youngster in the Nextel Cup Series these days, he admits that as the clock
continues to tick, he's starting to feel his age."I'm old," he said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway where he qualified third for Sunday's Samsung/RadioShack 500 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX). "It's a lot harder work when you get my age to get it done."
In reality, the 47-year-old Mark is at least 12 years older than any of the other nine drivers currently in the Nextel Cup Series top 10. For his part, Mark says he was a much different racer a dozen years ago.
"I didn't even know I could wreck," Mark said with a smile. "Now I know it's a possibility. Things are different. Everybody matures at a different rate and maybe I was a slow one in getting there."
Still, Mark said no matter what your age, with the hope to run with the top dogs in the Nextel Cup Series comes an increase in commitment.
"In order to be a fierce competitor, you have to have an incredible fire and desire and drive and be willing to make every possible sacrifice and compromise in your life to be able to get out there," he said, "and that's what I've done and that's what I still do."
However, as the short Nextel Cup offseason clicked off over the winter and the season-opening Daytona 500 approached, Mark wasn't sure he had that desire, or that he'd ever get it back.
"I didn't know if I was gonna be able to find it. I swear I didn't," he said. "I kept putting everybody off in December. I put them off in January with those questions and I was really concerned that I wouldn't be able to find it, but I went out in Daytona and did my job."
And that's when everything changed.
"When I slip down in the seat of the 6 car, it feels like your favorite spot on the couch or the recliner. It's the right place for me," he said.
"I didn't expect 2006 to be the time of my life, but I'm having the time of my life and I know that in just a couple of years I'm gonna look back on 2006 and say 'Man, those were the good old days.'"
His record this season seems to prove that. Through six events, his worst finish came last weekend at Marksville when he crossed the line 13th. The finish still bumped him to second in the point standings. That Mark's stats will slump Sunday at Texas is unlikely. He won in 1998 and has five top-10 finishes in 10 Cup starts there.
"We love this racetrack," Mark said. "We had a great run the last time we were here [second] and hopefully we can come back and do the same.
"I think the competitive fire is there and the confidence. I know that I probably have better cars right now than I even had last year and that gives me great confidence going forward.
"I think most of the fire that you're seeing in me is really a reflection of the cars that I'm driving and the team that I'm working with that's really at the top of their game."
