Big time driver, Even bigger champion

[Gary Collander]

NO TROPHY NEEDED

By

Gary Collander

If you think this is a thinly disguised tribute to Mark Martin you could be right!

I guess you could call me a Motorsports fanatic, but it’s the ‘motor’ in Motorsports that I love. Why? Because without a motor, it’s just a sport.

#1 I may take a while to get around to it but this is the guy this feature is all about – Mark Martin.

I have friends and relatives that don’t like the cost of fuel tell me, “You need to build something that does not burn gasoline”. My response is, “you’ve got to be kidding!”

Dude, there is nothing better than in-your-face loud, and I mean loud. Like earth shaking, ground pounding loud. You know, a fire breathing Blown Big Block on the Bottle in a Fat Fender Ford Fetching Fries on Friday streetcar.

Nevertheless, as awesome as that fire breathing blown big block, with or with out nitrous, polished 8-71 and all may be, there’s more. Equally impressive is the sustained “X” pipe howl of an 850 horsepower 358 cubic inch Cup Car engine purring down the straights at 9800 RPM. Or possibly better yet, an F1 engine screaming out a 19,000 RPM song just before blipping a 6 gear down-shift into a hard right hander at the Nurburgring – ooohhh yeah!

OK down to earth! My love of high RPM engines has led me to run small blocks - mostly Chevy’s at that. My need for more horsepower than I can afford has led me to that infamous but ever-so-powerful torque in a bottle known as nitrous oxide.

It seems regardless of how much power your motor makes or how fast your car is, there is always that one friend at the track that wants you to pill it up (increase nitrous jet size to increase horsepower) for more. And, if your response was like mine, you would tell you friend you don’t want your engine to blow up. And the ‘friends’ reply - “Don’t worry, we will help you push it on the trailer.” Yeah - as if that is much help after exploding five grand’s worth of engine.


So my drag strip philosophy would be this;

The true meaning of friendship is helping them push it on the trailer after convincing them to pill it up.


My point is I love internal combustion engines and super fast cars. Or should I say high horsepower engines and stupid fast cars. As long as I can remember I’ve been an automotive enthusiast, my favorite toys where cars. I could tell a car at night just by it’s tail lights. I’ve owned everything from Toyota Corollas to multi-stage nitrous drag cars. These probably total more than 100 cars in my 25 years of driving. At 40 years young, I have just begun!

#2 Mark on the ‘Monster Mile’. It looks like the motor is about to become history.

Now, I’ve said that, to say this!

Almost everyone I have known is associated with the world of cars. Some are mechanics, some machinists, some racers, and some just plain all around car guys. And they are all pretty much familiar with NASCAR and it’s top stars. If you ask any of these guys to name two top ranking drivers, a name that comes up time after time as one of those two is ‘Mark Martin’.

#3 Have you ever seen Mark Martin agitated, mad at some other driver, complaining or what ever? I am sure he has had is moments, but they must be rare. Most of the time he is simply Mr Cool.

It seems that many, if not most people, will state that Mark Martin is their favorite all time driver. And some even claim the best NASCAR driver of all time. I’ve heard several people say they really hope he wins another championship before he retires. This tells me that in their mind he has already won the coveted cup. These people are not stupid or particularly ill-informed. They’re just not natural born spectators like so many of us are. They may not be weekly race watchers but they catch a race as often as possible and just have not had the media sell them on any particular driver. So their choice as to which driver to support, follow or what have you, is based on personality and performance.

#4 For a master driver like Mark Martin it makes little difference between driving an oval or a road course – a steep bank or a near flat one. He’s fast regardless.

Even if they are a fan of another driver, if their driver cannot win, they would, nine times out of ten, cheer for Mark Martin. Watch any race, be it Cup, Busch, Truck or IROC and Mark Martin will always be a contender, or the one to beat. And, as for IROC, (International Race Of Champions) where driver skill is everything, Mark has had the most wins. To quote Dale Earnhardt Sr., “That’s the guy you gauge yourself against”. Ask any driver, especially the rookies, who they would want for a teammate - Mark Martin. Who do they feel will race the cleanest on the track - Mark Martin. Hardest worker - Mark Martin. Most dedicated - Mark Martin.

So when you’re looking for the mark of a champion don’t look for a trophy on the mantel look at the man that is - Mark Martin. The one man in racing who does not need a trophy to prove he is a champion.

All this from an Earnhardt fan - go figure.

[marcuswb]

Mark Martin is one of my favorites. If he can't beat someone fair and square,
he does not lower his standards and beat someone by wrecking them.
That says a lot to me about the kind of life he leads on and off the track.


Gary Collander knows racing, and i like his writing style.

[rookie]

Originally Posted by marcuswb

That says a lot to me about the kind of life he leads on and off the track.

Well said, I never thought about a drivers on track actions reflecting his off track actions, but I think you are correct.

[samcollander]

marcus makes a good point.....about mark and gary....but then i may be a little partial to the gary part........no, i don't think that's it.......i know gary knows racing and i now know he can definately write........were has this gary been hiding all my life???

[rookie]

Does anyone know why Mark is not running Bristol or Martinsville again this year, I believe these are his best tracks and it seams DEI would want him there.
Any thoughts anybody.

[Mwilson]

great article, Id love to see him win one more!