them, to give them a good role model and try to encourage them to grow up to be great adults and children their parents can be proud of."
With a new sponsor, Mark has a new outlook, not only for the youth of America, but to help spread the message of men's health.
Mark's sponsor is Viagra, and it's parent company -- Pfizer -- is using Mark to get the message out for the importance of men's health.
"I look at this season and I see my relationship with Pfizer going forward and I see the importance and the impact that I can have on these young kids and the men over the age of 35," he said. "We have already done some ad stuff for Pfizer and I'm looking real forward to a relationship with Pfizer.
"Having the opportunity at this point in my career, I think it's very important that I can reach so many people through NASCAR racing. The visibility that we have to try to send out a message of health and of men's health and the importance of men over the age of 35 to see a doctor and have a health screening regularly, (I'm) looking forward to that."
Health has become an important issue for Mark, a workout freak. Mark's body failed him at the end of the 1999 season when a lingering back injury required surgery. He was unable to test prior to the 2000 season but was able to battle through the pain and have a very competitive Speedweeks.
This year, Mark is healthy and refreshed and ready for 2001.
"I don't know if I am completely healthy or not," he
said. "I might be slightly mentally ill and a few other
things. I was really excited when I came to the Winston
Cup Preview last year. I had been lying on my back for
about eight weeks and I remember how I felt here last
year. It's kind of hard to beat that. I was pretty
excited to be here last year and pretty excited
about getting back with my friends and my family."I am looking forward to the season and I'm looking forward, like I said, to a new, as far as sponsor goes, sending out a new message, and doing something that is important to me and my career at this point. And, of course, I'm always excited about winning races. We won't know where we stand and all that until we get to the race track. We really don't know that much about it until after we get to the other race tracks past Daytona."
Mark and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series return to action Friday, Feb. 9 when practice begins for the Daytona 500. The run for the Daytona 500 pole will be the following day with the Bud Shootout on Sunday, Feb. 11.
"Obviously, we're getting excited about Daytona, and around the 125s, we get all wound up like whoever's got the fast cars at Daytona, you think they are going to be the guys to beat all year," Mark said. "That's not always the case.
"We have a great race team and I have been so blessed with the opportunity to work with guys that are as loyal as (team owner) Jack Roush, (crew chief) Jimmy Fennig and (car chief) Sean Parker. I have what I believe is a great race team. The best we have ever had. We'll see when we place it in competition exactly how it stacks up.
Mark continued to praise his team.
"I believe that we have a great team and we have a good opportunity to go out there and do what we have done in the past," he added. "We'll have to do the best we can with the things that we can control. We can do everything we want all day and have a $2 part fail or something go through your tire. I'm ready to go. That season is behind us. We go to Daytona with no points. Everybody is on the same level and we will get started."
There were times in 2000 when Mark appeared depressed over his career.
For 12 years, Mark was a contender for the Winston Cup title, but because of an unusual number of DNFs (did not finish), Mark had slipped to eighth place.
"I was depressed because I really have enjoyed being a championship contender for a dozen years straight," he said. "It was some sort of blow to me to not be. I was depressed a little bit about that and I didn't try to hide it. It wasn't because I didn't have a great race team; it was because I had six DNFs. Without those DNFs, we could have contended with anyone except (champion Bobby Labonte). They really had a spectacular year in performance as well as consistency. Our performance was good enough to contend with the rest of the crowd.
"I guess you are just going to have years like that. We might have another one. We might have one worse. Or this might be the year. If you send every Winston Cup driver up here, they will all say they can do it all this year. I don't like that. Everybody can't do it all. They just can't. There is no room for everyone to be on top at the same time.
Mark learned a valuable lesson by spending time with his son the week after Christmas. He learned there are some things more important than winning races or being in the championship battle.
Mark learned that there are people out there who idolize what a Winston Cup driver does and gives them something to strive for.
"I realize the importance of what I do out on the race track," he said. "It's more important than winning every race. Those kids, it didn't matter to them that I didn't have the best year. It really didn't matter to them. They still looked at me the same way and I realize that now.
"Instead of judging my self-worth based on where I am in the points or how many races I won this year, maybe I should just go out there, keep my eye on the target and do the best that we can all do and not let that drag me down when it doesn't always work out the best."
