[h=2]CRANDALL: Hall of Fame is Martin's 'crown jewel'[/h] Monday, 16 January 2017


Kelly Crandall / Images by LAT

Mark Martin expects his life will be different after this week.
Friday night, Martin, along with Benny Parsons, Raymond Parks, Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress, will officially be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame during a ceremony in downtown Charlotte. Considered by some within the NASCAR community as "the greatest driver never to win a championship," being in the Hall of Fame will give Martin recognition for his many other accomplishments.

"The most obvious way [life will be different] is when I'm introduced at a function now people can call me something," Martin said.
Martin continued with a laugh, "I have a title."
Without a Daytona 500 win on his résumé, Martin will never be introduced as a Daytona 500 champion. The same goes for not having won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. The lack of a championship – having come up short on five different occasions – leaves Martin without that moniker as well.
Now, NASCAR Hall of Famer sounds just as sweet. But Martin acknowledges before this honor one had to search for a title to associate him with.
"Although I had done a lot of cool and amazing things in my career, this obviously is the crown jewel of my career," Martin said. "And it means more now – because I've not been in a racecar for three years – than anything I achieved when I was racing, because I was so busy whatever I achieved I didn't pay any attention to; I just kept storming forward worrying about how I was going to win the next race."

In 882 Cup starts, Martin won 56 poles and 40 races. Among those, Martin captured a win in the sport's most grueling races, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2002 (pictured, with trophy) as well as two in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
In all, Martin led 12,879 laps and finished in the top five in points 13 times in his 22 full seasons.
The closest Martin came to capturing that elusive championship was 1990, when he was the runner-up to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points. Having lost 46 points on a penalty early in the year, it was a "what could have been" season.
The 2002 title fight was the only other year where Martin lost the championship by double digits. That year, Tony Stewart bested Martin by 38 points on his way to his first of three championships. While a championship was never in the cards for the Batesville, Arkansas native, Martin never let it define him. Success for him also wasn't limited to the Cup Series.
With 49 career Xfinity Series wins in 236 starts, Martin held the all-time win record until 2011, when Kyle Busch tied it and then began setting a new one. Martin also has 30 poles in the series. In the Camping World Truck Series, Martin went to victory seven times in 25 starts.
If one wants to go even further, Martin is also a five-time International Race of Champions titlist. The NASCAR finale in 2013 was the last time Martin sat in a racecar, and he's been enjoying retirement ever since.
"Now that I sort of have had time for (being inducted into the Hall of Fame) to soak in, it's sort of like the – I don't know how to put it – it's the last big deal, or the big win," Martin said. "It is the crown jewel of my career, for sure."
Yes, life will be different for Martin after this week, and it's going to take time to get used to.
"Don't forget the people in that Hall of Fame are my heroes," Martin said. "The founders of the sport, the real men that did it with their bare hands. I'm a little bit uncomfortable going in there with them to be honest with you, because I don't feel like I belong in that kind of company."