In fact, he says he started worrying about this year's points race last
November -- the day after last season's championship chase ended with him
38 points short of the title in second.Four races into 2003, however, Mark would be better off forgetting about the championship journey -- in particular how the shortcomings of his last two outings might affect his result.
"This is a pretty tough road for all of us, but that's how it goes I guess," Mark said after a disappointing run last Sunday in Las Vegas. "I feel pretty down about it right now, but you can't change it."
Mark might sound like he's hiding his feelings, but, in truth, that's the real Mark. His experience has left him with two conclusions:
First, he's had so many highs in his career, that even if he doesn't win a title before retiring he'll still feel fulfilled. Second, he's started out on top and finished near the bottom in races and title chases, so he knows it's too early to feel dejected about the measly 377 points he's counting for himself right now -- 241 points fewer than the leader's got.
"We'll be fine," Mark said. "There's a long ways to go."
Entering Las Vegas two weeks ago, Mark was riding a seven-race streak of posting top-10s -- a string which dated back to last year's October race at Marksville, Va.
And there was no reason to believe the streak was in jeopardy. After all, Mark performed well in his first two races of the year -- hushing critics who predicted a sputter for the veteran after last year's runner-up effort.
Add to that the fact Mark had never finished outside the top-10 at Las Vegas and it's easy to see why the driver of Roush Racing's No. 6 Ford was feeling confident.
"It's been a race track where we have run well over the years," Mark said. "We had a great run there last year and that is one of the places that we actually ran well (during a down season) two years ago. I like racing at Las Vegas. I like the track and we have a good record there. It suits my driving style."
But on race-day, an engine failure on the 115th lap put an end to his afternoon and he finished 43rd. He also dropped from fourth to 11th in the standings.
"The car was really working good," Mark said. "On that last stop we really got it going good. At least we were running, but there's nothing we can do about it. We broke and we're in the garage."
Disappointment, sure. Panic, not yet.
Sure, Mark posted only his third last-place finish in 533 races, but the race at Atlanta was coming up and that was reason to cheer up.
"We got lucky last year and didn't break a lot of engines," Mark said before arriving in Atlanta last weekend. "Maybe we'll get lucky this year and only have one.
"I've been racing (at Atlanta) for some time now and it is one of my favorite tracks."
Again, though, his confidence would be hushed. He experienced another engine failure, this one on lap 134, and finished 42nd. He plummeted another 14 spots in the standings and now sits 25th heading into Darlington, S.C. -- one of the toughest tracks on the circuit.
But, the man who starts counting those points before the season is still
not reaching for the panic button. You see, while many competitors who
are close to the end of their careers start to stress over winning a title,
Mark steers clear of that.He's had an accomplished career, so he's taking things -- including the last two weekends -- in stride.
"I don't feel a great sense of urgency because I have had so much success in my career," he said. "I don't feel a great sense of urgency, but the fierce competitor in my still views this as the best package I've ever had -- the best sponsor, the best people to work with, the team, cars, the whole package is definitely the best I've ever had in my career.
"I'm feeling really good about that. It's absolutely right, we need to maximize each and every opportunity even more now because you can see the end of the line out there now, whereas 15 years ago you couldn't even imagine something like that. But it could be a great year for us.
"We have all the ingredients. We have the great race team that we had last year with a little bit more polish on it. We can't control the competition, but we can sure do everything we can with the part we do control."
Mark said the bump in the road means little in the long run. These were two setbacks along a journey that has 36 stops. Almost everybody is going to trip up from time to time. Maybe his time just came earlier than most.
The thing is, after coming agonizingly close to winning his first title and falling short for the third time, everybody's keeping a close eye on Mark. Everyone seems to think that even little setbacks could take a big toll on him since he's already feeling frustration from 2002.
But these people are wrong. These people aren't reading Mark properly.
"I have a hard time understanding how finishing second in the Winston Cup championship is a bad thing," he said. "That's hard for me to understand. I don't quite comprehend where people are coming from and I guess they don't mean it. I think it's a good thing.
"I've been very successful in Winston Cup and Busch Grand National and IROC and ASA. I have a great career, lots of wins, and that's what has made my career. I will either win every championship that I run for from now on or I won't win any or I'll win some in between.
"I don't know, but the effort will be the same. I wasn't disappointed with 2002. As a matter of fact, I was incredibly proud of 2002 and I take a lot of pride in what we managed to do in 2002. I hope I can be as proud or prouder of 2003."
Ben Leslie, who is entering his second season as Mark's crew chief, said
he knows these past two weeks were tough but that it won't phase Mark.
The veteran pilot has seen tough times before, so he knows how to react."In my opinion, I haven't seen the peak of Mark Martin yet. That's my opinion," Leslie said, adding that "it's an awesome experience" working with Mark "because it helps you more than just in racing, it helps you in life to be around somebody like Mark that has a true never-quit philosophy.
"He makes you look at not only racing, but a lot of things in life. You sit back and say, 'Doggone it, it didn't work out for me, but I'm not going to stop trying. I know it will work, I've just got to keep going.' It's an awesome situation to be in actually. It's helped me personally in racing and in my personal life."
For Mark, a man who puts a tremendous amount of emphasis on people -- both in whom he lets into his working environment and personal life -- having this sort of impact on a person is one more in the long list of accomplishments he can cite over his career.
So, though he won't lie about counting points, he isn't concerned about being 25th. There's time to bounce back. And if that doesn't happen, he's not looking for sympathy from anyone.
"Nobody's crying for me," he said. "I've done a lot of great things in this sport and experienced a lot of highs. So don't think for one minute that anybody's going to feel sorry for me. And I don't want them to. Because I feel great."
