Mark Martin Bio - Biography

Name Mark Martin
Height
Naionality American
Date of Birth 9-January-1959
Place of Birth Batesville, Arkansas, U.S.
Famous for NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)
Mark Martin is an American stock car driver. He currently drives the #55 Aaron's Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on a part-time basis. He has the second most wins in the Nationwide Series with 49. He has finished second in the Sprint Cup Series standings five times and has been described by ESPN as "The best driver to never win a championship."

Martin had a tumultuous beginning in NASCAR, driving for six different teams from 1981 to 1987. He made five starts in 1981 driving for Bud Reeder, earning two pole positions at Nashville and Richmond and finishing third in his final race at Martinsville. The team went full-time in 1982 with Martin running 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. 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 strong 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 Reeder. On October 6, 2006, it was announced that Martin would instead split time with current Busch 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, at least in the Nextel Cup Series. However, Martin drove two races for Roush Fenway Racing in the Busch Series, and also drove in three races for Hendrick Motorsports, sharing the #5 with Kyle Busch.

Martin finished second in the 2007 Daytona 500, only 0.020 seconds behind Kevin Harvick. Martin led going into the final lap before Harvick stormed from seventh to win on the outside. There has been much controversy over whether or not the caution flag should have come out as a result of a large multi-car crash behind them, which could have affected the outcome of the race. Normally, the caution flag is shown as soon as a car or more make contact with the wall.

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 Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he was able to win his 49th race in the series. He finished the season 18th in points.

Mark Martin Photos