Mark Martin, driver of the No. 6 Valvoline Taurus, has four NASCAR Winston Cup road-course victories including three at Watkins Glen. Mark, who comes into the weekend 10th in the point standings, spoke about the final road-course event of the season and the bad luck that has plagued him.
Autoracing1.com:
YOU ONCE SAID THE OBJECT OF ROAD RACING IS TO STAY OUT OF THE DITCHES, RIGHT?
Mark:
"That's right, the object of road-racing is to go as fast as you can and stay out of the ditches. Watkins Glen has been a real fun place for me to drive even though it's especially challenging to pass, but we've always been pretty successful at doing that. I've been pretty fortunate there and we're looking forward to going back".
AR:
ARE THERE ANY SPECIFIC PARTS TO THE COURSE THAT ARE BETTER FOR OUT-BRAKING SOMEONE OR TO PASS IN GENERAL?
Mark:
"There's really only one passing zone and that's going into turn one. We do a little passing in some other places, but it's unconventional passing. Even though we do it, it's like Sears Point where there's only one passing zone there too."
AR:
SHOULD ROAD COURSES BE PART OF THE SERIES? MAYBE THERE SHOULD BE MORE THAN JUST TWO ROAD COURSE EVENTS? IT SEEMS THOSE QUESTIONS ALWAYS ARISE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT?
Mark:
"I think it's fine. I think there's certainly a place in Winston Cup racing for road courses. If there's a place in Winston Cup racing for Martinsville, there's a place for road-course racing as well. I think the fans love it. I think it makes good TV and I think it's an excellent addition to our schedule."
AR:
AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T RAIN?
Mark:
"Yeah, I don't think -- well, where I'm at in the points I hope it does rain because it doesn't matter (laughing). My problem with trying to race Cup cars in the rain is points. Points don't matter anymore where I'm sitting, so I don't care if it rains or not. I'd just as soon do it in the rain as not because I know I would do better than most, but I just didn't want to get caught trying to race for a championship driving in the rain. There are too many things you can't control. It's not fair to put a guy in a position where he can lose points in situations he can't control like visibility and accidents. The lack of visibility can put you in a bad situation, but I wouldn't mind it this time. I feel different about it this year than last."
AR:
AFTER YOUR ACCIDENT AT INDIANAPOLIS YOU SAID THAT IT'S ALMOST LAUGHABLE THE THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU THIS YEAR.
Mark:
"Yeah, I wasn't even all that mad. If that would have happened a year ago I would have had to either kill myself or some one. I really didn't get that mad because it's just like, 'I can't believe it.' That's why it took me so long to get out of the car, I wasn't hurt I was just stunned. I couldn't believe that I was wrecked on lap 15."
AR:
IS IT A CASE NOW WHERE YOU JUST FOCUS WEEK TO WEEK ON THAT SPECIFIC RACE AND TRY TO WIN AS MANY AS POSSIBLE?
Mark:
"It still doesn't matter. All it does is take a little bit of stress and strain off of scoring every point and puts a little bit more stress and strain on just sheer performance. So it's still just as strenuous, but the strain is in a little different focus. If you're in the points championship you never want to lose a point. If you're gonna run sixth you've gotta kill yourself for fifth. If you're not in the points championship, if you're running sixth you've gotta really try to kill yourself to figure out how to get first out of it. It's just a little bit different reality that you're dealing with."
AR:
DO YOU FEEL IT'S UP TO YOU TO TRY AND KEEP YOUR CREW UP AND EXCITED DURING A ROUGH STRETCH LIKE THIS?
Mark:
"Fortunately, they don't need me to do that. I would, and I have in the past, but it's not critical. They're handling that on their own very well, so, therefore, it's not something I have to make a specific effort to do. I always try to project a good attitude and a good vibe to everyone and try to keep everybody pumped up, but this is a great race team that doesn't thrive on my attitude or rely on me to carry the attitude. They've got a good attitude and, if anything, they pump me up."
AR:
AND GOING TO A TRACK WHERE YOU'VE HAD SUCCESS LIKE WATKINS GLEN GIVES EVERYONE A REASON FOR OPTIMISM?
Mark:
"We feel pretty good about Watkins Glen. We tested well and we feel good about it."
