Mark Martin

Martin is the final driver born in the 1950s to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.

Martin was born in Batesville, Arkansas.

He began his racing career as a young man on the dirt tracks of Arkansas.

He moved on to asphalt racing and joined the ASA racing series.

During his ASA career, Martin raced against Dick Trickle, Jim Sauter, Joe Shear, and Bobby Allison.

Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is an American retired stock car racing driver.

He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49.

He scored 40 Cup Series wins.

He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series standings five times, third in the NASCAR Cup Series standings four times, and has been described by ESPN as "The best driver to never win a championship."

Martin also failed to win the Daytona 500 during his career.

Martin has five IROC Championships, more than any other driver.

Completing just 73.7 percent of the laps and leading only four laps all season led to Martin finishing 14th in the final standings and finishing second to Geoff Bodine for Rookie of the Year.

Despite finishing strongly, with two top tens in the final two races, including a fifth-place finish at Riverside, Martin and Reeder parted ways after the season.

He remains the only driver to run more than six races for a team owned or co-owned by Reeder.

He won 1977 ASA National Tour Rookie of the Year.

Martin won twenty-two ASA races and four championships, in 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1986.

Martin had a tumultuous beginning in NASCAR, driving for six different teams from 1981 to 1987.

He made five starts in 1981 driving for a team owned by Bud Reeder, earning two pole positions at Nashville and Richmond and finishing third in his final race at Martinsville.

Martin raced full-time in 1982 with the Bud Reeder team, competing for Rookie of the Year.

The team struggled for consistency, posting just eight top tens compared to 12 DNFs in 30 starts, including a string of five DNFs in six races.

At the end of the season Martin sold off the team, having signed with Jim Stacy to race in 1983.

Martin started 1983 running for Jim Stacy.

Unable to secure a ride for 1984, Martin went back to driving in the American Speed Association.

Jimmy Fennig came aboard as crew chief in 1985 and the two would go on to win the ASA championship the next season, which was Martin's fourth series championship.

His success in his three-year stint in ASA landed Martin a part-time ride driving for Jerry Gunderman.

In five starts, he posted two top 15 finishes and started on the outside pole at Atlanta.

Martin's success from the previous three seasons landed him a full-time ride driving for Bruce Lawmaster in the Busch Series.

The season started strong as he posted two wins, three poles, nine top tens, and was fourth in the standings after 15 races.

After just one DNF in the first 15 races, Martin had seven DNFs in the final 12 races, including six due to mechanical failure and four blown engines.

Despite finishing in the top ten in the other five races, the team's failure to finish towards the end dropped Martin from fourth to eight place in the final standings.

Though the late season collapse ended Martin's chance at winning the championship, the success that he had in 1987 caught the eye of Jack Roush, who chose Martin to drive for him in the Winston Cup Series for 1988.

He finished 1987 with three wins, six poles, 13 top tens, and an eight place finish in the standings.

Martin came aboard newly formed Roush Racing, with crew chief Steve Hmiel, for the first of 19 seasons in 1988 driving the No. 6 Ford Thunderbird.

Martin showed both signs of struggle and potential in its inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, recording three top fives and ten top tens along with winning the pole at Dover.

He finished a season-high second-place at Bristol early in the season.

Consistency proved to be crucial in that ten DNFs prevented Martin from cracking the top ten in points the entire season.

Also, during the 2005 season, he took over the all-time record for IROC wins, with 13.

The two parted ways after just seven races, posting three top 11s while having four races finishing 24th or worse.

Following a two race-stint driving for D. K. Ulrich and one for Emanuel Zervakis, he landed a ride with Morgan-McClure Motorsports for six races, becoming the organization's first driver.

While with MMM, Martin posted four finishes inside the top 20, including a 10th at Talladega.