But that would be a shortsighted assessment. After all, how often have you
driven 600 miles under the steaming North Carolina sun? Without air
conditioning? (That's about the distance from Charlotte to New York, and
temperatures reach triple digits inside the cars.) On his off days,
retired racing legend Buddy Baker was known to get ready by riding around
in the summer with the heat blasting inside his regular car. And, with
racing speeds reaching 190 mph, the G-forces exerted on a driver make for
a physically and mentally draining endurance run. Like baseball players,
drivers are known for strong forearms, which make it easier to handle
the steering wheel.It shouldn't be surprising, then, that many of the sport's biggest stars put significant time into their fitness routines. Michael Waltrip has run the Boston Marathon. Dale Jarrett, a former high school football and baseball star, is still a championship contender after a quarter-century of racing, thanks to a rigorous regimen, designed by his personal trainer, that he follows in the gym he built in his office in Hickory, N.C.
But Mark -- you may recognize him from his Viagra commercial -- is widely regarded as the workout king of the Winston Cup. At 43, his self-described obsession with fitness and nutrition has secured a lasting, successful career; he's considered one of NASCAR's top 10 all-time competitors and has ranked among the top points leaders for most of this season. Back when he started racing on the Cup circuit in 1988 for Roush Racing, he was looking for an edge, any edge. "I wanted to funnel my energy into something positive," he says. "I wanted to be in better shape than anyone else on the circuit, to give me any advantage I could, however minute that would be."
In the late '80s, Mark joined a health club in Greensboro, N.C., where he then lived, and worked out on the Nautilus machines. Then he picked up Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding." "I read it cover to cover and became a lunatic," Mark says. "Schwarzenegger trained like a crazy man, a total animal. That inspired me. I was impressed that he did it to become a champion, not a movie star. His drive spoke to me." Mark embarked on a grueling personal journey. His body-fat ratio fell from 20% to 6.5%. But he gained 10 pounds, and his chest expanded by 4 inches. He had to buy new clothes.
He works out five days a week now. Each day is devoted to a different muscle group: the back on Mondays, shoulders on Tuesdays, biceps and triceps on Wednesdays, legs on Thursdays, chest on Fridays. Cardio work is in the mix as well; three days a week, he rides the stationary bike for half an hour. (He doesn't run, because of the impact on his knees.)
Mark limits his weight work to an hour a day. But he packs a lot into
that hour, opting for a high-intensity approach that requires 16 sets
per body part. He seeks to push each set to the "near failure" point every
time, and he limits his rest to about a minute before proceeding to the
next set. He adds on a bit of weight for each set, going from a high number
of repetitions in the beginning with lighter weight (for endurance) to
a lower number of repetitions in the end with heavier weights
(for strength).Mark has radically changed his diet, which was a challenge, considering the Southern-fried flavor of the NASCAR culture. He used to eat two or three cheeseburgers a day, and he loved French fries. He doesn't eat them anymore. How far has he evolved? When he eats tuna salad, he won't mix it with mayonnaise -- not when a fat-free condiment is available. "I used to hate mustard with a passion," he says. "But I had to put the mayo away for good. I've been checking out the deli-style flavored mustards, and they're quite tasty. So I open up a can of tuna, glob the mustard in, and that works for me." He's also into oatmeal, chicken, steamed vegetables and ruit. Yes, he drives his friends crazy when he orders food in a restaurant, peppering the server with what seem like endless inquiries about food preparation.
Sometimes Mark is dubbed "the Viagra guy," but it's worth it. His sponsor, Pfizer, the New York-based company that makes the drug, provides health screenings for fans to check blood pressure, cholesterol levels and more. (Interested Winston Cup fans should look for signs at racetracks directing them to the Pfizer "Tune Up for Life" trailer. You generally don't need a ticket to get a screening, because the trailer is outside the track, near the souvenir stands.) So far, in the program's third year, nearly 60,000 fans have taken part. Mark himself gets screened four times a year.
Given that tobacco, fast food and beer companies cast a long shadow over racing events, Mark -- who, needless to say, doesn't drink or smoke -- appreciates that his prime sponsor provides this service. "You'll have a guy who's 60 coming to a race," he says. "He can't take a day off to get a physical. He may not have the money to pay for it. So he can go right in there on a racing weekend and get a checkup. If his blood pressure is high, they have a database of doctors, and they can refer him to a doctor in his hometown."
