One day before the Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship officially began,
Jeremy Mayfield fielded a question that only tangentially dealt with fellow
driver Mark.Something about an appearance the two had on the “Live with Regis and Kelly” show.
Something about a baby-blue sweater and some other out-of-character haberdashery the two were supposed to wear on the show.
Mayfield waved off the rising din of giggles from the media crowded around.
All serious, Mayfield said of Mark, “I'm just glad to see him a part of this.”
Words to that effect are being spoken rather often around the series these days, even by the nine other drivers included in the 10-driver playoff.
Several have said flat out that if they are not good enough or fortunate enough to win the 2004 championship, then they hope Mark is. Such is the respect level for a guy who symbolizes the kind of selfless working-class grittiness upon which, lore has it, American stock-car racing was built.
Part of Mark's appeal is his longevity.
A native of Batesville, Ark., he began racing cars at an early age on short tracks of the Midwest. He was a frequent competitor at places like Sedalia, Mo., and often raced against drivers like the late Larry Phillips.
Mark won four American Speed Association titles in the late 1970s and '80s.
He moved up to NASCAR and in 1981 got his first start as an owner/driver in what was then the Winston Cup. He would race three partial seasons, drop back for two seasons and then return in 1986. In 1988 he got his big break when he was signed by Jack Roush. The two have been together since, winning 34 races and 41 poles.
Another part of Mark's appeal is what he has not done — win a Cup championship.
With four runner-up point seasons, Mark's come close. Real close.
Heartbreakingly close.
Like in 1990, when he finished just 26 points behind Dale Earnhardt. Or 1998, when he won a career-high seven races but still lost out to Jeff Gordon, who won a career-high 13 races.Two years ago, he lost to Tony Stewart on the final weekend of the season.
A couple of days before the race at Richmond International Raceway last month — the race where he needed to finish well in order to gain entry into the Chase — Mark was guarding his words as he talked to the media.
Someone asked, why?
“Because I've had my heart broken plenty of times in this business,” Mark said. “Things seem to find a way of not working out for me. I don't count my chickens before they hatch, then I won't have any problems there.”
From the sound of it, the season that has caused Mark the most angst was not one of the unexpected heartbreak years. It was one that went too poorly from day one to be a heartbreaker.
That was last season.
Mark didn't win a race in 2003. His 17th-place finish in the points standings was the worst in the 16 years he had been with Roush Racing. Seven times, he failed to finish races.
The result was “humiliation,” he said.
He said things were so bad that had it not been for commitments he had made, he might have gotten out.
“We raced a whole lot of the time for 25th place,” Mark said. “I wasn't happy about the performance and wasn't able to do anything about it.”
The current season didn't start out promising— Mark finished last at the Daytona 500 in February. And there have been times since then that he has finished almost as poorly.
But he broke his winless streak in June at the first race at Dover International Speedway. Seven other times, he's finished in the top five of races, including a fifth-place finish at Richmond that earned him his Chase berth. He placed second in last weekend's return trip to Dover.
He will start today at Talladega Superspeedway in fifth place, 57 points behind
leader Jeff Gordon in the Chase.Over the past couple of months, he's been one of the hottest drivers in the series.
All season, he's been among the happiest.
Mark's team is giving him the equipment he needs to win this season. And that, he said, is all he wants in his racing life.
“I am incredibly grateful for a chance to drive cars that can win races and lead races and be contenders,” Mark said.
Mark has been effusive in his praise of his team in general and his crew chief, Pat Tryson specifically, in recent weeks. Tryson came over to the team late last season from the Wood Brothers team of Ricky Rudd.
Driver and crew chief and crew have melded wonderfully.
“I feel the love from these guys and they feel it back,” Mark said. “It's a real special time in my life. It's a very family-feeling situation that we're in right now.”
Tryson also feels the love and the team's strong chemistry. That's why he feels Mark is enjoying every bit of his racing life right now.
“I think he was probably at the point where he was scared to death that he was going to retire while he was not running good,” Tryson said. “That would have just killed him and I think that is why he's so happy this year. He's running good.”
Whether it be the situation or his age (45) or whatever, Mark has opened up a very closed personality lately.
Recently, he talked about his life and his place in racing lore.
He talked about the cockiness he harbored as a kid coming into the sport.
About his aspirations and goals. About the concept of loyalty in the sport
of auto racing.Yes, he said, during a phone call from Batesville earlier this month, he is wearing his heart on his sleeve these days.
“It's good for me to get back here sometimes and reflect on where I've come from and what I've accomplished,” Mark said. “As you know, it never feels like it's enough and it never feels like I've done enough and accomplished enough and there is so much more to do.
“You get so caught up in that, that you forget sometimes where you came from and all the blessings that I've had and the opportunities with all the people I've had to work with at Roush Racing an the great sponsors and success,” he said.
While Mark may forget all that some times, others do not.
In the hours before the race that decided the 2002 championship — the one that Mark lost by just 38 points — Stewart and Mark shared a dais and talked racing.
Suddenly, the oft-surly Stewart let his curtain of crustiness drop.
He turned, looked at Mark and said respectfully, “If Mark gets this, he is very deserving of it for what he has done for the sport and what he has done for guys like myself. He's a great person and I'm just glad I'm in this position with him.”
The bet is nine other drivers and millions of race fans currently feel the same way.
