Mark Martin
The Kid. 40 Cup wins. Zero championships. Still the name in every "what if" conversation in the garage.
Five times the points finale came down to the last lap and he was second — 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2009. Four times he finished third. Never first. That was the whole story of Mark Anthony Martin, born January 9, 1959, the American they kept calling "the Kid" well into his forties because he never slowed down. For the bulk of his career he was locked into the No. 6 Ford at Roush Racing, and between 1989 and 2009 he collected 40 Cup Series wins, 35 of them in that Roush machine. He's the guy in every single "who's the most accomplished driver to never grab the Cup title" thread, and he's not close to being the only one people name. But no one else has that 40-win count hanging over the five runner-up finishes the way he does.
Quick Facts
- Pole positions
- 40 Career Poles
Lore & Background
Recognized for his longevity and consistent performance, Martin remained competitive into his early 50s, placing second in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings at the age of 50. Martin also failed to win the Daytona 500 during his career despite coming close on numerous occasions. In the O'Reilly's Series (formerly the Busch Series), he ranks second in all-time wins with 49. He also earned five International Race of Champions IROC titles and recorded thirteen race wins in the series, the highest total in its history. Martin is the final driver born in the 1950s to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Reader's Guide
Martin was born in Batesville, Arkansas in 1959. He began his racing career on local dirt tracks before transitioning to asphalt and the ASA racing series. He earned the ASA National Tour Rookie of the Year Award in 1977 and won 22 ASA races and four series championships (1978, 1979, 1980, and 1986). In NASCAR, he made five starts in 1981 with Bud Reeder, earning pole positions at Nashville and Richmond.
He raced full-time in 1982 with Reeder, finishing 14th in points and second in Rookie of the Year behind Geoff Bodine. After stints with Jim Stacy, D. K. Ulrich, Emanuel Zervakis, and Morgan-McClure Motorsports, he returned to ASA in 1984. In 1987, he drove full-time in the Busch Series for Bruce Lawmaster, posting three wins, six poles, and an eighth-place points finish. Jack Roush selected him to drive in the Winston Cup Series for 1988.
Martin drove for Roush Racing from 1988 onward, winning his first Cup race at Rockingham in 1989. He finished second in the championship in 1990, losing to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points after a 46-point penalty for an illegal carburetor spacer. In 1991, he won the season finale at Atlanta and finished sixth in points. In 1992, he entered the final race as one of six championship contenders but an engine failure ended his hopes; he finished sixth in points with wins at Martinsville and Charlotte.
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