his situation. He has done the math.And he knows that barring an extraordinary turn of events on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he'll come close to the Nextel Cup title once again. And he'll leave the speedway without it.
Eight times in the previous 15 seasons, he has finished second or third in the standings. He also has a fourth, a fifth, and two sixth-place finishes. Even though he has won 34 times on the Cup circuit — that's 17th-best on NASCAR's all-time winners list — he's forever answering questions about the Cup title that has eluded him.
"Do you have any idea how many times I've been asked that?" he said, smiling, when asked last week. "I'm not owed a championship. I'm just not owed one. I don't think I have one coming to me. If I can go earn it, then I'll get one."
Mark, who plans to retire after the 2005 season, said he'd prefer talking about career accomplishments, not evasive titles.
"When I reflect on being a kid from Arkansas who wanted to race the big time, and when I put things in perspective, I really realize what kind of career I've had," he said. "Over the years, somehow or another, I've managed to earn a lot of respect. And to me, that respect means a lot more than any trophy that didn't happen on luck or accident."
He said he doesn't look at former champions Dale Jarrett, Bobby and Terry Labonte or Bill Elliott differently because they won titles.
"They are what they are in my eyes because of what they did on the race track, not because of the trophy that they got," he said. "I'm not going to shed a tear because I didn't win something that I didn't earn."
That kind of thinking represents a fresh approach for Mark, who built a reputation for being intense on the track, pessimistic and always hard on himself off of it.
But a happier Mark emerged from the offseason.
"I realized that being intense isn't completely responsible for why I ran good, because I was intense last year and ran terrible," he said. "So it's OK for me to lighten up and smile."
Roush Racing president Geoff Smith saw the change. "Maybe it's because he's coming closer to the end of his career, and he's
realizing that you don't have to torture yourself to be a competitive race
driver," Smith said. "His mind-set now is more constructive to good
performance — where you go out every weekend and it looks like the glass
is half full instead of half empty."Smith said if Mark never wins a championship, it won't be devastating.
"I think he can live with it pretty easily," he said. "Every athlete asks, 'What effort did I make?' and 'How good was I?' "
Smith said Mark's answers should be: "I had to compete against the best in the world, and I measured up in every measurement you can do, and I measured up awfully, awfully good.
"I'd bet that Sammy Sosa will never win a championship with the Chicago Cubs, but everyone is going to remember that he was one heck of a baseball player," Smith said.
Benny Parsons, a former NASCAR champion, agrees that if Mark doesn't win the title this year or next, it won't affect his legacy.
"I'm not sure it would elevate him any higher than he already is," Parsons said. "I think everyone thinks of Mark Mark as a champion, and 10 years from now he'll be referred to as a legend in this business. The fact that he hasn't won a championship won't deter from that."
Ironically, Mark's old friend and crew chief, Jimmy Fennig, who works with points leader Kurt Busch, could wind up with a share of the champion's trophy. Mark wishes Fennig the best.
"I hope Kurt and Jimmy pull this one off," Mark said. "Jimmy and I go way, way back, and it would be so cool for Jimmy to have that trophy on his mantel. It will really mean a lot to me."
Mark says he's proud of the way his team bounced back from a a career-worst 17th-place finish in 2003. He's hopeful that he'll run even better next year for the fans who are pulling for him.
"It is a really, really huge honor for me to have that kind of support and that kind of feeling, and I don't want to disappoint," he said. "I fought like a dog just to be in this [Chase], and when we made it at Richmond, our 2004 season was made.
"This will be a year that I'll remember as long as I live."
