FANTASY NASCAR Racin

an American stock car driver. He droves the #55 Aaron's Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series on a part time basis late in his career. He has the second most wins in the Xfinity Series with 49. He has finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series standings five times and has been described by ESPN as "The best driver to never win a championship". Martin 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, Mark raced against Dick Trickle, Jim Sauter, Joe Shear and Bobby Allison. Mark went on to earn Rookie of the Year in 1977. Mark rounded out his ASA career winning twenty-two races and four championships (1978, 1979, 1980, and 1986). Martin had a tumultuous beginning in NASCAR, driving for six different teams from 1981 to 1987. 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, Martin's fourth series championship. Martin's ASA success landed him a full-time ride driving for Bruce Lawmaster in the Xfinity 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. Though the late season collapse ended Martin's chance at winning the championship, the success he had in 1987 caught the eye of Jack Roush, who tapped Martin to drive for him in the Cup Series for 1988. Martin came aboard newly-formed Roush Racing for the first of 19 seasons in 1988 driving the number 6 Ford Thunderbird with sponsorship from Stroh's Light. The pairing showed both signs of struggle and potential in its inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Martin's 1989 season began a lot like his 1988 season with a DNF in the Daytona 500. With three races to go, he won his first NASCAR Cup race at Rockingham, beating eventual series champion Rusty Wallace by three

seconds. Martin entered the 1990 season with a new sponsor in Folgers and was a favorite to winning the NASCAR Cup championship. He started the season with a 21st place finish in the Daytona 500, his first finish in the big race in six attempts. His team was met with controversy following his second career win at Richmond. During post-race inspection it was determined he had raced with an illegal carburetor spacer, which may have helped him gain an edge over the rest of the field in terms of fuel mileage. As a result, Martin was penalized 46 championship points and crew chief Robin Pemberton was fined $40,000. Following a DNF the next race, Martin

finished no worse than 14th over the final 26 races. He gained the championship points lead one-third into the season and held onto it for 16 races before dropping it to Dale Earnhardt with two races to go. Despite having three wins, 16 top fives, 23 top tens, and three poles, Martin lost to Earnhardt by 26 points in the final standings. Had he not been penalized 46 points early in the season, he theoretically would have won the championship by 20 points instead. Martin entered 1992 with a new crew chief and sponsor in Steve Hmiel and Valvoline, respectively. He entered the season's final race, the Hooters 500 in Atlanta, as one of six drivers in contention to winning the championship; but an engine failure on lap 160 ended his championship hopes. He finished the season with wins at

Martinsville and Charlotte, along with 10 top fives, 17 top tens, one pole, and a second consecutive sixth place finish in the standings. Martin began 1993 with a sixth place finish in the Daytona 500, his first top 20 finish in the big race. In the second half of the season, he became the sixth driver in NASCAR's modern era to win four consecutive races, winning at Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, and Darlington. Along with a win at Phoenix, Martin finished with five wins. Martin has also won five IROC titles (1994, 1996, 1997 1998 and 2005) in addition to 13 races, both records for that series. Martin announced he would cut back from NASCAR Cup Series racing after the 2005 season, dubbing the season the "Salute to You" tour as a

thank you to his fans. In June 2005, it was announced that Jamie McMurray would replace Martin in the #6 car in 2007. This, however, left Roush without a driver for the #6 car in 2006. Martin later agreed to come back and drive for the 2006 season. Martin won the Sprint All-Star race in 2005, and right after Martin took the checkered flag, while still on the cool down lap, Roush asked Martin if he'd come back to race for him again in 2006. Martin said yes on the spot, before even reaching victory lane. Ultimately, it was announced that McMurray would be released from his contract at Chip Ganassi Racing one year early and would take over for Kurt Busch, who was dismissed from the Roush organization prior to the end of the 2005 season. David Ragan was announced as Martin's replacement in the #6 for 2007. On October 6, 2006, it was announced that

Martin would instead split time with current Xfinity Series driver Regan Smith in the Ginn Racing #01 U.S. Army Chevrolet in 2007. Roush Racing announced that due to team limits imposed by NASCAR, they could not field a team for Martin for all 20 races he wanted to run in 2007, forcing Martin to move on. On July 25, 2007, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. announced it had acquired Ginn Racing. Mark Martin would join Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Martin Truex, Jr., and Paul Menard as a driver for DEI starting at the 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. He would share the #01 car with Regan Smith for the rest of the season. On July 4,

2008, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and Martin announced that he would replace Casey Mears in the #5 car for the 2009 season, running a full-time schedule for the first time since 2006. On April 18, 2009, Martin became the fourth driver to win a Cup race in NASCAR after turning 50, winning the 2009 Subway Fresh Fit 500 from the pole position. The other three were Bobby Allison, Morgan Shepherd (twice), and Harry Gant (8 times, last in 1992). His win snapped a 97-race winless streak going back to 2005. After the victory, he did a Polish Victory lap as a tribute to his late friend Alan Kulwicki, at the place where Kulwicki did his first Polish Victory Lap. At Darlington, it was announced after the Richmond race that Martin would drive full time again in 2010; Martin would go on to win the Southern 500. After being on the Chase bubble for most of the season, Martin qualified for the 2009 Chase, as he was in sixth place in the standings

following the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. Because he led the Chase drivers in wins, with four, the Chase reseeding process moved him up five places and made him the points leader. On September 18, 2009, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Hendrick Motorsports announced that Go Daddy would sponsor Martin's No. 5 Chevrolet for 20 races in 2010 and 2011, and that Martin had signed to drive full-time for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup Series through 2011. Two days later, he won his fifth race of the year by taking the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire in the first race of the Chase. The win broke Martin's tie with Kyle Busch for the series wins lead and marked the third time in his career that he had won at least five times in a season.

Mark Martin had a season best finish of second at the 2010 TUMS Fast Relief 500. Martin crashed with 275 laps to go, but managed to work his way up 15 spots with bent fenders and no rear end. Martin will not ride for Hendrick Motorsports in the 2012, because driver Kasey Kahne will take his ride in the 2012 season. In 2011, he began the season with an accident in the Budweiser Shootout. During the following race, he was involved in a multiple-car accident. In the Subway Fresh Fit 500, he managed to finish in the 13th position. One week later, Martin participated in the Xfinity Series Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he was able to win his 49th race in the series. The victory was also the first for his

team, Turner Motorsports. On November 4, 2011, it was announced that Martin would replace David Reutimann in the then #00 for MWR in 2012, a deal lasting through 2013 in the #55. He would drive 25 races in both seasons, sharing the car with Michael Waltrip and Brian Vickers. He ran his last career Cup race at the season finale' at Homestead in 2013. For his career, Martin ran in 882 Cup races, and posted 40 wins and had 271 Top 5 finishes. He has finished second in the Cup final points five times, and finished in the top five in points a whopping 13 times, earning over 92 million dollars. In his other racing endeavors Martin has ran 236 races in the Xfinity series, posting 49 wins, and 112 top fives. He's ran 25 races in the NASCAR truck series, and got seven wins. He has also had success in the IROC series. He was invited to participate in the series for twelve seasons. The IROC series was short for the International Race Of

Champions. Drivers raced identically-prepared stock cars set up by a single team of mechanics in an effort to make the race purely a test of driver ability. It was run with a small field of invited drivers. It was created and developed in 1972 by David Lockton, the developer of the Ontario Motor Speedway, and launched in 1973 with Mark Donohue being the first driver to win the championship, in 1974. The cars used that year were Porsche Carrera RSRs. Donohue's win in the fourth and last race of that season was his last win as he died in a Formula One practice the next season. The series was not run in 1981, 1982, or 1983. The race in the series drivers invited were from a broad range of racing disciplines: Indy cars; NASCAR; Sports Car racing, and on occasion, World of Outlaw sprint

cars, and drag racing. Criteria for invitation was very loose, but typically consisted of recent season champions of the respective series, and individual winners of big events (Indy, Daytona, etc.). Through 2003, IROC was also known for its rainbow of car colors being easily recognized from all other closed wheel racing series. Car numbers were utilized for scoring purposes, but were not the primary means of identification. From 1975 - 1989 the series utilized Chevy Camaro's for the competition. Dodge's were used from 1190 - 1995, and the Pontiac Trans Am was used for the conclusion of the series in 2006. Martin ran 47

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

MARK ANTHONY MARTIN - 01/09/1959