NASCAR WINSTON CUP Martin downplays all the fuss over his milestone start

Only two other active drivers have made more consecutive starts than Mark Martin's 500.
LOUDON, N.H. (AP) -- Mark Martin is wondering what all the fuss is about. After all, he's just doing his job.
Martin will be making his 500th consecutive Winston Cup start in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, a streak that dates to Feb. 14, 1988.
Considering he enters this race 14th in the season points and without a victory since May 2002 in Charlotte, Martin is a little surprised to find himself the center of attention.
"This is what I do for a living," Martin said. "We've had a lot of success and a lot of heartache, but I've had an opportunity to live out my dreams -- and not a lot of people get to do that."
Martin will start 33rd in the 43-car field, well behind pole-winner Ryan Newman and fellow front-row starter Terry Labonte.
Martin ran his first Winston Cup race in 1981 and struggled to find a home in NASCAR's top stock car series, racing only sporadically and failing to establish himself in the sport until he was hired in 1988 by Jack Roush.
A constant
Since then, the diminutive driver from Arkansas has been a constant.
"I raced when there was a death in my family; I raced when I was sick; and I raced when I was broken up, and I kept a job," Martin said. "Keeping the job is first."
Only Ricky Rudd, who will start his 707th consecutive race today, and Rusty Wallace, who will start his 616th straight, are ahead of Martin among active drivers. Martin's streak is seventh on the career list.
During his long run with Roush, Martin has won 33 races and finished second in the series points four times, including last year when he lost the title to Tony Stewart by just 38 points.
"He eats, sleeps and breathes racing, and that dedication and hard work shows in everything he does," said Roush Racing teammate Jeff Burton.
The unassuming Martin has built a reputation for being a great competitor who rarely gets involved in controversy, on or off the track.
In contrast
That's in direct contrast to some drivers in the newest generation of Winston Cup competitors whose aggressive style of racing and penchant for post-race confrontations have kept them in the headlines.
"All I know is that everyone has a driving personality and everyone has a particular code they go by," Martin said. "I've had a code all through my career and my code has garnered respect on the racetrack."
He said the kind of racing that has drivers knocking each other into the wall to make a pass isn't new to the sport -- it's just more common.
"It's like, 'Whoa, this looks different than it has been in the past,' " Martin said.
He pointed to some battles he had early in his career with seven-time series champion Dale Earnhardt, known as The Intimidator.
"Dale Earnhardt's code was different than mine, but I didn't criticize him for it because, typically, if he got it back he'd say, 'Well, I got the short end that day, but there will be next week.'
"The code I disagree with is it's racing when you give it but, if you get it, something really bad happened. ... I don't criticize someone for having a different code than me as long as they live by it and accept the consequences."
Martin said he expects the youngsters to outgrow the shenanigans.
"Those guys, on the racetrack, are getting life lessons every single week," Martin said. "Some of these situations are the first time these guys have ever faced that particular situation and they're learning how they're going to deal with those in the future."