March 14, 2000
driver who is oblivious to the sweeping changes of time. Over
the past 15 years or so, it seems it just isn't a top-5
without Mark's name in it. After Sunday's third-place
finish in the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500, Mark
is currently in second place in the points, just 18 behind No.
18 -- Bobby Labonte.For Mark, it was once again a case of taking a lemon and making lemonade. The No. 6 Valvoline Ford came out Sunday tight, then got loose, then rebounded and could have won the race if either Dale Earnhardt or Bobby Labonte had decided to rattle the other guy's cage.
"I am thrilled with third place," said Mark after the race. "We struggled all day with the handling of the car. Nothing we tried seemed to work until the very end. We finally found the right combination so that I could at least hold my own out there. We may not have had a car to challenge for the win, but it was a great day for us in the point standings."
Mark has never won the NASCAR Winston Cup Series
championship. After coming off back surgery in the offseason,
it was a legitimate concern that missed testing time would
cost him early on. But Mark is proving doubters wrong -
again - and with Earnhardt doing well after offseason surgery
himself, perhaps more drivers will make it a required part of
their offseason regimen.Mark feels he was lucky on Sunday. Perhaps that is what it will take to get him over the hump and bring home that first championship.
"I got more than I deserved today," said Mark. " We had a lot better finish than we really deserved. We didn't really run very good. Mike Skinner had everybody beat and had trouble, I feel sorry for him. We got lucky. We wrecked once and didn't hit anything. The Valvoline team did a great job to run third. That was a 15th-place car."
Not with Mark Martin behind the wheel.
