After the race, a half dozen or so drivers and crew chiefs, most
of whom agreed that for a variety of reasons, the racing simply
wasn't up to snuff because it was a one-groove track and a
difficult place to pass.Kyle Petty likened it to New Hampshire International Speedway.
Jeff Burton said eventually a second groove would wear in and the racing would improve.
Jimmy Makar said the racing would get better as the teams become more familiar with the track.
Everyone was polite and politically correct but not too enthusiastic about what they saw. Neither were the fans.
When Mark was asked about it, though, he staunchly defended the track.
"I thought it was great, it's a great race track," Mark said after finishing fourth.
And when pressed about the quality of racing on that November afternoon. Mark stood his ground.
"I don't know, I passed everybody I caught," he said. "I don't know, I love it. It's a great track."
Mark shoots a genial but hard look, as if to say, "I know what you're trying to get me to say, but I won't say it."
That's how Mark is. Even when others are critical, he's a cheerleader.
Mark thanks so many people - from his team, crew chief and a blue zillion sponsers to car owner Jack Roush - that he sometimes is self-deprecating about his own substantial contribution to the Roush Racing effort.
Make no mistake about it, Mark has earned his place the hard way, bouncing back from adversity to the top of the sport.
When he landed in Winston Cup full time as a cocky young kid from the hard-scrabble dirt tracks of Arkansas in 1982, he lasted less than two full seasons before losing everything and having to sell his own team at auction.
From 1984-87, Mark ran just six Winston Cup races. He didn't
get back into NASCAR's elite series full time until 1988,
when Roush hired him, initiating a mutual, unshakeable bond
of respect and friendship that to this day remains one
of the strongest in the Winston Cup garage.Together, Mark and Roush have enjoyed the highest highs and lowest lows that the sport has to offer. Mark has finished second in the Winston Cup championship three times and no worse than sixth since 1989.
Mark amassed more Winston Cup points in the 1990's than any other driver; won four ASA championships and four IROC titles; and has been to victory lane more than any other driver in the history of the Busch Series.
But there have been setbacks and tragedies along the way, including a controversial penalty in 1990 that many feel cost him a championship.
He endured a winless season in Winston Cup in 1996, which left him questioning his own ability at a time when no one else did. Then there was the painful and public grief after his father and two family members died in a plane crash in 1998, and almost unbearable physical pain caused by first a bad back and then by a cut tire at Daytona last July.
Through it all, though, Mark has persevered with a mental toughness few people could even understand, let alone emulate. He has long been a standout, even in a sport full of them.
He has remained humble to a fault. After a late-race gamble
on track position helped him win at Martinsville last month,
Mark's take on it was this: "I knew they weren't going to
catch me unless I goofed up...jump across a curb, spin out,"
he said. "I can find something dumb to do, believe me."Not Hardly.
It's way, way too early to start trying to predict who's going to be Winston Cup champion this year. With ten different winners, one repeat winner, in the first 11 races anything can happen - and likely will - happen.
After all, most of the marathon season is still well in front of us.
Still, Mark has a good shot as he's had in his entire carrer to finally claim that elusive Winston Cup title. And if he does, it'll be richly earned. And doubtless well appreciated.
